Sick Day

Maureen and I spent yesterday at home because I was worried she'd caught a sickness. I called Dad White, who assured me it was only a cold. So we opened the windows (it was in the high 70's yesterday!!) and let the sunshine in. As you can see M is quite a trooper and was showing no signs of sickness.

Although I really do feel justified in our recovery day, with the weather it sure did feel like we were playing hookie!


In this video the camera is turned so that Maureen can see herself, which is why she spends a good part of the time staring at the camera and showing herself the ball.



She is so busy being a toddler!! Notice that the humidity caused a bit of curl in her hair. I couldn't be more pleased...maybe it'll come out after all.

Bucket Bag

And, because I'm feeling generous, here is an oldie but a goodie. She's very into putting things into a container and carrying her collection around. This time it was a bucket:

I swear she really does wear pants more often than this videos show.

Maureen writes

I'll be upfront and tell you that this video is 2 minutes and 30 seconds long and doesn't contain anything hilarious or give witness to the fact that Maureen is some sort of prodigy.  It is a full two minutes the camera following her around as she uses a pencil--and while it isn't profound, it does capture her personality and thought processes well.  To most people the video might see boring, but to our family far and wide I'm posting it so you can better get to know our little girl in action.

Our Anniversary "trip" to Jackson Hole

After a fun-filled Christmas and New Years with lots of celebrations Joe and I agreed not to buy each other anything for our anniversary; rather, we'd celebrate at home and enjoy the company of each other and Maureen.

Of course this got my wheels turning, and I got to thinking about something simple to make for dinner--something Joe always raves about that wouldn't cost much money or require much work (sticking to our guidelines, you see?) The famous "Turkey Cran Pesto" sandwich came to mind, which is exactly what it sounds like. Joe used to make (& devour) these while working at Betty Rock Cafe during his years in Jackson Hole. Although we've never made them at home they are often a topic of conversation whenever we make a hearty sandwich.

Rather than taking a trip to eat one in person, I decided to go all-out and make over the apartment like Jackson Hole as a surprise to Joe. And a surprise it was. He was giddy. I consider it a huge success.

Welcome home?  You're now entering Jackson, Wyoming....

From Anniversary 2012

His ski jacket and boots in the hallway.

The entrance to central park, which is marked by the archways of shed elk antler.

Our mountain view from the Betty Rock Cafe table:  Grand Tetons in the window.

Moose Drool is a personal favorite of Joe's from his Jackson Hole days.  I picked up a stout for myself from another area brewery. I had also called the owner of BR and explained my plans.  He was kind enough to send me a hat (see below) and a menu to add to the ambiance. Oh, and the TCP (Turkey Cran Pesto) was DE-lis-ious.

From Anniversary 2012

Look us up next time you're in town.  We might have become ski bums.

From Anniversary 2012

Baby Steps

I can't believe we're nearly rounding out a year with our darling girl. In the past few days she's started to articulate words, which has been very exciting, and even said "Jesus" out of the blue ("blue," her other word), which was the greatest of gifts to me on Monday morning. She was looking at our collection of statues, pointed at them, and said "Jesus." How crazy is that?! (okay, it came out more like dee-jes, but still.) Also, her habit of saying "mom" has returned after a few week hiatus. It warms my heart, especially after she's been saying "daddy" for a good two months now.

Anyway, here's the latest of our family fun:





She loves this chair and has recently been hearing a lot of "no" and "sit!" as a result of its use.

Oh, snap!

Things have been pretty quiet around our house for the last month or so; and I mean that in a good way. We haven't traveled for over a month and I think all three of us are really enjoying weekends in our home--cooking, cleaning, the farmer's market down the block, a visit from a friend or two, and lately, Bears games. The slow-pace has been rejuvenating after a summer that came and went before we ever got a chance to go to the pool.

I say "quiet" but I certainly don't mean uneventful. Last weekend, on the official date of Maureen's 11-month milestone, she started walking. We'd seen a few steps here and there, but she was determined to get the remote from Joe's hand--so determined that she walked across the living room for it. It took well over a week to capture this video, but here is the proof:



I'll follow that one up with a new trick that caught us by surprise:



It is hard to believe that we're nearly rounding out a year since our little girl was born. She's darn cute and we're so happy she continues to surprise us every day.

All her yammering cracks me up.

Maureen is really flourishing--it has been an incredible few weeks watching her personality develop and seeing her become more independent. Here are a few more videos from the past weeks:


In our last efforts to enjoy summer at our apartment, we dined al fresco and ate spaghetti. Maureen mastered the art of asking for more AND slurping the noodles.



Our friends Dan and Sandy joined us for a picnic at the Morton Arboretum. We ventured into the Children's Garden and found this marble ball/ fountain thing that Maureen loved (it had water on it, go figure that she loved it!) I would argue that the afternoon was probably more fun for us, the adults, wandering through all the kid stuff.



More from the Arboretum. Maureen the rule-breaker--



And this one is just fun. All her yammering cracks me up.