Summer fading fast...

Summer may be fading fast, but Simon is growing faster. He's crawling faster than we can keep track of and climbing up everything he can reach. Simon still smiles at everything and everyone. Seriously, where isn't he happy?

Veronica is roaring into her fours. She's nearly unstoppable on her bike. And with her brother smiling so adorably everytime the camera comes out, Veronica raised her game. And she resents being called a goofball. Embrace it sweetie.

CAMP!

Camp, the way life should be. Well, maybe with a vegetable and a glass of water once in a while. Post-camp detox seems to take longer and longer each year.

This was a big year at Camp. It was Simon's first camp and it mixed his two favorite things; being held all the time and being outside all the time. Mix in never having to take a bath and it's baby paradise. Veronica took the plunge this year too. Literally. Vivi spent the first few days jumping off the ladder, but by mid-week generated the courage to jump off the dock (with life vest on, of course).

There aren't as many internet appropriate pictures from Camp this year. Somewhere around the second day of camp, somebody got the OK to go nudie-rudie underneath their swim vest. That was it for bathing suits for the week. The time we saved on wet bathing suit maintenance was lost of extra sunscreen vigilance.

The other new addition to Camp this year was boys. In addition the aforementioned Simon, Uncle Sean and Jackson made their first foray to Camp. Which not only brought the estrogen-testosterone equilibrium closer to balance, it also meant doing more boy things.

Nighly s'mores, countless jumps into the lake, communing with nature. Yep, that's the way life should be.

Summer? In Seattle?

After another Junuary, it wasn't looking good for Summer in Seattle. But it's been perfect since the 4th of July. We've taken advantage of the good fortune by travelling around Puget Sound each weekend. We've headed down to Tacoma for a walk along the water, up to Edmonds to visit a park and a short hike, and to Queen Anne for well... another park. It might be a few years before we venture for more adventure than that.

And what says summer more than a sprinkler and the backyard? I could get use to this.

Going bananas for real food

After licking his chops every time we ate anything in front of him, all signs pointed to Simon being ready for real food this week. He pondered his first bite for a few moments before determining his feelings on solid food. He quickly got the hang of it and has this eating real food thing under control. So far, bananas are preferable to avacado and applesauce is awesome.With so much attention fawned on her little brother, Vivi had to step up her game. Vivi took one unimpressed look at her little brother and decided to show him how to get Mama and Daddy eating out of her hands.

Vivi and Daddy introduced Simon to our Top Pot Father's Day tradition. Top Pot was even kind enough to play a few tracks off of the Wild, the Innocent, and E Street Shuffle. Next stop was the traditional cold stroll along Elliot Bay at the Olympic Sculpture Garden. The Sun peaked out for a few minutes, but Simon missed it. The whole family spent the rest of the day chasing the Sun south to Tacoma for a stroll along the Puget Sound. It was a quiet and low key day bookended by doughnuts and bratwurst. What more could a dad ask for?

spring into inaction

So much has happened since the last blog post, trying to summarize it in paragraph form would take more time to write than is ever going to be available. So, here is what happened this Spring...

• Mama and Simon went to Boston.
• There was a Daddy-Daughter weekend in Seattle. There was a trip to the zoo and a lot of pancakes.
• Grammy came for a visit
• The Easter Bunny left a Santa Claus-sized bounty.
• Simon smiles at everybody, especially women.
• Vivi learned how to climb down the fireman's pole at the park.
• Cinderella does the hoppins.
• Vivi can pull herself up on the swings, but still needs a push.
• The family travelled to the east coast. Veronica went to Cape May. Simon went to D.C.
• Veronica spent a weekend with Grammy and Grampa.
• Simon met his namesake.
• Cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, and pizza were consumed with gusto.
• Uncle Brian and Aunt Sarah came for a visit. Uncle Brian got trapped in the attic.
• Veronica calls the mailman the mailmanner.
• Daddy had his paternity leave. Mama went back to work two days a week. Simon started daycare, but then he didn't.
• Veronica graduated from pull ups at night and wear's big girl pajamas. She still throws a fit at bedtime and doesn't fall asleep until 10p.
• Gram Grace met Simon and spoiled Veronica.
• Veronica's new favorite toy is Daddy's camera phone.
• The Johnny Jump-up returned. But not to quite the same reception.
• Veronica Tales got a new photo site. Picasa frustrated me for the last time, Flickr's no bargain either.

lay me down to sleep

Everybody got a new place to rest their head this week. Veronica is officially in a big girl bed and loving it. She almost fell out of bed the first night, but was tangled enough in the covers that she couldn't fall out. And Simon has graduated to the playmat. He finally has found a place to hang out for a few minutes that isn't a parent's lap on the bouncy ball. So far only the owl has drawn his ire.

bizzee, bizzee, bizzee

The transition to two kids hasn't been as hard as the transition to becoming parents, but there are fewer free minutes in the day. For instance, these two.

A quick summary of our life and times is that Veronica is learning to write letters. She can almost write "Vivi" and can sight read "Mama". She is still excited to be a big sister and prefers to have Mama pick her up from Rosita's, because that means she can show off her little brother to her friends at school.

Simon survived his 6 week check up and immunizations, but is still only in the 25th percentile for height. At 6 weeks, he is roughly the same size his Daddy was at birth. He has been showing off his smile... actually, it's Uncle Sean's smile. Attempts to capture the wry smirk have failed to date, but it's undeniable.