Celebrating With Chuck

What a birthday week! A big party for Grandaddy, a night away in the city, Madeline's first steps (video to come) and an extra-special birthday celebration with Patrick, Madeline, and Donald at Chuck E. Cheese. Patrick took the task of driving the Monster Truck very seriously, and is a new fan of air hockey (he beat us 3-0). Madeline loved riding on the Clifford ride and playing with the skee balls. We came home to a delicious chocolate football cake and giant birthday hugs. What a wonderful day. I'm a very lucky mommy.

Grandaddy Turns 70!

Friends and family came from near and far to help us celebrate Grandaddy's 70th birthday last Saturday. In spite of the heat it was a beautiful afternoon filled with laughter, good food, and lots and lots of good stories.

There was even a little chocolate cake on the dining table to remind Grandaddy that his best birthday present ever arrived on September 29, 1974—me! Well, I did reign as best birthday gift ever until he got a backpack stuffed full of shotgun shells and an ipod loaded with Marine Corps marching tunes.

As always, Patrick, Madeline and Sophie had a wonderful time playing together, being admired and adored, and spending time with precious cousin Eleanor, who was nearly squeezed to death by Sophie's enthusiastic hugs. Patrick was devastated that there were no "prizes" (party bags) at the party, but otherwise had a lovely time.

Grammy and Grandaddy survived a post-party babysitting gig as Donald and I snuck away to Capitol Hill for the evening and left Madeline overnight for the first time. She did well, but squealed with delight when we walked back in the house this afternoon. It's nice to be missed.

Happy Birthday Grandaddy! We had a great time at the party.

Baby Games

Madeline has said mama, dada, and even ba-da (brother?) in more or less the right circumstances in the past few weeks, but she has really taken to the concept of "bye bye," which may qualify as her first official word. She's even made a game out of it. She likes to get behind a door, close it, and say "bah bah." You would not believe how funny she thinks this is, and will repeat it dozens of times. She is also quite good at peek-a-boo and "hiding." Patrick likes to hide when he hears us coming—sometimes under a pillow, sometimes just by covering his eyes with his hands. Madeline loves playing along, and happily slaps her hand on her face or the top of her head and giggles like crazy while we ask "where's Madeline?"

Welcome Fall

The calendar still says summer for few days, but we couldn't wait to get to Cox Farms, the Disneyland of pumpkin patches. We saw 3-day-old piglets, rode dozens of slides, took a hayride, and thoroughly enjoyed the dancing moves of Patrick and Mariel. Madeline took her first spin on a big slide, and was too keyed up to take a morning nap...until we went over to watch the LOUD bluegrass band, at which point she fell into blissful oblivion.

First Tooth!

Madeline went 10 months with no teeth, but in the last week Mother Nature has been making up for lost time with no less than 3 coming in at once. The bottom tooth, which was the first to poke through, is just barely visible in the photo. She's been in a good deal of pain, for which she likes to comfort herself with nursing despite my best efforts to quit, especially now that razor-sharp baby teeth are now part of the equation.

Patrick Becomes a Wizard!

Patrick started a new year as a Wizard last week with much less drama than last year. His new teachers Ms. Natalie and Ms. Daisy are quite familiar to Patrick, who has played with them every day this past year on the playground, and lucky (or not) for them they know him well enough to know what they've gotten themselves into. Wizards occupy the top floor of the Abracadabra schoolhouse. It's a great room with lots more dress-up costumes, storybooks, and an expanded kitchen area. Patrick is thrilled to be back with all of his Munchkin friends, some of whom had already moved up over the summer. His first Wizard craft involved a rolled-up newspaper that some of the boys immediately turned into Star Wars light sabers (which Patrick calls 'light savers') and Donald brilliantly re-classified as his Wizard 'wand.'

One of the very exciting things about the new year is a new "shape" where he hangs his backpack. After an exciting year as a triangle, Patrick is now a pizza slice (Wizard shapes deliberately start with the first letter of their subject's name.) Patrick classifies his whole world now by someone's shape. When we were in Connecticut a few weeks ago visiting friends and their daughter we told Patrick that he was going to meet a "new friend." He immediately wanted to know "what is her shape"? This could get him into trouble farther down the line, but for now he is thrilled to be back with RJ the Rocket Ship and Seamus the Shamrock.