updates

well, we're into beatrix's eighth week and we're seeing some intriguing developments. we've got a baby tri-fecta going on-

1. her eyes are beginning to change. you have to look closely (which her mother and i have been known to do on occasion ), but they are definitely turning some shade of brown. are they on their way to some other shade of brown, or even green, or a little brown and green ( like daddy's )?
2. speech. sort of. like the smiles that went from reflex 'i'm pooping/milk drunk/asphyxiated' to actual, honest, 'i'm smiling at you, yes you!' smiles, we now have attempts to communicate. we of course have no idea what the hell she's talking about, but she's definitely grown from just passing air up her neck and getting lucky to actually screeching, whooping, and laughing. it's really quite scary. really.
3. drool. we were just talking today about how we hoped we weren't going to get a real drooler. sure, kids drool. but then some kids DROOOOOOOL. we were hoping for the former, but may have been stuck with the latter. she's pumping the stuff out like nobody's ( drool ) business, but we're hoping she can get it under control.

in other news, to kick off daddy's vacation we went out to mems' and teed's over the weekend. yes, we were tempting fate considering how well the last time went, but this time was better. for one, we approached the weekend not as the swinging young kids we were almost eleven months ago, but as the OLD couple with child that we are now. no staying up late, no loud conversations, music, distractions, etc. it was definitely a different kind of weekend than we're used to having there, but we were able to pull it off and bebe got to spend some time with the grandparents. since liza was snapping away with her camera all weekend long, i felt like taking some time off from that job and happily watched her shoot instead. i couldn't go the entire weekend without taking any pictures though, so here's what i got.

we had a deer come and hang out in the yard for a bit:

she ate some flowers and then went up the back hill, into the woods. if we had one of them huntin' helicopters and a high-powered assault rifle we coulda' done chased her back into the woods and blowed her dang fool head clean off. we had to settle for me sitting on teed's shoulders with a big stick while he drove us up the back hill on his tractor. we got stuck and tipped over just past the garden. so it goes.

there were a couple more great sunsets...

and a cool sunrise as well.

bebe and i took a walk through the goldenrod early one morning. we saw more yellow in one place than we've ever seen, and some pretty wild flowers ( seriously, they were pretty wild- they were drinking, and smoking, and cussing...) and TONS of fat, blood-laden TICKS that bit into each of us happily, infecting us with lyme disease. just kidding about that last part, but i could hear the conversation i would have with the wife later on playing in my head while my daughter and i traipsed around the nature: 'are you trying to give our baby diseases!?! you need to check her- look in all of the folds, that's where the ticks like to go, y'know! you'll feel so bad if she gets sick!' this conversation, in fact, happened once we were back inside. ask teed. and of course i was being extra careful and keeping her from harm's way. lb is right though, i would feel bad. bad for getting beebs sick, and bad for lying to my wife when i found a tick but told her the baby was clean. i hate being proven wrong about stuff.

beebs and her teed. she's awful happy when he carries her around like this. we're a little concerned she might be duck footed, though.

one last sunset for the summer, and we're out...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE SETH!

beatrix marie's uncle seth turns twenty-one today! it's hard to believe that the last baby i spent any amount of time taking care of is all growed up today! let's take a quick look back, shall we?

seth was born early ( we all were ), and for a short while we weren't sure if he was going to make it.

eventually he came home, and the hell-raising began...

seth was a natural athlete from the time he could stand on his own. he was throwing perfect spirals with the football before he was big enough to get his hand around the ball, and he always swung for the fences (and made them) with a bat that was twice as big as he was tall. he played soccer on teams all over town, as well as the high school team. he was usually the best player on the team, and whatever he lacks in given ability ( which is not much), he makes up for with heart.

he takes some shit for being the baby of the family, but his mommy always stick up for him.

happy birthday, baby brother. i love you a lot

and so does bebe.

waking up (is hard to do) pt 2

ahhhh, another idyllic morning. mother and babe, snoozing on the couch...

mommy's binky. sometimes she shares with bebe.

let's see if we can get a little closer, shall we?

here we see the cub, nestled against her mother's breast. in the wild, babies will often nap close to the watering hole. or spigot, as it were.

she seems truly peaceful and calm while asleep

...but if she were to wake suddenly, make no mistake- those paws are capped with razor-sharp nails that will flail and cut you to ribbons! just look at the strength lying dormant within those mighty mits. marvelous!

run! she's awake!

ha, false alarm. she appears to be in the midst of a dream...

'as night fell upon the plains, the wild beeb (known scientifically as beatrix mariatrixus ) dripped like ink from her cave, low to the ground, up wind, stalking her prey with the precision of a craftsman turbo charged table saw. for those of you that don't know, that's precise.

through the underbrush to the tall grass, which would serve as the perfect cover to her approach of the herd. they moo'ed ignorantly under the light of the moon. 'ha ha,' she thought. 'the killing light... of the killing moon!' she had yet to take a creative writing class. irregardless ( or an english usage and grammar course), she moved betwixt and between the tall blades of grass, watching the animals mill about, uttering almost to herself 'glurballomurf...' (or actually learned to speak english at this point ). but none of that mattered. all that existed was the hunger! the hunger was what drove her, or pushed her in a stroller, baby bjorned her, carried her... etc. it was all she knew, all she could think of. actually, 'having a good poop' popped into her head from time to time as well. but mostly, it was the hunger! soon, so soon, she would feed! launching herself at the underbelly of the nearest cow, four nipples, all to herself!

she could almost taste the sweet bounty on her lips, white gold!

"hiya! who goes there!"

"oh, it's you daddy. you shouldn't sneak up on a sleeping baby."

"and i was having the sweetest dream, too! man, i can almost taste that udder..."

beatrix, that's kinda' gross.

"i know. still pretty cool, though. all four... all for me."

but it was milk from a cow. you can't eat that stuff anyway!

"oh, mr. big-daddy-smarty-pants-grown-up-guy, do you have to ruin it? besides, it was symbolic! haven't you ever taken a creative writing class?"

"and why are you wearing that safari hat? you look like a dork! jeeze..."

and so, the sun sets once more on the wild plains of... jamaica plain. please join us again next time, on Wild Baby Kingdom...

waking up (is hard to do)

well, daddy's officially on a two week vacation! this could mean lots of blog posts, or not so many- only time will tell. but since i basically took the weekend off, here's the first of a couple quick ones...