Birthday Suit

Truman's Impression of Stock Brokers Right Now

Out and About

Just a few pictures from our many adventures over the last month.



Standing in the kids play area at Luther Hopkins Honda, while we got our yearly oil change (seriously, the CRV needs an oil change about once a year):




Sleeping in the Princeton library:




Checking out the new Target in Otsego:




Eating menus with Nikki:




Maybe books make him sleepy?




In his winter coat:

An Early Thanksgiving

(in grandpa's hat)

We're heading to San Diego for Thanksgiving and James and Nikki are planning to be out of town, as well, so a bunch of us got together last weekend to have an impromtu early Thanksgiving dinner at Biagi's in Mapple Grove. (We were supposed to celebrate our nephew Joe's birthday, not to mention his parent's anniversary, but Joe got sick. I'm sorry I didn't get to say this in person, but Happy Birthday Joe!)

I had delicious sea bass with garlic mashed potatoes, spinach and a roasted red pepper sauce, mmm:









Thanks again for dinner, Joe and Marian!

Election Day

Truman and I took advantage of Tuesday's good weather and walked to our polling place, the old railroad depot, to vote. Afterward Truman explore more of his favorite fall treat.

I enjoyed bringing Truman to vote. I wheeled his stroller into the little voting booth and the two of us wedged inside as I voted. He was quiet and calm, as if he knew it was important. Watching the results of election on TV was elating, especially when you compare it to the last two contentious elections. I'm excited to see what change Obama brings.

In the voting booth:




And outside at the depot:

First Fall

Here are the pictures with pumpkins I promised last week. I think they were worth the wait. The light just wasn't right when I tried to take them last week and then it got cold. I seized today's warmth to get these portraits taken. The big pumpkin is a gift from grandma Marian's garden and the sweater was hand-sewn by Sally.




















Trying to eat grass:







"Are you my mummy?":







Looking a little grumpy:

When Babies Attack

Joe was taking a little nap on the floor last night when Truman decided to use him as a jungle gym.

Just Call Him Little Fish

I finally got to take Truman swimming for the first time when his cousins invited us last week. He loved it. I envision much more swimming to come in this kid's future. I was a fish when I was a kid, so this was a special milestone for me.

The same day he figured out that if he dumped a water glass over on the floor he could splash the water around. So when we got into the pool, I showed him that he could use his arm to splash. He went about splashing almost the whole time we were in the pool.

Thanks for letting us swim with you Elizabeth, Pat, Josh and Joe! And thanks for letting me borrow your swim suit, Pam!





















Truman and Elizabeth snuggling after:

Crawling, Check. Standing, Check.

Truman's like a little bureaucrat anxious to check off all the boxes on his mobility list. He's crawling on all fours now, though he oscillates between crawling and army crawling to get where he's going. And for the last week he's been pulling up on things. First it was the couch, then toys, then mommy and daddy. And now the laundry basket.

He doesn't get it every time, but he's getting better everyday. He's also enjoying standing to play with things. He must see that all of his cousins are older and be in a hurry to play with them.

It's hard to get a picture of him actually standing because he's a big-ole ham for the camera and when I go to take a picture he likes to smile at me. So here are some of him kneeling and helping me with the laundry.

A Pumpkin Ate My Baby

My grandmother and mom sent Truman a pumpkin Halloween costume and a Halloween card. As you can see, Grammy, he enjoyed the card!

More pumpkin suit photos to come later today. Stay tuned.

6 months: The World is Mine (And I'd Like it in My Mouth, Please!)

At six months, Truman is a whopping 19 pounds 4 ounces and 27 and 1/4 inches tall. That's only 1/4 inch taller than he was at 4 months, but it puts him in the 75% for height and weight; and he wants to explore the world.

He spent the last month mastering his army crawl and discovering the ins-and-outs and dos-and-don'ts of our home. He's used this skill to satisfy a pressing need to chomp. Like a very teething caterpillar he's chomped cardboard puzzle pieces, felt food, banana peels, clothes, spoons, fingers, teething rings and leaves. And would like to chomp every cable ever made, although I think he's getting the picture it's not going to happen. We see no teeth budding yet.

He's been babbling in recognizable ma-ma's and ga'ga's and da-da once or twice. He seems to get the idea that ma-ma is either me or "help," scooting over to me and uttering an endless ma-ma-ma-ma-ma until I pick him up.

He's becoming simultaneously more independent and more tied to me. After a big exploration, he likes to refocus. He smiles often and giggles much.

Smiling at 3 weeks:




And, today: