WGL, 11 Months

Dear William George,

You became eleven months old back on June 11th. This has been a big month for you. You began practicing a couple of steps here and there, and you worked on your modest two step maneuver for 3-4 days. The following Sunday you started walking 6-8 steps at a time, covering the entire expanse of any given room. The next day, you were walking all over our home. You are on your feet constantly, and you walk quickly or run.

You move so fast that I had to take your photo this month in sports mode.  Completely forget any manual efforts!  I worked on your photos three separate times during the day. I even tried a shock-and-awe strategy by waking you up from nap and immediately photographing you. You frowned angrily for the first five shots and then ran around the room. The outtakes are funny, but not exactly the stuff of good portraiture.

You are talking more and more. You will repeat most words with minimal prompting. Your disposition continues to be sweet and agreeable, but you do have a temper -- a very short fuse. 


As for your activities and preferences, you are mostly interested in walking these days, and you especially love your new ability to track down your sisters. You try to confiscate any toy they may have. We use musical instruments often, and you especially enjoy the rhythm sticks. You always try to grab whatever instruments your sisters have, and we are working on taking turns.  Speaking of music, you really like to sing "Bringing Home A Baby Bumblebee," although you still prefer "You Are My Sunshine" above anything else.

As for your culinary preferences, you are enjoying more vegetables. You have had fresh squash, green beans and corn. Your favorite treat is a saltine cracker. We say that's your heritage since my family lives a good cracker. 

Lauren asks all the time, "Mommy, aren't you glad we have George?"

We are. We are so very glad you joined our family.

Love,
Mommy

PS:  I forgot to mention that you broke your swing.  You logged many, many hours in that swing.  You took naps in the swing, and you often slept in the swing.  When we went on vacation, we took the swing (and it's not exactly compact).  The swing accommodates children up to 25 pounds; however, as I have often said, the manual does not state that it will continue to adequately swing a 25 pound child.  The swing did continue to function on its highest speed setting and with fresh batteries, but your heft was beginning to tax the motor.  Then you started reaching up and grabbing the mobile, and you realized you could stop the swing.  Your continual grabbing and stopping the swing caused the motor to stop working. 

Update

Well, hello there!  My apologies for the shortage of posts containing words, but we are in the middle of an Internet connectivity crisis and also have some home projects in the works. 

Here's an update: 

1)  I am awaiting the arrival of our Internet service provider, Charter Communications, any minute now, to correct service issues we have been having for a couple of weeks.  This will be our fourth service call since Saturday.

Updated:  Charter "no showed". 

2)  I got my hair cut (plus highlights) last night for the first time since before spring break (almost four months ago).  When I arrived, my stylist hugged me and exclaimed, "Where have you been???!!!" I wanted to cry softly on her shoulder.  The roots... they were not good. 

3)  Lauren and Gracie are at church this very minute making cookies with their fellow preschool choir members.  After baking and decorating, they will deliver them to the fire and police stations via the church bus.  I am leaving in five minutes to ride with them.  On the bus.  Yikes. 

4)  We are undergoing a deck expansion project.  We have pulled up all of the shrubs in the back yard and are doubling the size of our deck.  While I am not involved in any "hands on" capacity with this project, this enterprise has thrown our schedule for a loop because my children stay huddled around the doors and windows, trying to talk to "Mr. Kenny" over the construction sounds.  I shoo them away at least a dozen times per day.

5)  Today's projected high temperature is 106 -- not exactly deck- or bus-friendly weather.  I'm sure the help we have enlisted for the former must surely be about to revolt.  Me sitting on a hot church bus with sweaty preschoolers makes us even. 

That sums up our situation, and I am shocked my Internet connection has held long enough to type this out.  Have a great weekend, and stay cool.

Friday's quote

 

Monticello on Fotopedia Heritage Dreams come true. Without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them. -John Updike

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Here are Lauren, George and Gracie, as drawn by Lauren

Nora Ephron, 1941-2012

The news of Nora Ephron's passing away yesterday is so sad.  The cause of death is pneumonia, secondary to acute myeloid leukemia.  Selfishly, I will miss the essays she so masterfully wrote, the ones that always made me think this aging thing can be humorous.  As for the movies, there will never be a better writer that captures the female mindset better than Ephron. 

I previously wrote about Ephron here. 

From the NYT:  From Sharp Edges to Sugary Success and Back

Nora Ephron's films.

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Sidewalk Chalk

We keep an early routine during the summer.  With William George, this schedule is natural for us, but we think it works out better for everyone anyway.  Much like our nightly walks, we also take a morning stroll and then play outside before it becomes unbearably hot.  Some mornings, the girls play in the basement, either riding bicycles or scooters or playing with the many, many toys.  Going outside is preferred, though, and they have rediscovered the joys of sidewalk chalk. 

 

Much time is spent creating driveway masterpieces.  I love it when my children prefer low tech fun. 

What are your favorite simple pleasures for summer?

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X2

Nightly Walks

Hello,

I hope you all had a great weekend.  Ours was very low key.  Friday afternoon, we had tons of errands.  I went to Costco and quickly remembered that Fridays at Costco, especially during the summer months, are a mad house.  I actually had to scour the parking lot for a space and then located one of the few remaining carts to take into the store.  After Costco, we finished up our errand list, picked up George from his grandparents and had a quiet Friday night. 

We dropped by our city's art museum Sunday for a peek at the Warhol and Cars: American Icons exhibit.  If you happened to see my Instagram feed*, you may have spied some of the paintings we saw.  There were no signs expressly prohibiting photography, and I only used my iPhone camera (no flash) so I am hopeful that's kosher.  The exhibit is small, but well worth dropping in to see.  (The exhibit is free.) 

We spent the rest of the weekend playing with the girls and George.  We drug the pools and water table out Sunday afternoon, and everyone enjoyed a quick swim.  George has really adjusted to the pool and loves to pour water from a bucket. 

The highlight of the afternoon and evening are the nightly walks we take after dinner.  Most nights the girls and Skip walk through the neighborhood, but sometimes George and I join in the fun.  They love getting to visit with neighbors and visiting with the neighborhood pets.  Gracie always takes her stroller and some of her dolls so that they can get some fresh air, too.  Lauren likes to be unencumbered so she can flit about as necessary. 

After visiting and much running, everyone is ready for a good, hot bath and a good night's sleep. 

What is your favorite thing about slow summer evenings?

*The courteous thing to do would be to link to the feed, but I'm not sure how to do that.  For those of you in the know, my Instagram feed is "CathiOLindsey". 



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Friday's quote

 

San Cristóbal de La Laguna, via Fotopedia Heritage Believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts. -F. F. Bosworth

Sent from my iPhone

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Singing some tunes.

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WGL Milestones

William George inadvertently spoke his first sentence this past weekend.  Remember that George is very parrot-like, in that he spontaneously mimics words all the time.  Since Lauren and Gracie were late talkers, this behavior, while probably completely normal, is very new to us. 

The back story on his first sentence is that the girls spent the usual, requisite amount of time learning to say "please" and "thank you" during their second and third years.  Our work continues, in that regard, but we heavily emphasized properly asking for things during that time frame.  Gracie learned early on that saying "please" was the magic word.  She would end her request with please, as in, "Goldfish crackers, please."  Then, to make sure we knew we had to deliver, she would say, "That's good askin'!!!" 

Since this has  become an inside family joke, we should not have been surprised when George said, "Das goo askin'" this weekend. 

In other news, George is up and about!  We did not purchase a walker for George.  I was feeling a little "burned" by the exersaucer purchase (true, he did use that apparatus for four months, but that doesn't seem like a good return on investment) so I skipped the walker.  The lack of walker has not  been an issue because George has two sisters, and they have been walking him around for the last couple of weeks. 

In addition to his regular cruising routine, he has walked and walked all through the house, with the careful assistance of one or both of his sisters. 

He so dislikes crawling that he appeals for a hand so that he can walk upright. 

He has been taking two, sometimes three, steps at a time.  Over the weekend, he started tentatively walking, up to 8-10 steps at a time. 

He will spend the next couple of weeks working on his balance and honing his new skill.  We will spend that time reinforcing our home. 

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One of Skip's coworkers (actually, his former manager), Leslie, gifted William George with the above-pictured surfer inspired short all.  We think Geo is ready for a beach trip and some killer waves. 

Bottles

None of my children have been willing to hold her/his own bottles. However, they have been perfectly able to manage a toy bottle.

Friday's quote

 

Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar, via Fotopedia Heritage The only real valuable thing is intuition. -Albert Einstein

Sent from my iPhone

Southern Exposure Photography

In one of those funny, isn't-it-a-small-world moments, we learned that my niece was scheduled to have her senior portrait taken by a photographer who happens to be one of Skip's friends from school.  (I mentioned Jack previously here.)  Jack graciously invited me to the shoot, and my niece generously shared her time so that I could observe. 

The session was phenomenal and so much fun.  I can see why Jack enjoys moonlighting as a photographer.  We met up at Tannehill State Park, and Jack had several ideas for backdrops and even more ideas for creative, original posing.  The above shot (taken with my iPhone 3GS) should give you an idea, and yes, I am totally kicking myself for not taking some shots with my camera.  Boo on me. 

I learned a few tricks that I have already put to use this morning.  While many of the gizmo's and gadgets packed in his bag went straight over my head, he generously talked shop, and chatting with someone who has done the research and really perfected the medium is always enlightening. 

Please check out Southern Exposure Photography's website, http://www.southernexposurephotos.com/.

More shoots are scheduled, and my niece has invited me along.  I'm totally in. 

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Freedom

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Standing Tall

George prefers to stand now.  Even though he has only taken a couple of steps here and there, he is insulted if he is sat on the floor.  In fact, he will lock his body so that you cannot put him in a sitting position.  Instead, I usually have him standing next to a coffee table, ottoman, etc., so that he can stand comfortably. 

To put it another way, George is the perfect combination of high maintenance + stubbornness.  



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George and the Dishwasher

George's affinity for the dishwasher has been mentioned, but here is the photographic evidence.  He loves the dishwasher, keeps his ears attuned for any sounds indicating the dishwasher is open and charges for the kitchen determinedly to climb inside. 

He is always redirected from this activity, thus the guilty look.  Or, maybe that's a challenging look. 

"What're you gonna do about it?"

He grabs the upper rack and slides it in and out, sometimes shaking it. 

Occasionally, he will look around.  That's definitely a guilty expression. 

"Is she coming yet?"

The dishwasher is on his daily schedule of activities. 

He is a scamp!



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Me and William George

Softball Footage

Over the weekend, I made a couple of cosmetic changes to the site. I widened the entire space, added a third column and inserted a new widget. (Skip says he "isn't sure" about the "LinkWithin" widget. You will see this as the "You Might Also Like" caption below each post.) Truthfully, those tasks were not difficult, or else I would not have been able to figure it out.

Really, trust me on this.

I used to shoot video all the time with my iPhone, process the footage through Vimeo and embed the video here. Again, easy peasy. With one of the iPhone updates, the video load through Vimeo was no longer compatible, and the footage would be tilted. So... that was the end of that. Recently, after my vow to capture more video, I realized that this problem had been solved (probably long ago). I can, once again, shoot video, process through Vimeo and post to this blog -- all from my iPhone. If I haven't said it lately or often enough, I love Steve Jobs (still).

Below is some softball footage that I have had on my phone.  Lauren is on the pitcher's mound; Gracie is on first base; Skip is coaching first base.  As for me, I am trying to shoot video through a chain link fence.

Go Team Starburst!




Lauren as Pitcher from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

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Lauren reading Pinkalicious

Amazing Wonders, VBS 2012

This week Gracie and Lauren have been attending Vacation Bible School at cousin Lexy's (LEXY!) church.  Each morning this week they have been fascinated by two things.  First, that Aunt Melinda is involved with the church buses. (They pick up children from local daycare centers.)  They think that is awesome.  Next, they are overjoyed -- truly over the moon -- that they have seen Lexy every day this week. 

They have had the best time with their teacher, the young girls helping with the class and their fellow friends.  They have also enjoyed munching on some tasty Baptist meals and snacks.  Since I grew up in a Baptist church, I can understand their appreciation. 

 

Scripture of the week:  Our Lord is great, vast in power; His understanding is infinite.
Psalm 147:5 (HCSB)

The music director at this church is a true talent, and the choirs always have a wonderful program at the end of the week.  We are always amazed by how much he can accomplish in just four practices. 

They have had such a wonderful time and have asked repeatedly why VBS isn't next week, too.  We still have VBS at our church, and there's always next year. 



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Friday's quote

Ha Long Bay, via Fotopedia Heritage Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness. -Seneca

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