one

Ro has been with us for a year now! We celebrated his first birthday with family and ice cream cake. What a year it has been . . . tonight, just for old times' sake, Mercer & I put on Thriller and reminisced about times spent gently bouncing a screaming, tiny Ro to the beat, 5:20am, before sunrise, staring out the window, seeing nothing. Thinking back to those days, it's hard to recognize the cheery, personable little guy he has become.

We had an awesome birthday weekend (well, hopefully Ro did, 'cause I sure did). Grandmas and Grandpas abounded, as did a Great Grandma and an Aunt Hannah, and others were with us in spirit. Plus, it was downright hot, so we did what we do best: played outside and ate copious amounts of food. R loed his ice cream cake. Okay, so did I.

This past weekend was decidedly less gorgeous. It poured rain, we all went a little stir crazy, so long story short we ended up mall walking Sunday afternoon, which was unexpectly a great idea. What other activities allow you to stretch your legs and laugh at teenagers all at once? Just kidding, I heart teens. In other, even less cheery news, our porch is on the verge of caving in. Long story, but we have been awash in repair estimates. Our life sometimes feels like an instructional manual entitled Don't Do Things This Way. Anyhow, here are some pix from sunnier times:


b

Alabama started it

Today was a snowday, so we doubled up on socks, fashioned a crude sled out of cardboard and duct tape, packed up one boy, and went to the park.

As you can see, Mama was a great puller. Unfortunately, R has been one sad man today. He's cutting his 8th tooth (!) and has been a tired crank. He didn't sleep well last night, and that means no one did.

Here's the man in motion. You can see the smooth action of the sled as it runs over the crystalline snow. R wore his Toronto Mapleleafs hat, which has garnered more than one "right on" from park-dads we've run into.


Here's the vessel before launch. I think it may have been more fun inside than out. We made a serious tactical error by going through the park. R wanted to get out and play like regular--the slide, crawling up the low stairs, but, man, we don't even have snow suits!

Here you can see us getting "pumped" for the excursion. The other day, L was doing an event at a gym called "The Rush" and noticed that when you leave there is a big sign over the door that orders you to "STAY PUMPED" while you're out in the weak, effete, unpumped world at large.

Oh, and, GR, I want you to know that breakfast today was made of oatmeal. Oats and meal. And NO waffles...(sigh...)