Saturday, May 31, 2014

A Birthday Apiece For My Two Loved Ones

Another year for two!  Last week, as they ever shall, The Wife and The Boy celebrated their birthdays in rapid succession (and don't let's forget The Wife's first official Mother's Day!).  It was fun and delightful and we spread the festivities over several days so as to make the most of them.

Julie made a delicious cake on her day of days, and we put out a general invitation for anyone who wanted to come and take part in it.  We had some friends and family come and help us eat it, and it was definitely delicious (lemon poppyseed with almond frosting, yes, please and thank you very much).  There was some Veronica Marsing throughout the day, and some Coldplaying, and a little bit of Fairy Tale Booking too.  Happy birthday, Wife!  You make [mumbles something that sounds a lot like mid-20s-ish] look mighty fine.
She's a master!

It was so very yes.

I tried to capture this scrunchy face he's been making lately, but it didn't really come across, especially with this neat crayon brush.

And then came this fellow's big day.
(The one on the right.  I'm just there to admire.)
He was actually being squiggly and looking all over the place, The Wife just happened to shoot at the exact right moment.
He likes to fly.
On the day of we just had a little party at home with some strawberry shortcake (luckily he has taken a liking to strawberries again, after a brief period of refusing to eat them, thanks in large part to his mother's patient and repeated and gradual exposure of them to him), and webcamming with his out-of-town family.
Birthday cake!
Birthday bath!

Birthday bash aftermath!
He was having a grand old time, and of course one of his favorite things was the wrapping.
We wondered if he would be old enough to appreciate a toy like this, but we didn't wonder for long.

Then on Saturday we had a party/picnic/playdate at the park planned, but inclement weather forced us to relocate to our little place, which turned out fine, even if a little snug (which is why we planned it for the park in the first place).  There were baby muffins and baby water bottles and THREE kinds of grapes and plenty of strawberries for all.  We all ended up passing around library books that we've been enjoying, and all are enamored with Marla Frazee.
Julie's ingenious party invitation.

Another little muffin cake just for you, baby!

There were a lot of people in close quarters, but the kids enjoyed running around our yard (such as it is), and Bobo definitely was glad to have some company, as well as lots of fun presents (see aftermath photo above).

And then, of course, by the afternoon, the weather was gorgeous and the park was perfect:
Oh well, we had fun anyway!  (Bobo used up all his smiles on the swings.)
So yes, another month (The Wife's great update here), and we're just amazed our little man is a year old.  It feels like it's gone by slowly and also really quickly, but in either case, it's been a grand old time.  People always say these first years are hard and you have to wait and hope to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but seriously, these days have been golden.  He's sweet and funny and sometimes bewilderingly fussy, but for the most part he's such a good boy, and for that we are definitely grateful.  He loves giving wet kisses on any spot of the face, he is very vocal and sometimes just sits there hollering to hear his voice, and he is quite a snugglebuns, especially with his ma.  He (thankfully!) likes the bath again, he's making good headway on his Disney animation education, he finally really loves the pool, he eats heartily and happily, and he's stretching more vertically than he is horizontally, and he has definitely taken his first solo steps.
Definitely feeling Fun and Fancy Free with the Wii games.
It's never to early in life for a little Mary Blair.

Merrily on his way to nowhere in particular.
Mice and magic on an early morning.

Curiouser and curiouser.
He can fly! [X3]

Long night + early morning = Mommy and Lady both catching up on some sleep.

A beautiful day at Thanksgiving Point's Tulip Festival.  Here he scored his first little sunburn.  (It didn't seem to bother him much.)

He often finds his way to this spot.  Mayhap he's trying to tell me something?

Sunday afternoon snuggles.  Oh my beating heart.

The first visit of the season to Seven Peaks and the maiden voyage of the HMS My Baby Float.  Baby did NOT get much sunburned this day.  (But we did...  Baby sunblock doesn't really cut it for we older folks, it seems.)
Ohhhh, these twoooo.
Happy birthday, Wife, and happy first to you, my son!!!  We are ever so happy you came to live with us a whole year ago.
We celebrated through the rest of the week, including Memorial Day, when we went to Seven Peaks, grilled on the long-neglected grill and watched plenty of back-episodes of The Amazing Race.

And then, just because, here's a cake that The Wife made, totally unrelated to any of these activities: 
Remember that scene in Matlida?...

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Blogkeeping -- Fall 2013

Time to clean out the sidebar!  I really should just do this more often instead of waiting until I've posted the latest thing-I've-been-meaning-to-post.  Anyway, these 100 movies were all watched from the end of May 2013 (bottom) to October 2013.

The Addams Family [r] *** 1/2 / The Haunting (1999) [r] *** / The Haunting (1963) [r] *** 1/2 / Edward Scissorhands [r] ***** / Face/Off [r] *** / Hocus Pocus [r] *** 1/2 / Rosemary's Baby *** / Wait Until Dark [r] **** / Project Runway (Season 12) *** 1/2 / Dial M for Murder [r] *** 1/2 /
84 Charing Cross Road *** 1/2 / Paranormal Activity 2 *** 1/2 / Paranormal Activity *** / Shaun of the Dead [r] **** / The Tale of Despereaux [r] ** / Toy Story of Terror *** / Pacific Rim *** / We Own the Night ** 1/2 / Underworld *** 1/2 / Bridesmaids ** 1/2 / Public Enemies ** / Gormenghast (1/4...) * 1/2 / Persuasion (2007) [r] *** 1/2 / Epic *** / The Great Gatsby (2013) *** / Broadchurch (Series 1) *** / Bartok the Magnificent [r] *** 1/2 / Anastasia [r] **** 1/2 / Persuasion (1995) [r] **** 1/2 / World War Z **** / A Tree Grows In Brooklyn *** 1/2 / Heroes of Cosplay (Season 1) ** 1/2 / Reign of Fire *** 1/2 / Now You See Me ** 1/2 / The Incredible Burt Wonderstone ** 1/2 / Star Trek: Into Darkness [r] **** 1/2 / Northanger Abbey (1986) ** / Admission ** 1/2 / Rise of the Guardians *** 1/2 / *batteries not included [r] *** / This Is Spinal Tap ** 1/2 / Northanger Abbey (2004) *** 1/2 / Clueless [r] ***** / Monsters, Inc. [r] **** 1/2 / Monsters University *** 1/2 / Richard M. Sherman and Alan Menken: The Disney Songbook *** 1/2 / People Like Us ** 1/2 / The Lady Vanishes (2013) *** 1/2 / Holes [r] **** 1/2 / Taken 2 ** 1/2 / The Host ** / Beautiful Creatures ** 1/2 / Crash [r] ***** / The Outsiders *** / Emma (2009) [r] **** / Independence Day (sort of) [r] ** / V For Vendetta ** / Somewhere In Time [r] *** 1/2 / Emma (1996) [r] ***** / Jack the Giant Slayer * 1/2 / Warm Bodes *** 1/2 / The Queen of Versailles *** 1/2 / Black Swan ** 1/2 / Mansfield Park (2007) *** 1/2 / Blazing Saddles ** 1/2 / Pushing Daisies (Season 2) **** / The Slipper and the Rose [r] *** / Les Misérables (2012) [r] *** / Pitch Perfect *** 1/2 / Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure [r] ** / Pushing Daisies (Season 1) **** 1/2 / Mansfield Park (1999) [r] *** 1/2 / The 10th Kingdom [r] *** / One For the Money * 1/2 / Pollyanna [r] **** 1/2 / Alias (Season 5) ** 1/2 / Because of Winn-Dixie *** 1/2 / Man of Steel *** 1/2 / Alias (Season 4) *** 1/2 / Alias (Season 3) **** / Alias (Season 2) **** 1/2 / The Avengers [r] *** / Alias (Season 1) **** / The Great Gatsby (2000) *** / God's Army [r] **** / The Great Gatsby (1974) [r] ** 1/2 / Pride & Prejudice (1995) [r] ***** / Our Mutual Friend **** / The Green Mile [r] **** 1/2 / Fargo *** 1/2 / Fiddler On the Roof [r] **** 1/2 / Pride & Prejudice (2003) [r] **** / Smash (Season 2) *** 1/2 / Atonement **** / Pride & Prejudice (2005) [r] *** 1/2 / The Bletchley Circle (sort of) *** 1/2 / Hawaii Five-0 (Season 3) ** 1/2 / Bates Motel (Season1) **** 1/2 / Grimm (Season 2) *** 1/2 / Jack Reacher ***

And these are the 50 books I read from October 2013 to January 2014.

The Art of Frozen (Charles Solomon) **** / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle (C.S. Lewis) ***** / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Newphew (C.S. Lewis) ***** / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy (C.S. Lewis) **** / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair (C.S. Lewis) ***** / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (C.S. Lewis) **** 1/2 / The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (C.S. Lewis) **** / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis) ***** / Foodie Babies Wear Bibs (Michelle Sinclair Colman) ** / A Christmas Carol: A BabyLit Colors Primer (Jennifer Adams) ***** /  How To Cheat In Photoshop CS4: The Art of Creating Realistic Photomontages (Steve Caplin) *** / Cry, the Beloved Country (Alan Paton) **** / Belles On Their Toes (Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey) **** / Cheaper By the Dozen (Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey) *** 1/2 / We Belong Together (Joyce Wan) ***** / The Dead Bird (Margaret Wise Brown) ** / Anna Karenina: A BabyLit Fashion Primer (Jennifer Adams) **** / The Magician's Elephant (Kate DiCamillo) **** 1/2 / The One and Only Ivan (Katherine Applegate) *** / Not a Box (Antoinette Portis) ***** /  The Dollhouse Asylum (Mary Gray) * / Hamsters Holding Hands (Kass Reich) **** / All the Wrong Questions: When Did You See Her Last? (Lemony Snicket) **** / Jabberwocky: A BabyLit Nonsense Primer (Jennifer Adams) *** / Sherlock Holmes in the Hound of the Baskervilles: A BabyLit Sounds Primer (Jennifer Adams) **** / The Vanishing Game (Kate Kae Myers) **** / The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson) **** / Cozy Classics: War and Peace (Jack Wang) ***** / Cozy Classics: Pride and Prejudice (Jack Wang) ***** / On the Day I Died: Stories From the Grave (Candace Fleming) ***** /  Good Night, Gorilla (Peggy Rathmann) ***** / The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear (Don and Audrey Wood) ***** / The 13th Floor: A Ghost Story (Sid Fleischman) *** / The Conductor (Laëtitia Devernay) ** / Moby Dick: A BabyLit Ocen Primer (Jennifer Adams) ***** / The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Kate DiCamillo) ***** / Doll Bones (Holly Black) ** / Wuthering Heights: A BabyLit Weather Primer (Jennifer Adams) *** / Jane Eyre: A BabyLit Counting Primer (Jennifer Adams) ***** / Anya's Ghost (Vera Brosgol) **** /  The Worthy: A Ghost's Story (Will Clarke) ** / Les Petits Fairytales: Rapunzel (Trixie Belle) ** / Let Petits Fairytales: Beauty and the Beast (Trixie Belle) ** / Les Petits Fairytales: The Little Mermaid (Trixie Belle) ** / Midnight In Austenland (Shannon Hale) *** 1/2 / Austenland (Shannon Hale) *** / The Tale of Despereaux (Kate DiCamillo) ***** / The Ocean At the End of the Lane (Neil Gaiman) **** / Little Miss Austen -- Sense & Sensibility: A BabyLit Opposites Primer (Jennifer Adams) ***** / Little Miss Austen -- Pride & Prejudice: A BabyLit Counting Primer (Jennifer Adams) *****

And that's all for now!  I'm pretty sure I'm ready for another one of these right away, so it won't be long before I do another one.  Whew.