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Emmett Charles update: 11 months

May 17th, 2010 · by Leah · 2 Comments

Dear Emmett:

belly

I can’t believe that a year ago at this time, you were head down and bottom up in my belly–kicking and kicking and ready to go! Now, all these months later, you’re still ready go, everywhere you can! You started walking for real last Thursday, just a few weeks before your first birthday, and it’s almost as though you waited until you really knew what you were doing before taking off. You’ve spent the last three days teetering all around the house like a drunken sailor, grinning immensely at your own accomplishment.
[Read more →]

→ 2 CommentsTags: Baby · Emmett · Outdoors

Daddy’s little helper

May 17th, 2010 · by map · 5 Comments

I was putting in a new flower bed in the front yard yesterday and so had gardening implements all over the place. Emmett, who went from 0-60 in about 5 seconds last week in the walking dept., made a bee line right for my spade. Once there, he propped himself up on it and surveyed the yard like I’d screwed things up royally. Maybe he’s right. At the very least, I’m glad he’s getting used to hefting a shovel; this old man isn’t going to have the back for this work forever.

ecp_spade

→ 5 CommentsTags: Baby · Emmett · House · Outdoors

ECP walking

May 14th, 2010 · by map · No Comments

There may be hope for Ava’s videographer career yet.

→ No CommentsTags: Ava · Baby · Emmett · Entertainment · Movies

Luv Bug

May 14th, 2010 · by map · No Comments

agp_dappled

Dear Ava, I’m sorry for every second you’ve felt set aside by me in favor of your little brother. I love you so much.

→ No CommentsTags: Ava

Moment of Mother’s Day Cuteness

May 11th, 2010 · by map · No Comments

I hope you’re able to recognize Leah without the mole.

lmk_ecp

→ No CommentsTags: Baby · Emmett · Photography

For HKH

May 6th, 2010 · by map · No Comments

hkhiris

I hold it true, whate’er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
‘Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

In Memoriam A. H. H.
by Alfred Tennyson

→ No CommentsTags: Outdoors · Photography

Moments of cuteness

May 5th, 2010 · by map · 3 Comments

For your consideration. Ava at her dance class dress rehearsal on Monday:

dressup

And ECP giving me a smile on a walk we took yesterday while I was home with him:

ecpsmile

Crazy kids….

→ 3 CommentsTags: Ava · Baby · Big sis · Emmett · Outdoors · Photography

For Mark

April 26th, 2010 · by Leah · 3 Comments

“The world is, the world is,
Love and life are deep,
Maybe as his eyes are wide.”

I don’t tell my husband nearly often enough that he is a good father and a good husband–and that I love him to bits. This has been on my mind for awhile, but what really got me thinking about it was when a dear friend (you know who you are) quoted the very wise words of one Mr. Fred Rogers, who said:

“One of the strongest things we have to wrestle with in our lives is the significance of the longing for perfection in ourselves and in the people bound to us by friendship or parenthood or childhood.”
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→ 3 CommentsTags: General

Moment of cuteness, then and now

April 23rd, 2010 · by map · No Comments

There was no plan to get this shot annually, but now I’m thinking it might not be a bad idea. The 2010 version:

fluff

And from 2009:

fluff2

→ No CommentsTags: Ava · Outdoors · Photography

Bikin’

April 21st, 2010 · by map · No Comments

This past Sunday, we all loaded up on our bikes and took a ride to a nearby park. It was Emmett’s first ride in the Burley, and Ava did a great job holding her little bro’s hand as they rolled along together.
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→ No CommentsTags: Baby · Emmett

Moment of cuteness

April 20th, 2010 · by map · 2 Comments

It’s lilac season. But a B&W photo of lilacs? Wha…? I’m just that crazy, I guess.

agp_Lilac

→ 2 CommentsTags: Ava · Photography

Moment of hotness

April 15th, 2010 · by map · 3 Comments

We went over to visit Kevin and Rachel in their room at Hotel Vetro yesterday. Nice place. And lots of big windows, which meant lots of diffuse, natural light just right for taking pictures of LMK.

lmk_vetro

→ 3 CommentsTags: Photography

That look

April 12th, 2010 · by map · No Comments

Leah and I noticed lately that Emmett’s started making this…well, weird face sometimes. I don’t know if it’s because he’s not used to having teeth in his mouth, or what, but the expression is very much like one his big sis used to make when she was his age. Familial genetics, or a much, much deeper evolutionary holdover? Who’s to say?

grimaces

→ No CommentsTags: Ava · Baby · Big sis · Emmett

Moment of cuteness

April 12th, 2010 · by map · 2 Comments

What an amazing weekend it was. Emmett loved being out in the yard with his Aunt Rachel and Uncle Kevin.

ecp smile

→ 2 CommentsTags: Baby · Emmett

No no no

April 9th, 2010 · by map · 2 Comments

Emmett’s latest trick is to shake his head. It is, of course, mostly just a new muscular experiment and not a reaction to anything we’re saying or doing. I think. Who knows what’s going on in that crafty little mind of his? But it sure is cute (natch; what else am I going to say, right?), and we like to pretend we’re actually having nascent conversations with him.
[Read more →]

→ 2 CommentsTags: Baby · Emmett

More weekend cuteness

April 6th, 2010 · by map · 3 Comments

At the risk of overexposing a single event from the weekend, I really liked this picture of Emmett coming down the slide at College Green Park (with mom’s loving assistance):

ecp slide

The more I see of Em’s personality, the more I want to see. He’s such a good-natured little scamp, at least so far. I can’t wait to fully meet this little fella.

→ 3 CommentsTags: Baby · Emmett

Moment of cuteness

April 5th, 2010 · by map · No Comments

Had a really nice weekend, starting off with a dinner party for our friends Dawn and Ben. Then G.G. and Poom Poom rolled into town Saturday morning to do the Easter thing with us. The whole group took a walk to a nearby park yesterday afternoon, where we got some pictures I’m really fond of. Including, but not limited to, the following:

kids

→ No CommentsTags: Ava · Emmett · Outdoors · Photography

Nature boy

April 2nd, 2010 · by map · No Comments

I came home the other day to find the fam sitting in the front yard, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. I’m not going to go into how cute and funny and busy our little fella is. Instead, I’ll leave you with this image of little ECP, who in this picture is either 1) choking on a piece of bagel, or 2) turning into a werewolf. He’s a keeper.

rhino

→ No CommentsTags: Baby · Emmett · Outdoors

Best friends

April 2nd, 2010 · by map · 1 Comment

Ava’s best friend is Mac, a boy who lives one yard (and not the 36″ kind) away from us and is about six months older than she is. When not at school, they spend a lot of time together. They have these great phone conversations when one or the other calls to check on availability for a play date; Ava always puts Mac on speakerphone. I’ve thought about getting the duo a pair of walkie talkies, but they use the phone so expertly, there doesn’t seem to be a point.
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→ 1 CommentTags: Ava

Boy, oh boy!

March 31st, 2010 · by Leah · 4 Comments

I found the dress in a secondhand store. It was brown, with sprigs of cheery flowers, in a size 2T, so I bought it on impulse and hung it in your closet, where it sat waiting for you. That’s how sure I was that you were going to be a girl. I could have confirmed my intuition: We’d charted the helix of your DNA, and the results were in an envelope tucked away in a cupboard. But I never looked. And every night, I felt you brushing your fingers, rubbing your knees, and tapping your toes against me, and I thought to myself, “You sure are busy in there, little girl.”
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→ 4 CommentsTags: Baby · Emmett