Entranced by the bird swing

MVI_8909edit
Originally uploaded by misssummerblock

A video clip of Beatrice mesmerized as always by the rotating bird mobile above her swing:

Beatrice, Month Two

It's already time to upload a whole new batch of photos of Beatrice during her second month of life. And she's had an extremely eventful month (for an infant).

We started off the month with a trip to Santa Fe when she was only four weeks old.

Then we drove up the following weekend to the Bay Area where Beatrice met Sam, Lilli, and Ezra.

She met a host of new baby friends.

Just last weekend she was the guest of honor at our Welcome Baby Party.

And this week she made her first brave foray into a swimming pool and had a good time splashing and kicking her feet.

Rosemary and Beatrice have also been enjoying picnicking at the Descanso Gardens outdoor concert series. And Beatrice came to watch Rosemary in her gymnastics class.



And of course, she's been spending plenty of time with the dogs.


This has also been a tremendous learning month for the baby. Every day she becomes more aware of her surroundings. She can smile and laugh.


She loves staring at objects

and makes occasional attempts to reach out and touch things.

Find many more photos on Flickr and Facebook.

Congratulations Stephanie and Paul!

Last night we had a small surprise engagement party for Stephanie, back from her most recent trip to Indonesia. The lighting was not very conducive to photography but here are a few (blurry) pictures:







And Beatrice "interacting" with her new friend, Miller:



Can't wait for the wedding in January . . .

Welcome Baby Party

Yesterday more than 30 people dropped by for an open house party and a chance to welcome Beatrice to the planet. People brought gifts, flowers, balloons - and their own babies - to celebrate. Beatrice was passed from person to person for seven hours (!) and held up beautifully without any fussing or complaining. And when the last person left, she went smoothly and gratefully to sleep.

All in all a very nice day, though I am sorry it was too hot to sit outside. But by the time the last guests left around 7pm, Dev and I were able to go outside by ourselves and enjoy the backyard decor while eating our dinner from In n' Out.

Check out some photos from the party - there are lots more on Facebook.

Congratulations, Megan and Adam

On your wedding! Megan and Adam got married over Fourth of July weekend - and again, I'm very late in congratulating them, but Dev and I can't wait to visit them in New York this fall.

A Little Less Cromwell to Love

Cromwell is home and recovering well from a minor surgical procedure he underwent earlier this week. In short, we finished neutering him, and only four years after we got him from the humane society. It seems the veterinarian that neutered him the first time neglected to remove one undescended testicle that has remained lodged in his body all this time. Not only might this testicle be responsible for his rather - untoward - behavior, but leaving it in can be a cancer risk down the road - and so out it came.

See the poor shaved dog below.

Welcome Alexis!

And last but not least, congratulations to Lynley and Mike for their daughter Alexis!

I've known Lynley since I was nine years old, so it's especially exciting - and a little overwhelming - to see her have a daughter! I'm looking forward to getting a photo of Beatrice and Alexis side by side to keep with the many photos of me and Lynley through the years. Now two of my oldest friends from elementary school - Summer and Lynley - both have kids. And so do I.

Welcome Miller!

And another congratulations, this time to Amy and Evan for their son Miller, born on July 14 in a preternatural state of alertness - in his photos he's looking at his family wide-eyed from about five minutes old. Beatrice and I visited Miller earlier this week - more baby friends from Beatrice!

Welcome Kaitlyn!

This has been a very exciting month and I've gotten behind on my blog posts. But I owe a heartfelt (if belated) congratulations to Sarah and Colin for the birth of their wonderful little girl Kaitlyn, born on July 10! Beatrice has visited with Kaitlyn twice - I think she counts as her first friend.

Baby's First Road Trip

Another late post, but I wanted to include some photos from baby's first road trip. When Beatrice was four weeks old we loaded her up with both of the dogs and took them all off to Santa Fe, about 15 hours away. Why Santa Fe? well, why not? Or as I said to Dev, if this baby doesn't like doing stupid things for no reason, then she sure picked the wrong family.

We descended on Michael Waddington, his girlfriend Laura, and their dog Boston and it was a wonderful trip. Thank you to Michael and Laura for being such great hosts - that kind of hospitality is exactly what leads to you having people show up at your house on two days' notice with an infant and two dogs.

On the road:






Beatrice meeting Laura and Michael:





Hiking at Tent Rocks National Monument:





And best of all, prairie dogs:




See the rest of the photos on Flickr or Facebook.