Not a baby

A few more pictures of my baby, before he stops being my baby. (He thinks he already has.)

I love it when he is serious and thoughtful. He is very deliberate in what he decides to do---he thinks it over first.

A little cautious, like Abe was at this age.

A little silly, like Seb was at this age.

He loves to point and pat my tummy and say "Baby! Mommy's baby!" But my shirt has to be pulled up first (apparently there's no baby on top of the shirt). He pats his own bare tummy and says "baby" too. We can only hope he manages to be that pleased about it all when he's confronted with an actual baby. :)

He's so sunny and cheerful, most of the time. One of the happiest little guys I've ever met.

He still sucks those fingers sometimes. Usually while holding his birdie, or feeling the back of his hair, with his other hand.

Long eyelashes. When he was born I was sure he wouldn't have any eyelashes at all. His cheeks were simply too chubby to allow for them. But they have come in, gradually, and now they're dark and gorgeous.

That chubby arm!! And those chubby cheeks! I love them so much!

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Splash Pool

We have been spending so much time at the regular swimming pool, it's been a while since we went to the splash pool. But we love it. Here are a few pictures.

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Black-eyed Susans

These are one of my favorite summer flowers, and we have a lot of them around. Some are cultivated and some are more wild-looking, but I think they are the same kind of flower.

Most of the wild ones are a lot tinier. I think they are SO cute!

Ky points at an airplane. I think I have one of these pictures in every set I take (living by the airport is fun!).

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Sprinkler Brothers

Playing sprinklers. Sebby is being a sprinkler that got stuck in the "up" position. Malachi is doing the same.

Abey takes good care of his little brother Malachi, but Sebby just treats him like a regular person. This means that Sebby shoves Ky around a lot, but he also expects Ky to be able to understand what he says and play with him just like Abe can. Ky, of course, loves this (the treated-like-a-person part). He adores Sebby and tries SO hard to do everything Seb does. He'll even laugh for Seb on demand ("Mal-chi, yaff!" Sebby will command imperiously. And Ky laughs.)

This hero-worship of Seb led to Ky saying "fwuffball" as one of his very early words, and more recently, it has led to him being very interested in sprinklers, just like some other boy we know. Observe:

Ky also joins Sebby in frequently playing that he IS a sprinkler. This consists of running around in circles, twirling, splashing, popping up and down, and making many watery noises. It's really cute to hear Ky imitating Sebby's every little sound, and waving his arms around and falling over whenever Sebby does.

Sebby says he wants to be a sprinkler repairman when he grows up. I think maybe it needs to be a family business.

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Some things Ky does these days

Still sucks on those two fingers---when he's sad or thoughtful.

Says lots of sentences or phrases:

• "Up please, Daddy!"
• "Two sprinklers over there!"
• "Hold Mama's hand?"
• "Look, Monkey Hat on!"
• "Ayyyyy-bee! Ahhhh-bee!" [yells for Abey and Sebby if they aren't close by]
• "Ready? . . . Set? . . . Go!"
• "Daddy, come back!"
• etc.

Says the prayer (with help) and finishes "Jesus Christ, AMEN!" all by himself

Loves his toy donut ("nut-nut!")

Pretends he is a sprinkler, with Sebby

Laughs if anyone else laughs

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Car

Two boys in the back of our new car.

Sebby said, "Mommy, it's called a 'minivan' because it can hold SO . . . MINI . . . PEOPLE!"

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Dear Sir or Madam:

Yes, I have reached your website, whether inadvertently or on purpose. But this does not give you license to subject me to your music. I do not want to listen to your playlist. I do not like your music. No, not even your favorite super-hip indie band (which I am too uncool to have heard of, sorry). No, not even your beloved breathy-voiced inspirational singer.

Do you imagine that I am grooving along to your sweet tunes? You are mistaken. I turn my speakers off just to avoid your music. When caught off-guard by it anyway, I become resentful and often close my browser immediately. (I sometimes accompany this action with a muttered epithet.)

When did opening a new website become an action fraught with (musical) peril? All I want is a little peace and quiet.
Thank you.

Your uncool, ungroovin' friend,
Marilyn

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Garage

We've been trying to get various things ready for when the baby comes---including buying a minivan (from the nicest family---thank you KSL.com---and I love it!) and becoming, for the first time, a 2-car family! It feels very odd (but nice, of course) to not have to arrange our schedules around which day of the week we can be mobile.

This also means we actually have to fit two cars in our 2-car garage. So, we've spent the past week sanding, priming, painting, and putting up shelves, etc. to see if it was indeed possible to fit two cars and a bunch of other garage stuff in there together. This is the garage last year (after I cleaned it, mind you):
I would have been content to leave it unpainted and just install shelves, but Sam maintained that painting would be better (and he was right, of course).

Abe was a big help, which was great. I love having kids old enough to work with us!

Blue! Pretty.

And here is the final result! It's amazing how much the place can open up when you can utilize the wall space. I especially like the high un-boy-reachable cabinet on the back wall, for weed killer/bug killer/dangerous chemicals (they made one of the cabinets the wrong size when they built the house, so this has been sitting in our garage since we moved in) and the pegboard (what's a tool bench without pegboard?). I like the bike pulleys, too---they're amazingly easy to use.

And voila! Both cars fit. Hooray!

P.S. "So you've been doing some nesting," said my midwife. But I don't know. I don't think you can really call it "nesting" if it's in the garage. The baby isn't getting any special treatment yet for its room (a.k.a. the bassinet in the bathroom---for the first little while anyway), poor thing.

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Find your inner X-chromosome

Before. Sad. :(

Well, this post is from about four months ago, but I got tired of waiting for the final "after" pictures . . . Sam . . . so I'll put it up now.

So, it was the weekend for letter X (we were nearly through the alphabet again) and it was my turn to choose what we did: "Find your inner X-chromosome." Sam kept referring to it as "Unleash your inner X-chromosome," which seemed like it might be going a little too far . . . but . . . anyway, we did our "unleashing" by shopping, decorating, going out for Japanese food, making brownies, and watching a "chick flick" (well . . . that was the idea . . . except it ended up being "Chuck" on Hulu). I threatened to paint Sam's toenails for him but somehow that part never materialized.

The beneficiary of this shopping and decorating spree? Sam's office, which was abysmal. (I mean, it wasn't overrun with Star Wars figurines and comic books; it had that going for it. But other than that, nothing.) He spends enough time at work that I felt it ought to be at least a BIT nicer. And he's an artist, right? He needs a creativity-fostering environment and all of that. I hated thinking of him holed up in there like some kind of techno-mole. We didn't do much, but it's amazing what lamps, a plant, a couple organizers, and some bright cushions (thank you IKEA) will do to cheer up a place. I think he'll be happier working in there now (anyway, I would be).

After. Much better!

He's added a few more finishing touches since---hooks and a mirror and such. (Not, however, the cocoa mugs I suggested, unfortunately. "Just think, you could sit in those chairs and talk with someone and drink Red Bush Tea, just like Mma Ramotswe in the books!" I said. But he said he didn't see it happening. I'm going to do it next time I go to visit, though.)

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Some miscellaneous pictures

After running through the sprinklers

Watching some cement (sorry, concrete [that's for you, Spencer]) being poured next door

A nice seat

A pirate shark

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