File Under: You Can't Win

This morning, to escape our hot apartment, I packed a bag and climbed on a nice, cool, air-conditioned bus with Cosmo. We rode downtown, bought donuts, took them into my work, and enjoyed coffee with my colleagues in a nice, cool, air-conditioned break room. With one of said colleagues, we then went to lunch at a Thai restaurant (yep, air-conditioned). Cosmo seemed to enjoy it, even though I didn't give him any fish sauce. The Museum of Contemporary Art, my next planned air-conditioning stop, was closed, so we spent some time at Borders. I browsed a bit and also let Cosmo wiggle on the floor in a quiet corner.

Finally, we rode home on an express bus (nice and cool), which let us out at the top of our street. As I walked down Marine Drive, Cosmo's bare arms and legs wiggled outside the Baby Bjorn, and I held an umbrella over his head to shield him from the sun's brutal rays. It was definitely hot, but a fitful breeze kept it from being stultifyingly so.

Ahead of us, a woman stopped. With a sorrowful look on her face, and an Eastern European accent in her voice, she said, "Why do you bring the baby outside when it is so hot? It is very dangerous!"

Flirting, Seagulls, and Cicadas

Today I took Cosmo to the bank to open his savings account. The ladies there were fawning over him, and he was loving the attention. One of them said, "He's a flirt. He's going to be a real ladies' man. You're going to have to watch out in 16 years."

Which is funny, because on Monday, the guard at Felix's school said to him, "You better watch out. Eighteen years from now, I'm gonna look you up!"

I guess the age of consent is going down.

*****

Tonight we took Felix to the lake to feed the seagulls. It was a little scary for him at first, but then he liked it.

Felix: These guys are funny.

*****

Felix has been working on his bug identification. Tonight, when the first cicada started up, he said...

Felix: That bug is a cicada. That bug is loud.

A few days ago, however, he hadn't quite mastered it.

Felix: That bug is a quesadilla.

Laundry Day

Who says three-and-a-half months is too young to help out around the house?



As you can see, Cosmo was all tired out from doing laundry.

And Our Blood Ran Cold

Last night during our rooftop BBQ, Felix decided he was ready for a big challenge.


Felix: I can climb down building.

Overheard in the Living Room

As Felix takes the Miss Spider toy away from Cosmo:

Felix (chanting): You need to share. You need to share.

Outside Again

Cosmo was glad it finally stopped raining so we could go outside.


After this picture was taken, he promptly fell asleep.

Grandma Nancy's Visit

Grandma Nancy came to visit last Tuesday and stayed until Sunday. It was her first time meeting Cosmo. She dove right in...



...and got down to business. Well, baby business.

It was incredibly hot over the weekend. We went to the beach on Saturday, where Felix enjoyed shoveling water...

...and moving water from the lake to the beach.

Grandma Nancy was there to help him get the sand out of his ears.

Thanks for visiting, Grandma Nancy! See you again soon in Montana (with Grandpa Wolf, too)!

North Oaks

We had a great time visiting the Keys in North Oaks over the long Fourth of July weekend. Felix and Auntie Iris heard bells ringing...


...while Grandpa Dick got a lot of hands-on time with both of his grandsons...

...and Grandma Neva did, too.

We enjoyed a diverting trip to the Mall of America (now that's a mall), but the real theme of the weekend was water. Felix helped Grandpa Dick water the garden...

...and lolled on the shores of Pleasant Lake...

...before retiring to his own private pool.

After that, he needed to freshen up in the sprinkler.

Cosmo celebrated the Fourth by wrapping himself in the flag. And then eating it.

3-D Felix

"Everything is red and blue."

(Usually when he puts on sunglasses, he says, "Everything is orange"--not this time!)

More from our Minnesota trip soon. Keir is home with Cosmo!

And Oh Yeah

Usually at night when I'm tucking Felix in, we have the following exchange:

K: I love you. Do you love me?
F: Oh, good.

This is a condensed version of our old exchange:

K: I love you. Do you love me, too?
F: I love you, too.
K: Oh, good.

Which was only arrived at after some serious parental pressure:

K: I love you. Do you love me, too?
F: Yeah.
K: Say, "I love you, Daddy."
F: I love you, Daddy.

Hey, I gotta get it one way or another--when he's older I won't get it at all! Anyway, last night, Felix was tucked into bed, and I was heading out to get him a drink of water before making my usual demand for an avowal of affection. But Felix just came out with:

F: I love you, Daddy.

I think he missed me while I was gone. It was hard to make it to the kitchen on legs that twanged like heartstrings.

First Day of Leave

Today is my first day of family leave, and the stress of work is slowly starting to lift. The first step was taking Cosmo to Felix's school to watch the Fourth of July parade. It was very, very cute, and unfortunately I don't have pictures. I took a half dozen as the different classes were coming out, then noticed that my batteries were getting low, so turned off my camera to wait for Felix. After the first picture, the batteries died. I swapped them, took a picture, and those batteries died, too. (Forgot to charge them after New Orleans.) And just now I discovered to my chagrin that the camera didn't even have the juice to record either of the images.

We still had fun, but...argh!

The next step in achieving relaxation was watching Germany defeat Argentina after two overtimes. Cosmo seemed to enjoy it, and if I'm not mistaken, Germany's late equalizer was the first goal he ever saw scored. Aww....

Anyway, here's a picture I got before the batteries died, just to give you an idea of how cute the parade was.

Splashing Water

We had a great weekend with Grandma Neva. It started out on Saturday with lots of 'splashing water' at Millenium Park.

On Sunday we splashed in the rain all around the neighborhood
and played with Felix's new tricycle. He pushed it quite skillfully around the block before he was ready to get on it. He giggled with excitement as I pushed him along and his feet went around with the pedals. He'll be racing ahead of us in no time!

Today was my first day back to work, boo-hoo. But Cosmo is in great hands with Grandma Neva.He's not a wee baby anymore...
We miss you, Keir.

Past Tense

After waking up this morning, Felix was remembering yesterday's after-dinner excursion. For the first time, we believe, he demonstrated his understanding of the past tense:
"Last night you threw up your supper at Buttercup Playground."
We're still working on personal pronouns. Now, if only there was something we could do about that sensitive gag reflex...

Felix Has 16 Teeth

Saturday was Felix's first trip to the dentist. We are happy to report that all 16 of his teeth are very healthy despite his lack of enthusiasm for brushing them. We had a long wait before his exam; luckily, we had our camera with us:


And to celebrate Father's Day, Felix helped make pancakes for breakfast (he's a very good stirrer) and gave his super dad a kite and a bottle of beer.

Morning at the Bean

Cosmo and I stopped by Millenium Park this morning. He was delighted to see his reflection in the Bean kick and smile back.

The Latest Stats

Cosmo went to the doctor yesterday for a checkup. He had his shots, too -- and has the bright blue band-aids to prove it! He was so brave.

Anyway, he's two months old and he's:

12 lbs. 1 oz.
24.1"

I know, I don't get point-one-inches, either. The doctor said he represents "the best that babies have to offer."

(Actually, she said he's "perfect in every way, and so charming!")

(Truthfully, I think she said he's in perfect health and met all the standard development criteria, but I wasn't there, so I prefer my version.)

Everybody sing

Felix had a very happy birthday. He opened gifts after breakfast (note the additions to his 'spinning toy' collection).


His party was held across the street in the fieldhouse (it was too cold out for a picnic as planned) where he enjoyed rearranging the garbage cans


and jumping on the chalk board with his friends.


Then, time for cake. After I lit the two candles Keir asked "How old are you?". Felix, recognizing the proper order of events at a birthday party, ignored the question and suggested "Everbody sing happy birthday song." Everyone complied; Felix was quite pleased.

Felix turns two!

(And no, we don't mean an unassisted double play.)


Drop by if you're in the neighborhood!

A Chip Off the Old Block

From time to time I take Felix with me to run errands, and from time to time those errands might involve a trip to the local liquor store. I think I've become even more likely to include him because one of the cashiers oohs and ahs and can't get over how big he's grown (she's "known" him since he was a baby).

We recently asked Felix what he wanted to do that day. "Go to the store and buy beer," he said.

This last weekend we were walking down Argyle Street. When we passed the liquor store, he turned suddenly and stood in front of the door, waiting to go in.

*sniff, sniff* Our little boy is growing up....

Spelling Bee

Felix and I were riding the bus home on Monday and he was doing a little spelling:

Felix: F-E-L-I-X...F-E-L-I-X...F-E-L-I-X...

Keir: What does that spell?

Felix: Felix!

Keir: M-O-M. What does that spell?

Felix: Mom!

Keir: D-A-D. What does that spell?

Felix: Daddy!

Keir: C-A-T. What does that spell?

Felix: Cookie Monster!

Indeed, C is for cookie, and cookie starts with C...