Weekend Photo Fest

Bathing Beauty
Saturday

Another weekend, another post. Time goes quickly when you have a baby. I suppose maybe it's just that everyone is so busy that there's no time to mark its passing.

On Saturday, we took Margaret swimming. We got together three babies all around the same age - E (Tommy and Valerie's) and A (Natalie's) and went over.

Luckily for us, the sun wasn't very strong on account of an approaching tropical depression, so we were able to put Margaret in the lovely backless number you see her in above.

Unfortunately and embarrassingly (for her parents), seconds after taking the photo, Margaret released her bladder onto E's floor.

Thankfully, pee is sterile, and pools have chlorine in them.

Thanks, Tom, for loaning me the shirt.

Unfortunately, the water was too cold for a long swim, but we managed a few splashes before the weather really turned and it started raining cats and dogs.

M didn't care, though, as she got to hang out inside and partake of the cheese plate, including Camembert and Roquefort.

Trot, trot to Boston, trot trot to Lynn. Trot to the ocean...

...but don't fall INNNNN!
"Dah, Dah, Dah!"

One of the coolest parts about Saturday was discovering that Margaret actually knows me as Dada.

We met up at Tom and Val's place separately - I went from work and SAM and Margaret came from home.

We arrived at about the same time, and I saw SAM's cab turn into the driveway ahead of me.

Apparently, Margaret saw me and started screaming, "Dah, Dah, Dah, Dah, Dah!" upon which SAM said, "No, no, we'll see Daddy later."

Of course, they opened the door, and there I was.

It's wonderful to be recognized.

"Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse"

"With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
She shall have music wherever she goes."
Sunday

Today has been defined largely by the squally rainstorms that have been on and off all day.

This morning, I got to sleep in until about 8 while SAM took care of M (I am soooo lucky!).

After spending some time snapping photos and hanging out, we headed to the Excelsior for a delicious buffet brunch.

Margaret, as usual, had a field day with the cheese, with plenty of cheddar and swiss winding up in her tummy along with smoked fish, omelette, raisins, pineapple and congee. The girl eats like it's going out of style.

Using a lens cap as a "telephone."

"Can you hear me now?"
Aside On Parenting Skills

Due to the tropical depression, the sky was raining buckets, but after brunch, we still ducked between the rain drops to Ikea where we picked up some more anti-baby cabinet locks and gave M a ride around in a shopping cart (photo below).

As Margaret gets older and more canny, we've had to escalate our baby proofing measures.

This morning, SAM discovered that Margaret can actually reach two electrical outlets near the base of her crib because, for some reason, her crib had been shoved closer to the wall than normal.

Shocking.

Thankfully, the were switched outlets, and were off, but we quickly put outlet covers on them anyways.

I just hope nobody takes her away from us.

At the Excelsior
Sunday Continued

After Ikea, the rain was telling us that nap time was nigh, so we were home and the entire family was in bed by noon for nap time.

Delicious.

But not as delicious as the Seven-Layer dip we had in the fridge to bring over to Joy's for dinner!

We were at Joy's by four for some family time, which we haven't been getting as much of as we would like, recently.

The kids enjoyed seeing Margaret on their home turf again, and were missing no opportunity to find new and creative ways of entertaining her.

Something that we found interesting was that she got quite nervous when Sarah disappeared to the bathroom or kitchen, even if I was there.

It seems like she is beginning to get real separation anxiety from mom.

Unfortunately, she seems to suffer from no such anxiety from being separated from dad. In fact, even if I was holding her, she would try to go to SAM if there was a choice.

Of course, I wonder if this is a further extension of something else she has been doing lately, which is that she has started being coy with me.

Shopping for baby proofing gear
Often, these days, if I try to kiss her, she will turn away from me, seemingly quite on purpose. Or if I sit down on the ground or lie down next to her in the bed, she will turn towards her mother and away from me.

I know that it is something that many girls do, and I've observed it with my niece, but it's still a little sad when she will kiss Mommy or a stuffed animal on command, and I have to steal mine.

The thing is, that it isn't really all the time, so it's not all bad. Sometimes, she will happily kiss me, or even flash me a huge smile and come over and grab my legs. I just have to catch her in the right mood, I suppose.

Happy together
Dinner at Joy's was fairly early, after which Margaret even had a bath at the Koo household with her cousins all helping.

Samantha showed us her ingenuity today, when she came up with the idea of using a squeezable water bottle to help direct the water when rinsing off Margaret's head.

Shampooing has long been the hardest part of bath time, and has always guaranteed a squirmy, crying Margaret because she doesn't like her face to get wet.

Problem solved.

Thanks, Samantha.

Chillin' at Joy's
We're now settled back at home, where SAM is busily trying to finish some preparations for school tomorrow before we go to bed.

*sigh*

Night, night!