Startin' Him Out Young

Thank you Uncle Brian!

Had a great weekend with Anne and Dennis, Courtney and her family, and Jane and her family. So glad to be back in the 23220. Traffic on 95 south was terrible on the drive home today.

Vake was a total trooper- it was a weekend of no schedule but he was so smiley and happy!!! YAY.

I've got good pics of Courtney and little V- will post soon!

Vake Loves the Ladies and Mommy Loves Silhouettes

We visited our good friends Katie and Ted yesterday- Katie lives next door to Grandmary. There was a lot of excitement at the house- both of Katie and Ted's girls had friends over and they had a super fun time playing with Vake who thought it was awesome to hang out with all the bigger children.

So it was four girls all paying attention to little V. Thank goodness he is 6 months old, not 16.

And I had Vake's silhouette made last week at Quirk Gallery by a local artist, Mary Davenport Williams. The proofs came back today- this is for what will wind up being notecards. I love to write notes and these are going to be super fun to have in the rotation. The nice thing is that Mary will keep a copy of the silhouette so you can use it in a bunch of different ways. A silhouette may well become my "go-to" gift for all my friends who are having babies!!! I think the only change that I am going to make to these cards is that the font may be copperplate instead of script.

Seattle Friends' Style: Part III: Big Game Hunter

Taren's been putting off dressing Vake up in his camo from Uncle Brad. Uncle Brad and his wife Cindy and their daughters Emily and Mary are some of my favorite people. Brad is Eric's good friend from law school, and Cindy is one of the nicest people you are likely to meet. Plus, she's a nurse and an amazing Mom...she's the person who remembers to bring the cheese sticks on a hike, whereas I am the person who is hunting for the Diet Coke machine. But I digress.

Anyway, Brad gave V some camo gear when we were in Seattle. Taren had been dressing Vake in and taking pics of all the clothes/toys we got in Seattle so I could post them, but had been putting off the camo shot. And Taren teases me as much as anyone about the fact I am dressing little V in "girls'" clothes...

So this morning, it was super quiet in Vake's room. Eric woke up and asked me if the baby should still be asleep and I went down to check on him. Lo and behold, my little baby had gotten out of his crib, dressed himself and gone big game hunting. By the time I found him, he already had the hide/pelt of a blue animal and he was so pleased that he was sitting on it!!!!

Sitting in My Big Boy Chair

Look at me in my big boy highchair that Aunt Martha, Aunt Julie and Martha's Mother gave me.

Now if Mom would just let me have some real chow, I could go to town.

How is it possible that he's getting so big so fast?

More Seattle Pics and We Get a Visit from Our Friend Aunt Jen

Not many things in life are clear, but one of the few is that Eric and I get a big F- when it comes to taking pictures with our friends when we go places. We do have a few more Seattle shots: I feel especially lucky to have one with my good buddy Emily and the famous Seattle Market Pig. I think Vake was sleeping or else I would have tried to get the same shot with him, too.

Once we finished walking (or at least trying to walk- it was VERY crowded) the market, we stopped for a little break and Vake perked up. Here's the first shot of Vake and Emily together. We then went on to the Sculpture Park, which is one of my favorite things in Seattle.

True story: Emily and I are playing underneath the big Alexander Calder and Eric and her Mom and Dad walk up to us. As they are walking up, she says, "Quick, hide, our parents are coming."

Ha.

These are some snaps from the Zoo. In one, little Evan is trying to blend in with the flora and fauna. In the other, two of our friends' children are trying to get a better look at the penguins.

This is a good picture from the picnic. How sweet were all the Gibson boys- they took turns holding and feeding Vake.

And last but not least, this weekend we got a visit from one of Eric's best friends. Jen got a chance to hang out with Vake and get to see him while he was smiling and happy.

Fashion, Eric's Seattle Friends' Style: Part II

In this picture, you can see Vake in his brand-new set of University of Washington football warmup clothes. (Neil is sitting here right now and says they are sweats but Mary Sabra and I like warmup clothes better...) These were a gift from the awesome Gibsons! You can tell that Vake is a little confused, probably because he knows that he is going to be a figure skater. He's probably thinking, "This outfit is fine and all, but where are my white sequined pants?"
In all seriousness, though, Taren had the strangest thing happen to her today. She came down the stairs and heard little Vake singing. Here were the words that she heard.

Bow Down to Washington,
Bow Down to Washington,
Mighty Are The Men
Who Wear the Purple and the Gold,
Joyfully We Welcome Them Within the Victors Fold.
We Will Carve Their Names
In the Hall of Fame
To Preserve the Memory of Our Devotion.
Heaven Help the Foes of Washington;
They're Trembling at the Feet
Of Mighty Washington,
The Boys Are There With Bells,
Their Fighting Blood Excels,
It's Harder to Push Them Over the Line
Than Pass the Dardanelles.
Victory the Cry of Washington...
Leather Lungs Together
With a Rah! Rah! Rah!
And O'er the Land
Our Loyal Band
Will Sing the GloryOf Washington Forever.

He was just finishing up as she walked in...

Here's what it sounded like. All I can say is that he's very advanced.