Two-year portraits taken

This evening - a sunny, not-too-humid affair - we had Rory's professional two-year portraits taken. The four of us tromped over to Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna, VA, where we were met by our wedding/family photographer, Hope Reynolds.

Rory wore a dress I bought for her in Barcelona in February of 2006 - when she was six months old. I bought it specifically for her two-year portraits. Scary, I know. Craig mocked me for it. She looked mighty sweet, and had a blast running around the park and hamming it up for Hope. We fed some giant fish in the garden's pond, and got to see massive snapping turtles. They must have been ancient! Fiona was happily ensconced in her stroller the entire time, checking out the new sights and enjoying the evening.

The pictures should be ready in a few weeks. Watch this site for more info!

Where's Fiona?

Rory likes to bring Fiona toys. Lots of them. Can you find Fiona in this picture? Hah! I snapped this shot, and then un-buryed the baby. =>

Rory dressing up Fiona

Rory enjoys putting hats on Fiona. Fiona doesn't seem to mind, unless they cover her eyes. We encourage all non-violent interaction between the girls, so we try not to stop such things. Unless things get out of control. Which, conveniently, they rarely do (yet).

Rory's first cold cereal and milk!

Today Rory ate her first bowl of real cereal! She dined on Rice Krispies, and loved them. She even had a refill! We knew she would be a cereal lover, and it gives us yet another thing she will eat for breakfast (the other items being yogurt of any flavor, waffles, and pancakes). I have yet to get her to eat eggs, but I am not giving up!

Henry, lounging around

In terms of pure sweetness, Henry is the gentlest cat of our four. Digit, Zamboni, and Sedona are sweet babies, too, but Henry has an innocence about him that can't be matched. As the only boy, maybe he is just manipulating us to do his evil bidding. I dunno, but this picture is a good indicator of his immense cuteness factor. He was super reclined!

Papa snuggling his big girl

Here is a sweet picture of Rory snuggling under a blanket with Craig. These two just can't get enough of each other! =)

And notice the pink blanket. It was made by our friend, Susan Zappala-Brittain, and it has baby hippos on the other side. Rory is, to describe it mildly, in LOVE with it. Its official name is "the Appa blanket."

I can vote!!

On Wednesday, August 15, Parker Walsh became a U.S. citizen! In the Federal Building in New York City, Parker and his parents took an oath and he became a full-blown citizen at the tender age of two. Parker was adopted from South Korea in January of 2006.

After a delicious meal in Chinatown, the family celebrated by letting the boy run wild in a Chinatown playground. After hours in the car each way, and calmly waiting in a government building (boring), Parker needed a bit of run around time.

Many congratulations to his parents, Rory and Rob! Soon Parker will have his Social Security card, closely followed by a passport. Then his life as a world traveler can begin!

The great baby "leg-off!"

We recently got together with our friends, Donna and Kurt, and their new baby son, Grayson. When this picture was taken (Sunday, 5 August), Grayson weighed about nine pounds, and was about 3 weeks old. Fiona was 21 pounds, and was six months old.

But still.

Have you ever seen such leg size variety?? This picture is a stitch!!!

Rory's 2-year stats (and some silly info)

Rory had her two year doctor's appointment today, and it was fun. Dr. Powers (the one doctor we really like at the practice) was wonderful with her, and other than the various pokings and proddings, Rory enjoyed herself. Her two-year stats are as follows:

- Height: 36 inches (a yard!) (95th percentile)
- Weight: 33 pounds (97th percentile)
- Head circumference: 54 cm (97th percentile)

Big and healthy all the way around. They don't see Rory again, barring illnesses, until she is three. That seems so far off, but I know time will fly!

Now for the silly info, which is actually about both girls.

- When Craig brings the girls to daycare, Rory always stops and admires the ants outside the building. The other day she referred to them as "baby ants," which rapidly became, "Fiona ants." Everything baby is Fiona!

- The ladies at daycare love to bring Fiona into Rory's toddler room, where the children swarm around her, pinch her cheeks, and squeeze her body. And we wonder why Fiona is so laid back. She is the only baby they bring into the toddler room, because she is so easygoing, and because the ladies love to hug her.

- Rory's vocabulary has exploded. The doctor said she is highly advanced, and credited Rory's low daily frustration level to her excessive vocabulary.

- Fiona has become very physical lately, and expresses herself by jumping up and down and winging her arms and legs like crazy. Sometime, if she is holding a toy, she pegs herself in the head with it.

- Rory has started bringing toys to Fiona.

- The ladies at daycare did Rory's hair (two pigtails on top!) yesterday, and Rory immediately said "Show Fiona!" So they brought her to the infant room, where I am certain Fiona was very impressed with Rory's up-do.

That's it for now!

Fiona is 1/2!

A half year old, that is! Halfway to one, and probably halfway to walking (if Rory is any indication). We have so enjoyed Fiona these last six months, and it has been wonderful to watch her grow and learn.

Fiona's nicknames include: Wee Fi, Petunia, Thing 2, and Fiyaya. Rory enjoys her, unless Fiona tries to grab Rory's stuff (and Rory considers everything to be her stuff). Fiona has been sleeping through the night since she was six weeks old (because she knows I am an old woman who can't tolerate nighttime waking), and she is even baby than Rory was - and Rory was a snap! We are very lucky, and all I keep saying is, "they'll get me during puberty." Hah!

At her six month appointment she weighed in at 21 pounds, 10 ounces, and she was 26 1/4" long. Her head was 44 centimeters around, which is pretty small for our vast-headed family. The doctor said she was in great shape, and even though Fiona got four shots and an oral vaccine, she handled the doctor visit like a champ. I doubt she is counting the days to her nine month visit, though!

Fiona eats first real food!

Tonight Fiona ate pureed carrots and cereal, and she... sort of seemed to enjoy it. => She ate some, she dribbled some. She even smeared it into her eyelashes for fun. But overall, she accepted it well, and is hopefully ready to expand her culinary horizons and sample such delicious fares as peas, apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, and pears.

Compared to Rory's first attempts at "solid" food, Fiona's first meal was a breeze. We tried to feed Rory plain rice cereal several times between four and six months of age, and she freaked out every time. Then I cracked open a jar of sweet potatoes, and she inhaled it. So there you go. Rice cereal was banished! We didn't even both feeding any to Fiona - we just mixed in some oatmeal cereal with the carrots, and off we went!

To Vegas and back

I had to go to Las Vegas for work this week. I left on Monday, and got back last night, after daycare. It was my first trip to Vegas, and it was interesting.

I was there to attend Sybase's annual user conference, TechWave, which was quite an impressive event. It featured about 1,500 customer attendees and 300 Sybase employee drones. We stayed at the Mandalay Bay hotel, which is gorgeous; the conference center was also part of the complex. Quite swanky, in all. My room was vast - I was upgraded at check in, and the room was wider than our townhouse and perfectly square. Vast hotel room space, and me all alone! It would have been great to have Craig and the kids there, except that it was Vegas. ;->

Vegas is a curious place. I was surprised by several things: slot machines everywhere, including at the airport the moment you step off the plane; how many children were there with their parents, at all hours of the night; the wide variety of people; how many weddings were going on (on bizarre days of the week). All in all, it was interesting. I didn't gamble once, and only left the hotel once, in fact. There wasn't much time to play around, so I didn't truly get a "real" Vegas experience.

That said, I am not terribly interested in what Vegas has to offer, so I wouldn't expect to go back except for work. And when/if I go back for work, I will make time to see a Cirque du Soleil! I couldn't manage it this time around.

Parker Walsh turns two!

On the heels of Rory, our good pal Parker Walsh turned two years old today!!

He and his parents (Rory and Rob) are spending the week sunning themselves on the beach in beautiful New Jersey.

Happy birthday, friend!