Our snow angel

Looking through our 31st-floor windows today, we thought the snow would accumulate fast as it came down hard for hours. But it was a little too warm for that, apparently. Nonetheless, Dad and Levynn bundled into winter gear new (his boots, her snowsuit and hat and mittens) and old and walked to the park to play in the snow.

Lev made a snow angel.




We built a small snowman together.



And we threw snowballs at each other.




Oh, and isn't she beautiful?

Somebody's watching me

Big city girl

Mom and Levynn left our downtown high-rise at 7 a.m. today to meet the movers at our new apartment on the North Side, where we'll be living next week. Dad and Lincoln joined them at the apartment after the movers finished early in the afternoon, and we all drove back downtown. We then headed to Navy Pier to eat dinner and take advantage of a free evening at the Chicago Children's Museum.

At the end of the day (which was a long one for the girls), we realized that, along the way, Levynn had traveled by cab, by train, by bus, by foot, by car, by stroller and by trolley.

She's probably a little small for a Segway, and the horse-drawn carriages are pretty expensive here. But those are about all she didn't use in her travels today. Wow.

We're not in Louisville anymore, Toto.

Christmas, Part II

Merry Christmas to the few we were lucky to see and to the many we wish we could have seen at this crazy time in our lives.

Christmas, Part I

We were happy to welcome Gram, Papa and Uncle Dan to our temporary home above the Windy City for an early Christmas celebration.


Lincoln experiences wrapping paper...

"What's this, Dan?"

"Oh, slippers! I love these slippers!"


Yes, we're geeks - or at least Dad is a geek. But this is one gadget that a lot of us, not just Dad, should be able to enjoy.


That's actually the back of a photo of newlywed Aunt Rachel, but the words hold meaning for all brothers. Remember that, little man.

Who needs batteries?

A prime example of simple playthings that don't light up or make siren noises. Perhaps just a variety of laundry baskets for Christmas?

The view from the sky

Don't blink

... or you'll miss the moment. Lincoln can actually hold it a little while longer than this now, but watching him lurch forward is (sorry) more entertaining than watching him just sit!

PS: doesn't he look like a little frog in that outfit, sitting there?

"Chicago, Chicago ... I love it"

We did the Chambers thing (going to the library), the big-city thing (forsaking wheels for feet) and the Windy City thing (braving the chill) today in undertaking our first true Chicago adventure as a family.

We trekked 1.2 miles to the Chicago Public Library's central branch "on State Street, that great street" and 1.2 miles back to the apartment building, stopping to touch the snow, to pose in front of the lions guarding The Art Institute of Chicago and to eat lunch at Prudential Plaza.




And we not only survived. We had fun.

Levynn sang it best: "The cold doesn't bother me, the cold doesn't bother me, the cold doesn't bother me" - borrowing from her own original composition, "The rain doesn't bother me, the rain doesn't bother me, the rain doesn't bother me."

Lincoln showed it best: Bundled in his Gram-given snowsuit, he slept soundly for most of the walk and even lunch.

Meanwhile, Mom and Dad looked at each other and marveled at it all: Yes, we really live here.

Virtual tour

Here's just a quick peek at our new place, in the dark. Hope you can tell a little bit about the view and the condo. More to come; please bear with us as we try to get our bearings!

The whole story

You might recognize this picture from a post in August, vaguely referencing "Mom's adventure." Only a few were aware that Mom took the shot while she was in Chicago on a weeklong tryout at the Chicago Tribune.

A recruiter from the company had called in May, actually the weekend we were in Massachusetts for Rachel's wedding. Mom's resume was on file with a journalism organization, and they'd found it and called out of the blue. Mom didn't know they had any openings.

The company is in the process of going private, transitioning to the new owner, Sam Zell. So they were doing some buyouts, but obviously still needed people to publish the newspaper. That's where Mom came in.

There were intense talks for a few days in May, with the decision finally being that Mom should hold off coming to town for a tryout, as she was quite pregnant, and the doctor just that week had said Linc could come any time (ha!). However the Trib people asked her to keep in touch, and maybe something could be worked out later in the summer.

After Linc was born, Mom called back, and they ended up asking her to come for the tryout the first week in August. So off Mom went, leaving her newborn son, her daughter as the newly assigned big sister and Dad, the new father of two. We had great help, though, from everyone; Granddaddy came for a couple of days, and Gram and Papa were already scheduled for a visit.

Anyway, it went great at the tryout. It was so fun for mom to be back in newspapers and she tried hard not to be starstruck while sitting in the middle of the newsroom. The job is on the copy desk for the National/International section, basically the "A" part of the paper. The Trib has dozens of national and international bureaus, and people on the desk were calling Pakistan and places, talking to reporters. It was wild.

So they ended up giving the job to the guy who tried out the next week. But they said Mom had done well on the tryout, that they anticipated more openings and would call me when they did.

OK, well, that's that, Mom thought.

Fast forward to last week: the recruiter calls back, says she anticipates an opening and wants to know if Mom is still interested. Sure, Mom said. A few days pass and she calls back and offers Mom the job, on Tuesday night.

We spent most of the week in negotiations, trying to make the numbers work first of all. We ended up close to what Mom had asked for, after they said they'd made the final offer on Friday. So we took the job that night.

We asked Lev what she thought, and at first she was all excited. But later during dinner, she suddenly said, "But I want to live in Louisville for a long tiiiiiimmmmmmmmeeee ... " and proceeded into a very sad cry. Mom and Dad tried hard to be understanding and brave throughout. She has lots of questions: what will happen to our couch, will they have tissues there, can I take my milk jug (her trickortreat project from school), can we take our house with us, etc., etc. Needless to say, we're trying our best to be gentle and work through this, and Grandy has supplied a great list of suggested reading. Lev will be able to relate to stories about moving.

The start date is Dec. 3. The realtor is coming to the house tomorrow. Hang on everyone; deadline is approaching!

November days

This picture is from last weekend, when we were all bundled up outside playing in the leaves. Mom raked a trail for Dad and Lev to chase around:

Anyway, Lincoln had his four-month checkup this week. He weighed in at 15 lbs., 4 oz. and was 26 inches long. The height appears to be the thing now; he's in the 90th percentile for that. His weight is a lot more average now, actually. In fact, he's wearing 6-9 months. He might be in 2Ts by next summer!

He suffered through several immunizations, and the doctor also tapped Lev for a flu shot while she was in the office, and she tried real hard to be tough. They all made it fine, pretty much. Dad, of course, was the bravest of them all, proudly and strongly getting everyone in and out in one piece.

Football Sunday

Sideline cam

Helmet cam

Lincoln opens wide!

When Lincoln last visited the pediatrician on Sept. 6, Dad was told to let him have as much formula as he is willing to take. Well, within a couple weeks, Lincoln already was draining four 8-ounce bottles a day - and babies generally shouldn't exceed a total of 32 ounces daily. He seemed satisfied with those 32 ounces until about two weeks ago, and it got to a point where we decided to call the pediatrician's office; on Tuesday, we were told that he could start eating cereal.

Mom wanted to be home for Lincoln's first experience, and we finally found a good time to do it together this morning. He sat up big and tall in the high chair, and he took the spoon into his mouth. But he wasn't sure what to do with the slop once it was in there.

Practice, practice, practice!

Lo and behold, when we tried it again tonight, he opened his mouth wide and even ate a good portion.

Our kitchen table now seats four.

Boo (boo)

And it was going so well...

But let's start from the beginning.

Mom and Dad had different ideas about what would be proper attire for a Miss Viola Swamp costume. So Mom got some stuff, including "an ugly black dress," and then Dad got his own idea of "an ugly black dress." Levynn wore Dad's version to school in the morning and wore Mom's version, pictured above, to the library and to trick-or-treat in the evening.

For the uninitiated, Viola Swamp is the mean substitute teacher in the Miss Nelson children's books (and actually is just Miss Nelson in disguise). Levynn and her classmates were asked to wear their Halloween costumes to school today, and our cool little gal was the only one dressed as a storybook character and the only girl not all dolled up. There were two Spidermans, a knight, a Little Mermaid, a Cinderella, a Princess Fiona (from the "Shrek" movies) and a generic "pink princess." Mom and Dad were very proud.

Louisville's main library branch had a big Halloween program for kids early this evening, and we went there to get some treats and see a little storytime. Oh, and we wanted to see this, too:


Yes, Levynn's famous "Library Champion" photo is hanging in the library's main hallway with similar pictures from around town. We've been told several times that it was there, but we hadn't been downtown to see it until now. And it was amazing how many library staffers recognized her as she passed through. For instance, as we walked slowly down the hall, looking for Levynn's picture, a woman asked, "Do you know where hers is?" And she pointed to it immediately, without even looking for it herself. Then, as we got ready to take this picture, the library's photographer approached us and asked if we knew Levynn's original photo had been the first one put on the library's Web site. Well, of course we knew. But how did he know? Then he proceeded to take more shots of Levynn!

Once we were in the car, Levynn announced that she was all done with Halloween. But after eating some candy on the ride home and eating some Cheerios out of a cup while handing out goodies to the kids who came to our door for a little while, Lev was ready to hit the streets. She went out with Mom while Dad manned the door. Then Mom and Dad switched places, and Dad took her to see the neighbors. On the way home, we got a little carried away in the dark - and we both tripped on an uneven spot in the sidewalk that we knew was there but couldn't see. Poor Lev tore a hole in her pants and earned her truest badge of childhood honor yet.

As Viola Swamp would say, "I am not amused."

And that takes you back to the top.

In motion

This video is from this afternoon, but Linc actually rolled over for the first time sometime after he went to bed on Thursday night. Mom went to check on him Friday morning and found him on his tummy. Not sure if Mom or Linc was more surprised that morning!

Then today she left him on his back in the middle of the red and black mat and came back a few minutes later to find him rolled off of it, probably two rolls. so then she got out the camera to see if he'd do it as proof to Dad and everyone else.

There you have it!

He plays!

Linc found a very exciting toy today!

Oh, and the latest "overheard" by Lev consists of a round and round conversation she and Mom had about tennis shoes and Tennessee. She knew she was wearing her Tennessee shirt, so when we put her shoes on, (Mom sometimes calls them tennis shoes instead of sneakers) Lev said they were her Tennessee shoes. But then she switched it around and said she was wearing her tennisshirt. The words sounded so much alike to her that she was having a hard time figuring out what word went with what. It was a lot like "Who's on first" between she and Mom.

And then today she inquired, "what's that? why do you have two of those?" she was pointing to somewhere between mom's mouth and nose. Mom first thought she was talking about her nostrils but Lev said, "no, here. tell me about this part," and she touched that kind of below the nose area, where the indent is. It was kind of a challenge to explain, Mom telling something about it just being part of the way it was made there. But Lev did not realize that she also had one, and so did Dad and Linc. It was very interesting to see hers for herself in the mirror.

What letter is that?

Earlier this week, Levynn posed that urgent question after she noticed two punctuation marks in her bedroom, one in a book and one in a poster. Mom explained that when it's round - as in on the "Got Milk?" poster - it means, "I have a question," and when it's straight, it means, "I'm excited." She was very interested to learn these new characters. She's been practicing saying "question mark" and "exclamation point" for days now.

It was just the beginning of a week full of figuring stuff out.

During dinner one evening, Levynn started looking in the general direction of Dad's head with a curious expression on her face. When Dad realized this, he was a little creeped out, to be honest, because she wasn't making eye contact with him. She seemed to be looking at ... something, as if there was a spider sitting on the side of his head.

"What are you looking at, Lev?" Dad asked, bewildered.

"To and I'll show you," it sounded like she said.

"What?"

"To and I'll show you."

"What? To?"

"TO and I'll show you."

Dad looked at Mom, still bewildered, seeking help, as he chewed his food.

"That right there! What's that, by your hair?" Lev asked.

Oh! CHEW and I'll show you, she was saying. She'd noticed the movement of Dad's temple, when his jaw moved up and down. A very interesting discovery for her.

Levynn also was very concerned about Mom's "boo boos" after several moles were removed on Tuesday. She pulled out her doctor's kit and listened to Mom's heart with her stethoscope. And when it came time to take off the Band-Aids, Lev offered Pink Bear for comfort and patted on Mom's hand.

And somwhere along the way she's started using the word "dawn," like when the sun dawns. Except she uses it to mean when it's getting dark, at night time. So tonight we talked about that and also the difference in wrists and ankles. These things can be very confusing, you know.

As Grandy would say, these all are examples of why "3 year olds are God's greatest gift."

West Kentucky weekend

We had a really good weekend with the family during a quick trip west. Mom and Pap got to do the Veteran's History Project interviews with a professor from Western Kentucky University. We're told that we'll be added to the collections at the Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/vets/)

Lev and Clark had the best time playing. Hard to believe this time last year that Clark was about Linc's age. What about this time next year, when Linc is up and running with his cousins!??!

Hot-tober

Yes, we're more than a week into October and it was 93 degrees here today, another record high. So we were hanging out in T-shirts (and no shirts), swinging and feeling the breeze. (Honestly, Linc was shirtless after spitting up, but he looked so cute!).

The weather people say the temperatures should be more like normal the rest of the week, so we can finally give the AC a break! Now if we could just get some color on the leaves!

Our little (neck) muscle man

One day this week, seemingly out of the blue since the last episode, Lincoln decided to lift his head during tummy time on the Boppy.

Even better, he held it steady long enough for Dad to jump to his feet, run to the desk, grab the camera out of the drawer, run back to the Boppy, find a good angle, and shoot seven good photos of the moment.

"Good job, baby brother!"

Siblings 2004 and 2007

All shots taken at about 3 months old. Would you know which sibling is which? See any resemblance? What about their size?

It's funny when we catch Linc doing something that we know we have a picture of Lev doing three years ago. She likes to see the older pictures of herself, too.

Bluegrass Balloon Fest

Friday night we went to a secondary, small local airport to see the balloons. They didn't fly, but stayed on the ground to glow for us. Pretty neat.

Project

A couple of weeks ago, Levynn's teacher sent home with her a plain posterboard paper doll and a note that said, "Please work with your child at home to make this doll look like her. You may use whatever you like. Most of all have fun with it! Please complete your doll and return it by Sept. 28."

So, much unlike Mom's usual procrastination, she and Lev got started on the project today. During quiet time, Mom made some cutouts of shirts, pants and dresses, cut out shoes from magazines and gathered all the crafting supplies in the house at the kitchen table.

Levynn was very curious to see what Mom was up to.

We talked about how the blank paper doll looked like her because she had arms and legs but how she didn't look like Lev because she had no face or shoes. So we decided the doll should have blue eyes, a red mouth, green ears and an orange nose; those were created with watercolor paints by Lev. She needed some hair, and Lev cut with her little scissors lengths of narrow red grosgrain ribbon. Lev glued those to the head. and then she tried all the different shirts and clothes on the girl to see what she liked best and what would fit her. We trimmed a dress to a shirt and got it all glued on.

She needed shoes and then Lev decided she needed hands, "just like mine." Hmm, Mom hadn't thought of hands. Lev said they should be pink and Mom was considering what to do when Levynn reminded how she likes to have her hand traced on paper. So life-sized hands it was. And in her hands Levynn said she should be holding a book, so we made a miniature replica of a book they'd made in class this week.

The paper doll turned out lovely, just like our girl.

Mom tried very hard not to get all Martha Stewart about it, and to really let Lev lead the way. We seemed to have accomplished the goal of having fun with it, because Levynn asked to do another one tomorrow. Of Mom and Dad and Lincoln.

11 weeks old

With Levynn standing by with the rattle, Lincoln looked up today, holding his head up to watch her. He's getting more and more steady and building those neck muscles.

September weekend

This weekend Gram and Aunt Rach visited, Mom and Dad celebrated Dad's birthday at a restaurant where Mom intentionally but reluctantly took a bite of tomato, and Mom and Dad went to Todd's "after-wedding party" where she accidentally ate a crab wonton. Yikes!

(the tomato was an "heirloom" one in a salad Dad ordered. It looked like a peach, it was so bright and orange and juicy and pretty. It looked like a Martha heirloom tomato so Mom agreed to take a bite but immediately regretted it. But she was proud of herself and said to Dad, "I put a tomato in my mouth!" Dad was proud, too.)

Gram and Rachel were fun for Lev to have around, and Mom and Dad appreciated them babysitting for their two nights out. What a treat!

Lincoln has found his laugh and it makes Dad laugh and laugh. Mom sneaked up on Lev reading to herself during quiet time today; Lev really can recite almost all of her books by memory.

The week that was

Last week Lincoln had his two-month checkup. He's still growing! He weighed 12 lbs., 15 oz, and he measured 24 3/4" long. That actually has him slowing down on the weight a little, but very tall for his age. Dad did a great job getting Lev to school and then to the doctor. Mom never doubted he would do anything else.

However, maybe Mom bragged on him a little too much because the next morning at 8:45 when her phone rang at work for the on-the-way-to-school call, she was greeted with these words: "I'm locked out." Da, Da, DUM.

Locked out of what? The house? The car? Both, as it turns out. Dad somehow managed to pull the back door shut behind him without his keys in his hand. He had both kids on the back porch with him and with superhuman effort did not say a bad word.

Mom called a locksmith who said he'd be there in 15 minutes. Yay! Mom thought. Levynn will be late for school! Dad said. Babe, Mom said, we've got to get you in the house before we can worry about school.

Well, it was a long morning. The guy took about45 minutes to get to the house, and almost an hour to get the door open. (Mom could have come home from work on post by then.) Dad understandably stayed frazzled for most of the day, but eventually recovered.

Yes, we do have a garage. No, it does not open to the house. Yes, we did have a spare key at one point, but somehow we don't any more. Don't worry, getting another set was the next priority.

As soon as we can get to it.

Labor Day weekend

Whew! What a weekend!

We started off Friday afternoon when Mom got home early. We headed to the zoo since the weather was much cooler than it had been. Lincoln seemed to enjoy his first trip there.

On Saturday, we headed downtown for Worldfest and intended to visit the Peanuts Play Baseball exhibit at Slugger Museum. Though we decided not to fight the crowd for that, there were inflatables and free ice cream outside, so that made us all happy.

On Sunday we waited until the evening to head back downtown for Fall for the Arts, a preview of the coming seasons of the Louisville ballet, orchestra and opera. It was outside at the riverfront and a very nice night.

Today, it was an early start to get, yep, back downtown for the Mayor's Healthy Hometown Hike and Bike. We started doing these holiday walks about two years ago; he also does one on Memorial Day, and in October, a hike at a park forest. And it's free T-shirts! Anyway, today the route was a 3-mile loop across the Clark Memorial Bridge (Ohio River to Indiana) and back. So fun! Mom was a little apprehensive about the stability of the structure and considered life jackets for the kids, but of course in the end it was all fine. We got back to the finish line sweaty but pretty exhuberant, proud of ourselves for keeping a good pace.

Overall a very fun and eventful holiday!

Moving up

Lincoln has made the big move from his bassinet to the crib, from downstairs to upstairs. He was literally filling the bassinet up from end to end and knocking his little arms and legs on the sides. It was time.

So far, so good with negotiating the stairs with a wobbly 8-week-old and oftentimes a wound-up 3-year-old. We all take the steps one at a time and hold hands and the rail. And Linc seems to enjoy the music from his mobile over his new bed.

Mom and Dad are enjoying having a bedroom free of baby things, for the most part.

Preschool update

Levy the Lovely served as line leader in her class today, she triumphantly told Mom and Dad tonight. Funny, we can ask and ask her things about school and get very little out of her. But later on, details and stories just flow from her.

Also, Mom and Dad responded to a paper sent home this afternoon looking for a volunteer to be Room Parent. This duty mostly entails making calls to other parents, sending out reminders, etc. There's not much in-class involvement, and between Mom having no leave at work and Dad juggling Linc, we decided this would be a good way to get involved with the school. We pitched it to them as getting two for one!

Also, we wanted to start off nicely before we start making trouble about the school serving Oreos as a snack at 10 a.m.

Martha would be proud

When Mom called Dad on her way home this afternoon to tell him the vanpool was running a little late, she was thrilled and impressed when he said not only had he started making supper already, but he was making a dish from Martha Stewart: stuffed squash. The house smelled great when Mom walked in a little later and when she peaked in the oven to check it out she found a beautifuly prepared meal. Dad was quite happy with himself and Mom couldn't have been prouder of him.

Sibling affection goes both ways

Also

Nathan got his first real offer for an ad on his Web site. This is a very exciting development in the life of beyondthederby.com.

And Lincoln's social security card came in the mail today. A big day all the way around!

First day of school

All went well today, for all of us. Lev was excited and brave, Dad was efficient and brave and Mom was organized and brave, too. Our student learned classroom rules, played inside and outside and ate watermelon for snack with the six other kids in her class.

Lev says yes, she does want to go back tomorrow!

The Kissing Hand poem picture in the slideshow below has Lev's handprint. Mom also took pictures of the notes she left everyone this morning, the other miscellaneous reminders for Dad and the flowers that Grandaddy sent this afternoon.

The night before

This week we've been practicing for Levynn's first day of school. On Monday, it took Lev, Dad and Linc just one hour and 53 minutes to get ready and out the door for a practice drive there. Yesterday, they had it down to an hour and 20 minutes, but stopped at the doorway because it was pouring down rain.

Today, Mom took the morning off to go with them to the visitation day. She tried to stay out of the way and let Dad and Lev do their thing, but it was hard. The visit at the school, however, went very very well. Ms. Revati engaged Lev right away, showed her all the neat things in her classroom, took her picture, let her pick out a cubby and got out markers for a little project. It was all very exciting!

So tomorrow's the day. All of us will have to be big and brave as our sweet girl steps forward on her own.

The fair!

Our traditional day at the Kentucky State Fair continued this year. It was the first for Clark and Lincoln, and Levynn's fourth. We all had great fun, great food and sore feet and backs.

We found neat exhibits (and reinactors!) on the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth. Mom introduced our Lincoln to the actors and it was implied that Mom thought she was talking to the real president. Nevertheless, her conversation with Abraham and Mary Todd led them to say that when our Lincoln is in first grade and does his first book report we should call them and they will appear with him. How cool!

Levynn had the biggest ice cream cone that ever was. And blue cotton candy and a honey stick and country ham, sogruhm and biscuits, and a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and a little funnel cake. Grandy, Byron and Christina spent the day trying to get "the shot" with their super-duper cameras while all three kids smiled when they had the patience to and slept when they didn't.

Dad had to skip out early to cover the field hockey tournament final for "our" up-and-coming Web site beyondthederby.com Anyone know any advertisers???

A new man

Dad has a middle-of-the-night routine for changing Lincoln's diaper as quietly as possible, so as not to disturb a sleeping Levynn in the next room (and a sleeping Mom a few feet away, ideally), before feeding him. As all of you can imagine, and likely have experienced, Lincoln always screams for food when he wakes up hungry at such hours.

Dad heard him start to make noises around 3:15 a.m. this morning, six hours since he last ate. Good reason for him to give the vocal chords a workout, right? So Dad got out of bed, turned on the bathroom light, and peeked into the bassinet.

Well, that boy might as well have come right out and said, "Good morning, Dad, I'm happy!" He looked up, smiled as big as in the pictures you've already seen here and made pleasant little noises. Then, even after Dad put him on the changing table, he kept smiling!

And he wasn't done yet. After feeding him on the couch, Dad snuggled with him there and let Mom sleep in peace for the little time she had left before the alarm went off. When we awoke at 8 a.m. - you do the math - Lincoln still didn't fuss for food. He smiled!

What a day it's been already.

He found his hand

Lincoln is now finding great, slobbery satisfaction in sucking on his hand. He makes some really crazy noises when he gets going on it. Better that it's his hand, I guess, than a pacifier. He still is hardly taking that at all.

Levynn had her last time at her regular library story hour. Next Wednesday will be the preschool visitation and then after that it's school three mornings a week. She's really ready, though it was a bit sad (mostly for Ms. Beth) at the library today.

Mom is going back to the office tomorrow. She's making a real point to use those words exactly when talking about it instead of saying back to "work." It's not like she's been on a vacation, just hanging out for a few weeks. Can you imagine the earful someone at the office will get tomorrow if he should try to imply such a thing?

But it has been really, really good for Mom to be with all Dad, Lev and Linc all this time. And she is a bit sad.

Happiness

Lincoln has been trying and trying to show us his smile, teasing us with a little one here and there. But then this morning he was so happy he couldn't help but just smile and smile at us.