Look at our nest now. Mama must have raised them well.
The babies, only three of which apparently survived, grew so quickly. A week ago, we noticed that they were sitting around the nest rather than in it while Mama hunted for food. Then, on Friday, we saw two of them sitting in the nest...
The Chicago Outdoor Film Festival made its 2008 debut last night with a 9 p.m. showing of "All About Eve" in Grant Park, and we were there. No, not just Mom and Dad. We all were there.
We forgot our cameras, even the one that Mom is supposed to keep in her purse, so we can't share any photos of the scene. You'll just have to trust us: it was neat.
Seated (and sprawled) on blankets in the grass, we stayed through the end of the classic Bette Davis film with the thousands of other (mostly respectful) people in attendance. Dad watched all of it, Mom watched most of it, Levynn slept through much of it, and Lincoln slept until the last 20 minutes or so. And we were all OK in the morning.
Levynn finally has a library to call her own. Considering how many books she has aquired, her interest in them, and her brother's interest in them(!), it's about time, right?
We rearranged some things in the apartment over the weekend to make the right ones accessible to the right kids, particularly within their own bedrooms. So Levynn has a library, for instance.
Lincoln now has a tall shelf full of toys in his room, but he has the most fun with what switched places with Levynn's library: the kitchen set.
The kids visited their pediatrician today for two milestone checkups - Levynn's four-year and Lincoln's one-year - and all went well.
One surprise did emerge, though: Lincoln gained only 6 ounces in three months! He weighed just 21 pounds, 8 ounces (although Dad's back says otherwise), but he had grown more than an inch to 31. Of course, that just means he's thinning out like the rest of us!
Levynn remains on the same petite curve. She weighed 33 pounds - 5 more than a year ago - and had grown 3 inches to 39 1/4.
The pediatrician gave us the official OK to start weaning Lincoln from the bottle. He already had been drinking water from a cup. So we just need to get him on milk.
This must be the reason we pay such high taxes in Chicago and swallow it. In how many other cities in the world can you get what we got downtown today - and for nothing more than the cost of our lunch?
Closely following the Tribune's arts coverage as always, Dad noticed last week that today was the only day that two particular events in the summer-long Millenium Park Family Fun Festival both were happening: a locally-produced puppet play and an Australian performing arts show. And, for good measure, the newspaper-sponsored Magnificent Mile Art Festival was finishing its three-day run in the courtyard next to Tribune Tower.
So throw in a (purchased) picnic lunch and treats from Baskin Robbins, and we had a day.
It started with A Rabbit's Tale, featuring Fast Fish Puppet Theater's Bunraku-style creations, in Jay Pritzker Pavilion - that cool outdoor concert venue some of you have seen.
Then we tried to get seated at Park Grill for lunch. But Millenium Park was hopping (because Dad obviously was not the only person in Chicago paying attention), and after 25 minutes or so of waiting we realized that the picnic offerings in the restaurant's next-door cafe were a better option if we expected to see the next event. So we found a shady spot within obstructed view of Cloud Gate and ate.
Now check out these folks, who call themselves Australia's Strange Fruit.
Yes, they're perched on poles, right in front of Cloud Gate. They were a sight to see.
We stopped at The Crown Fountain before we left, and Mom and Levynn stepped into the water.
Then we bought ice cream at Baskin Robbins on the way to the Tribune's art festival, where Levynn handed three bucks to an artist for a magnet that had a reproduction of one of his paintings. He likes kids, apparently, and he made a friend of one because he gave Levynn a little sketch pad on the house. She loves notebooks!
We arrived home five hours after we left, hot and tired but fulfilled.
At long last, we took advantage of the YMCA's open swim hours today and jumped back in the pool with the kids for the first time since swim lessons ended.
You should have seen it! (Alas, our hands were full, so you won't even now.)
After getting used to the water temperature, Lincoln repeatedly chased a ball, first on Dad's arm and then on Mom's arm. He even started kicking like a frog.
Levynn needed more time to find her comfort zone, but it was worth the wait. She saw another little girl wearing a back float and wanted to use one, too, so she could swim "all by myself." But the back float wasn't the cure-all that she expected it to be, and she cried, cried, cried.
Then, out of the blue, Mom let her go one more time and she just went. And went and went and went. Moving through the water with a sort of vertical dog paddle, she worked harder than she ever had worked before, and she loved it. The look of desperation, joy and pride on her face - like, "Holy cow, I'm really doing this, I really am!" - was priceless, absolutely priceless.
Actually, Lincoln has three new teeth, in varying stages of development. One is all the way through, one is mostly through, and one is poking through. They're all on the top.
He's showing you two of them here, in between bites from a slice of watermelon.
Mama bird laid two more eggs since we first wrote about her, bringing the total to four, and Mom had the extraordinarily good fortune to see the babies just moments after hatching today.
No less extraordinary, Mom also filmed mama bird feeding them. But it's not in focus and would be almost impossible to see through the Viddler player's diminished resolution. But we'll try again, you can be sure.
