Summer Fun

"Welcome to my weekend! On Saturday, daddy and I played together while mommy went dress shopping."
"Later, daddy took me to the park, where I swang higher than daddy's head. (He was sitting. Taking pictures. Of course.)"
"On Saturday night, I partied with the girls. Dahlia has a COOL pool. Greta brought the trucks."
"Dad interrupted our gabfest, so I let him have a piece of my mind."
"On Sunday, dad turned me into an urban cowgirl when we went to the World Children's Festival on the Mall."

An Object in Motion, Part 2

Rory has finally
begun to crawl, as this video depicts. However, given how much she enjoys walking, we don't think she'll be content to crawl on her belly for very long.

Father's Day 2007

A man could get used to this fatherhood thing. When Rory rests her head on my chest and holds me close, the world just stops. When she smiles her toothless grin, it revolves ever so fast.

But the poetry of fatherhood would not be complete were it not for the cheezy crafts that kids start bringing home from school. Here, I pose with Rory as she straighens the "tie" that she decorated with her handprints at daycare.
We had a delightful weekend. On Saturday, we were visited by the Pontius clan. Jason and Tim were college friends. Jason married Emily, and they welcomed Andrew into the world 18 months ago. Last year, they moved from DC to Iowa. Andrew is one of several young men with whom Rory's father is considering an arranged marriage. However, in this picture, you can see that Rory will have to learn to stop frightening the boys away!
We got the future couple close for this picture. Rory and Andrew will begin as pen pals so as to learn the ancient art of letter writing.
On Sunday, Rory took her father to the park for a Father's Day picnic. Later in the day, Rory's uncles, Allen and Mike, took daddy to a movie.
Here, Rory's family poses for a Father's Day picture. Rory is 10 months old!

Busy Zoo

The vast array of toys and animals that Rory has amassed in her 10 short months with us (yes, 10 months as of today!) are primarily the responsibility of the women in her life ... her mommy, her grandmothers, and her aunts (although her Uncle Allen has done a great job with her baseball wardrobe). However, when her daddy gazed upon the "Busy Zoo" on a trip to "Buy Buy Baby" (it's refreshing to shop at a store that is so honest about it's commercial intentions), it was he who said: my daughter would love this toy! (Okay, let's be honest, it was the first baby toy that Rory's daddy thought he might enjoy playing with himself.) Fortunately, daddy was right, and Rory loves her "Busy Zoo".
This weekend, Rory hosted a good friend of both her daddy and mommy. Josh Proctor went to graduate school with daddy, and he was one of the friends that kept mommy company while daddy was away during his summer internship. Josh had never previously visited Washington, and so Rory gave him the grand tour. We visited all of the outdoor monuments on the Mall, and we said hello to the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Hope Diamond.
Josh also gave us a wonderful excuse to gather lots of friends together. On Thursday night, we hosted several b-school friends for a BBQ on our deck. On Friday, we had drinks on the top of Hotel Washington with more friends. And on Satuday, we saw many of the sites with Vanessa (pictured here with Josh) who used to work with Tim and Sarah, and got to know Josh through a mutual friend.

Rory and Josh made fast friends (the same could not be said for Pippin and Josh, unfortunately), although Rory (as is her custom) challenged Josh to the official "stare down" competition (Rory won). We all said good bye to Josh on Sunday morning, and then Rory took her parents for a walk through Old Town.
Sunday afternoons were designed for being lazy. In this picture, Rory kicks back with her mid-afternoon bottle, while her mommy kicks back with the Sunday Post.

In the picture below, Rory enjoys a snack while lounging on her daddy's legs!

An Object in Motion

One smal step for Rory, one giant leap in her development. With the assistance of two steady hands, Rory is now our perambulating princess. As I have mentioned, Rory has become much more vocal with her wants and needs. And now that she knows what to do on our two little feet, she lets us know when she wants us to take her on a walkabout (hint: frequently). While this video is not the most exciting or funny, it does give you a good sense of Rory's range of motion these days. Enjoy.

So, Rory likes the new view that her two strong legs afford her. She is not yet crawling, but she gives us every indication that she will be soon. And walking (unassisted) probably won't be too long in coming thereafter.

In other weekend news, the D.C. weather did us no favors. On Saturday, the heat and humidity cut our annual trip to the Virginia Wine Festival short (before any pictures could be taken). The sight of Rory sweating like a piglet made both her parents a little nervous. On Sunday, the rain made our shopping excursion a little less comfortable. However, the house is now passably baby-proofed ... gates installed, electric plugs covered, cupboards securely latched!