Still no photos, but a story or two...

The Dell is still down so no photo essay to accompany the weekend, just my words.

Saturday began with bagels at our favorite bakery in Clarendon. We then strolled through the nearby farmer's market, where Greta soiled her outfit with the juice of fresh peaches. In the afternoon, we visited her soulmate Jay. Greta toddled a circuit between their sun porch, their TV room, and their guest bathroom. She particularly liked the shower stall, which was open and dry. Perhaps because it's 110 degrees here, she would walk into the stall, squat down, then lower her bottom all the way to the cool plastic floor. And then she'd just sit there, looking pleased with herself.

Sunday was a very lazy day, as Mommy didn't feel up to walking anywhere. (Quick health update: She's still tired from the medication, but the dizzying and nausea have waned and we're hoping this is the beginning of the end. She follows-up with the doctor tomorrow.) We killed an hour at Barnes & Noble, where Greta was a bit of a train yard bully. There were two other kids there, both boys, one 2 1/2, one 21 months. Greta was taller than the 21-month-old and only about an inch shorter than the older boy. The boys played quietly with Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, but she always wanted to play with them, walking into their space, touching whatever train cars they had. We did our best to convince the other parents that she's just a big fan of sharing and wishes their children would do more of it.

The weekend ended with a dip in the community jacuzzi, er, pool. It was hotter in the water than out, and we discovered that Aveeno baby sunblock is merely water-resistant not -proof.

Unos, dos, tres, catorce!

Hello, hello. Carey is in a place called Vertigo.

That's what my darling wife told her boss this morning. He, like all of you, picked up on the U2 song lyric immediately.

Anyway, Carey had 15 minutes with her doctor this morning. The blood tests were negative for nasty diseases, so they've ruled out things like meningitis. CAT scan results weren't ready yet, but doc recommended a neurological consult on Monday. She remains "on quarters" through Tuesday. Can't drive, and worse, can't pick up Greta. But she's in her usual great spirits. Tired a lot from the medication, which has eliminated the nausea but not the dizziness. Doc told her to increase the dosage and see if that helps the dizziness. One encouraging sign: Doc did say she thinks it's an inner ear infection that's causing the vertigo. Looking in her ear, the hairs are waving in the wrong direction, apparently.

Thanks for your kind thoughts.

Miscellaneous update

Our desktop computer is on the fritz for the fourth time in less than two years, so no photos to upload. Word to the wise: Don't buy a Dell.

Carey's not feeling well. She started feeling sick Tuesday morning and is now "on quarters" through the rest of the week. Doc suspects a touch of vertigo. She's dizzy and occassionally nauseous, and very sleepy. So I'm Mr. Mom, picking up and dropping Greta off at daycare and home early for the evening routine.

1 picture = 1,000 words

Thank you, Mom & Dad, for doing what you do. There's a very good reason why Sara and I are well adjusted, independent adults with a strong sense of family and honorable values. Make that two reasons.

Here's a link to the 92! photos Dad took while Carey and I were in Seattle at MSNBC.com's 10th anniversary bash.

Yo baby

I believe I've documented this before, but Greta doesn't eat like this when Daddy's doing the feeding. Mommy, however, is a bit more of a free-spirit, encouraging creative feeding methods. This was last night's yogurt, what's left of it.

Weekend festivities

Just another low-key (as in, no committments), humid weekend in the nation's capital. The best photos came on our Sunday afternoon bike ride from home halfway to Mt. Vernon. The city of Alexandria closed a couple blocks of King St. to vehicular traffic, so an impromptu party broke out. Greta got her groove on with some cinnamon ice cream and lots of dog watching.

















Carey also snapped some good shots at the playground. I've gathered the best in this slideshow.

Our boy Greta

True story: After breakfast on Saturday, we go for a walk around a nearby tennis court. A group of seniors are playing a leisurely doubles game, but they stop to watch through the fence as Greta toddles on the sidewalk. Some small talk, and one of the men says, "Look at him! He's really going for it!"

I smile and say, "pink is his favorite color."

The First War Wound

When I picked up Greta today, she had a very good "Daily Report." She napped from 11:40 - 2:00, was happy, playful, friendly, and energetic, and Nancy wrote that she "got a big smile out of Greta today. She played on climbing mats, helped to make a collage on sticky paper, sang songs, and took a walk in the buggy." Unfortunately, what wasn't on the daily sheet was an explanation of how four conspicuous red marks had appeared on Greta's left forearm.

Apparently, there is a biter in the room! None of the remaining staff knew when it happened or who the culprit was. I told them that they could probably figure out tomorrow which kid with two front uppers and downers was responsible. Fortunately, the skin wasn't broken, so I think she'll heal just fine. And of course, she's not telling me what happened. Based on the story last week of how "Greta was a little bossy," it is likely another child didn't like it when she shook her finger in his or her face and said "No no no no no!" Of course, targeting the girl with no teeth doesn't seem fair, but pretty soon, she'll have teeth of her own and may seek her revenge!

Baby Bono

Weekend in pictures

Turns out we were actually pretty lame with our digital camera this weekend. Here are the photos. Carey's asking her Air Force friends for some good ones from the pool party. We forgot to bring ours.

Weekend wrap

No photos until later this evening when I can upload, but thought I'd offer a synopsis. We had breakfast as a family at Panera on Saturday morning. Greta likes to people watch while gnawing on a blueberry bagel. After breakfast, I drove out to Dulles, Va., to see if CarMax would give me any money for the 1999 Saturn. $750 was their offer. Too many miles to resell, so they would dispose of it wholesale. We might have gotten $1,000+ if we put it in the classified ourselves, but I was antsy and took the check. So bye-bye Monica Mobile, you served us well. After CarMax, we checked out the Wegmans in nearby Sterling, Va. What an extraordinary grocery store. Had lunch there before heading home to whittle away the afternoon hours with a walk down to the waterfront for Alexandria's birthday party. The Army band was setting up for an evening concert and their stage was flanked by two bundles of large red, white and blue balloons. They were all tied together, ala DNA, but one white balloon had come untied. Well, Greta was all over that stray balloon. She needed it. Had to have it. So Mommy sweet talked the Army Sgt. who was standing guard by the stage and he handed it to Greta when his boss wasn't looking. Greta had a grand time chasing it around the grass for about 10 minutes until --- POP! No tears, though, just a shrug and on to the next thing.

Sunday was a Perfect Storm of television sports for Daddy: Tour de France, Wimbledon, World Cup, Yankees, Tiger in contention at the Western Open. So I spent too much time watching TV while Carey prepared for the going-away pool party we were hosting for Air Force friends at 4 p.m. Including our family of 3, 18 people came! We grilled at the community grill near the pool and the kids spent most of their time in the water. It really made me feel like an adult.

That's it... photos coming this evening.

Casual foot drag

That's Greta's new "move." It's also a sign of her disrespect for those $49.99 kicks we told you about a couple weeks ago. Here she is, caught in the act, scuffing that fine Danish suede.

Into the weekend...

Sorry for the blog silence the last few days. It was a busy three-day work week and Greta was a demanding daughter. We think it was a perfect storm of factors: Teething, congestion, a touch of hand, foot and mouth disease. She didn't sleep through the night until last night.

On her weekend agenda: Sell Daddy's Saturn and host a party on Sunday for Air Force friends and their families who are leaving the D.C. area. Carey expects 18 people in our humble abode. We hope the weather is nice and we can occupy the grassy area outside the community pool for a little cookout.

Here's Greta soon after waking up on Saturday, helping Mommy with the laundry.

Weekend slideshow

As promised, here's the link to 85 photos from our weekend trip.

Fourth of July weekend

We weren't very patriotic, but we did spend it with some of our favorite people: Our friends the Hitchcocks in Englishtown, N.J., and my sister and her family in Rye, N.Y. Despite Greta's aforeblogged miserable night in Rye, we had a great time. The "sprayground" in Colts Neck, N.J., with Greta & Joelle was a highlight, as was the "adult" time we enjoyed with Sara & Peter after the kids were in bed Sunday night. Here are my two favorite photos from the weekend. A full link to a 75-photo slideshow is coming shortly.

Worst night ever!

I wrote the above headline in my head at Midnight. Carey continued to perfect it until about 2 a.m. Young Miss Greta, after a perfectly normal day with cousins Max & Esme, went to bed in the usual way. Dinner, bath, bottle, bed.... zzzzzzz by 7:30 p.m. A wonderful meal of Girard ribeye avec haricot verts, two glasses of a red Pinot for everyone but moi, and cookies & cream ice cream to polish it off. PLUS ... Alex Rodriguez hit a GRAND SLAM to help the Yankees beat the Mets 16-7. It was all shaping up to be a near perfect evening.

Fast forward to 10 p.m. Pick a verb: Whining, moaning, screaming... add an adjective: inconsolable, interminable, desperate. Our first solution was to bring her downstairs so as not to wake the whole house, which meant we were all leaving the comfort of the air conditioning. But thanks to a small turbine fan propped up on a chair, the living room cooled down soon enough. If only Greta cooled as quickly. She was definitely teething and the chief symptom that presented itself was EXTREME WAKEFULNESS. By 10:45, she was wide awake and wondering why all the lights were off. She did laps around the downstairs, reexamined all the toys she had discovered during the day and chatted like Fran Drescher on ritalin. Bah-bah-bah-bah! Da-da-da-da! Fast forward to 12:15 a.m.: We made the parental decision that one of us should sleep, at least a little. So up I went, tail between my legs, to rest in air conditioned splendor. Carey stayed behind, taking the drastic step of removing Greta's backpack from the car, strapping it on, and taking Greta on an expedition of the downstairs. The magic worked about 30 minutes later, and Carey thought Greta was sound asleep. So up the stairs she trudged, Greta in arm. Creak goes the door, pop goes a floorboard, and out snaps Greta's head like a jack-in-the-box! "Hey, I know that guy! That's Da-da-da-da!" she said, pointing at me with a devilish grin. So back DOWNstairs Mommy & Greta go, for an evening of impromptu play until 1:45. At 4 a.m. I woke up and came down to check on them. Both were asleep, as soon was I. We all slept together cross-wise on the pullout couch until 5:15 a.m., at which time selfish me went back upstairs to cool off. We all woke up at 7, and I ordered Carey to go upstairs and skip the breakfast shift. Greta had a great meal of bagels, blueberries and pears... and Mommy slept until 9:30. Greta went down for a nap at 9:15 and is still asleep 75 minutes later. As I told Sara, the great thing about babies is that no matter how difficult or uncooperative they may seem, we always wake up hopeful that today will be perfect.

Oh, Sara implores me to point out that Max & Esme slept about 12 hours, nary a peep.