Sandbox before and after, Darwyn smiley

More pictures.  Enjoy.

Max loved his sandbox even before it had sand.

Now that it finally has sand he loves it even more.

 

Max piled every toy within reach into Darwyn's bouncy chair.

Then he tested the bumbo chair.

I finally got some smiley pictures of Darwyn.

She's sure to be a professional actress.

 

Shave and a haircut, two bits

With two little kids running I can no longer afford the time to maintain my hair.  Here is my solution.

We did five takes of this picture.  This is the only one where I successfully suppressed my laughter.

Darwyn laughs

Continuing along her trek of advancement, Darwyn laughed for the first time today.  She was on the change table watching her mobile (which she loves), when Max decided he wanted to see the mobile.  I lifted him up and he instantly grabbed the mobile and waved it back and forth rapidly.  Darwyn thought this was hilarious and started laughing.  I was thrilled, so, of course, Max instantly did it again.  And Darwyn laughed again!  I don't know when babies are support to start laughing, but google claims it is between 2-3 months.  Darwyn will be 2 months old on Monday.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any of this on video....so you will have to take my word for it that she is advanced.  But mother's are never inaccurate about these things.

Happy Birthday Max

As some of you will undoubtedly note, this is a somewhat belated Happy birthday post.  I'm going to claim that I waited this long to post it because I wanted to include photos from Max's first birthday party with friends and everything!  That would be partly true.

Anyway, Happy 2nd birthday Max!  Enjoy the photos.

Max helps mommy prepare cupcakes the day before the party.

This orderly treat soon became a complete mess.

A yummy animal cupcake.

Max and his friend Elliette enjoy decorating their cupcakes.

Paula and her daughter Fiona.  ("Where did this baby come from?!")

Andrea and her daughter Vera.

A nice shot of Vera.

A whole bunch of photos

Our camera has accumulated a backlog of great pictures that need posting.  Here they are.  We'd like to post more frequently but we're kinda treading water these days.  Our au pair is gone.  I just finished teaching two weeks of a grad course at the IQC.  (Yes, I'm on parental leave.)  Greta's cooking meals and doing 1001 tasks that need doing each day.  We're exhausted but overall pretty happy.  More time would be nice.

 

Max plays with his friend Ella in his kitchen.  Ella poses nicely for the camera while Max inspects the microwave.

 

 

 

Our herb garden.  Note the gigantic rhubarb.  If you look carefully, you'll see Shaky conspicuously avoiding the camera, like some convict on his way from the courthouse to prison.

Our sandbox.  Built like a brick shithouse.  All we need is the sand.

 

 

I couldn't decide which of the next four photos was best, so I included them all.

 

 

 

Darwyn has perfected the bug-eyed stare.

 

Salamander!

 

 

 

Mommy happily working on house designs up at the river.

You need help, boy.

Roasting marshmallows on a campfire.

Bugs were gettin' bad.  Had to wear a bug net to drive the tractor.

This garbage man spent twenty minutes right outside our front door attempting to load a huge garbage bin into his truck using a remote controlled crane.  Money cannot buy entertainment of that quality.  As a token of appreciation Max and daddy helped sweep up the spillage.

We even got him to pose for a picture.