It's your party and I'll cry if I want to!

So birthday's seem to be a traumatic experience for Fred. We are not sure if it has to do with cakes, candles, singing in unison, or people paying attention to someone besides himself. In August at my mom's birthday he burst into tears when we all started singing for her, when we stopped he seemed to get some control - so like any family we thought it would be fun to try again and sure enough the water works started flooding again. Then the last weekend of September we got together to celebrate Aunt Mary's, Daddy's , and Mommy's birthday, after all it is my 30th. The result of such celebration can be seen below.

I'm almost certain that's it's candles and the flame freaks him out as being a safety hazard, seeing as the other day when I had one burning in the kitchen he started signing "all done" and couldn't focus on anything else until we put it out. However, we know the perfect trifecta of candles, cake, and music seems to insure a meltdown. Can't wait for the holidays!

A boy and his box....

Stan got a new copier at work and called dibs on the box. While fun, it was short lived as it took up most of our living room.

 aye aye Captain!

peek-a-boo! I see you!

it's better when you can share with a good buddy

Noah Sitting

How I wish it was every time...


How it usually is most days...

Cousin Owen visit!

Cousin Owen came again in September and it was really fun with trips to the zoo and the farmer's market! We also just enjoyed hanging out together!

Dog Days

In attempt to "summer"ize (ha ha get it? punny?) Here are our last shots of the dog days of summer during August and September.

We spent most of our days at Noah's country club. And sun protection is very important to these guys.


There was of course tending to the garden with Zucchini's that always seems to get out of control. I swear I check one day and the next they are the size of baseball bats!
There was also such events as playing in the park's sandbox, birthday parties (more to come on this weird and hopefully temporary phobia of Fred's), and a nudist colony in our own backyard (swim diapers are pricey!).



We also ended the summer with an amazing trip to the Hewes' lake house. High fashion on the high seas and baby wrestling.



But it wasn't all fun and games, Grandma & Grandpa had him swabbing the deck too!

Jazz Cat

Fred is into music at the moment. I think it has more to do with learning which buttons to push on the stereos to make noise. He's got a little white boy dance with moves taught by his very white father, yes, Stan the dance instructor - its like Richard Simmons in a white t-shirt. He also has a voice as great as his mother, which is to say none at all. He will only sing to Etta James' "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" and it took me awhile to figure out what he was doing, until it dawned on me he was trying to mimic her crooning. May he have music wherever he goes.

sum sum summertime!

It turned out to be a pretty busy summer and recently has gotten even busier and kept Fred on the go, which is a good thing for him and his mommy as it turns out. It looks like fall will continue to be full of activities and we started this week having our buddy Noah with us on Mondays and Tuesdays for the school year seeing as how his mommy had to go back to school (ha ha!).

So let's see what photos I have been meaning to post to show how big he is and how much fun we have had...
Here's Fred showing his new style of being a Paleontologist, because you never know where you might find dinos, it is necessary to carry around a whisk broom and shovel larger than you are.


And then the next exciting thing to happen to us, was to go on vacation. Now, when I find something I like, I get a little nutso passionate about it. For example, as friends of mine you will probably already know things that I love - fall & Halloween (a particularly disturbing obsession too, as it seems I'm on prozac the whole season long, but I assure you that is my natural state), Harry Potter, West Wing, Trader Joe's. It's not that I just enjoy this things, I LOVE them, they are sadly a part of my identity. And so too is my favorite Michigan town: South Haven. It's utopia to me, because there are farms and beaches and a little local town that is walkable and has toys stores and ice cream shops and you can bike any where. So we rented the cutest little house and invited all sorts of friends and family to stop by and enjoy our little piece of paradise. Here are photo's of Fred looking stylish again in his beach attire, it seems he won the yellow jersey and we all called him Lance. He wasn't sure about the strong waves of lake michigan but he loved a hole that was dug to the water table and we were happy to oblige in making a natural playpen of sorts.




BLOKUS! It's going to sweep the nation.


Fred ordering for us to enjoy some fine dining (Maria's Lasagna - the most delicious thing ever! The secret is the shredded carrots in the sauce to make it sweet - yeah that's right I asked!

Blueberry picking with Aunt Mary:

Ok maybe they weren't quite that big... However the philosophy was definitely, "One for Fred, one for the bucket, whole fist full for Fred, none for the bucket".


When we went to pay we realized we should have pre weighed Fred so we could have had a more accurate idea of just how much he ate!

There was also the most awesome park 2 blocks from where the house was on the way to the beach. It was this crazy wooden maze thing with slides and cubbies, one part looked like a pirate ship, and these balance beams and platforms. There was one that was unstable at all four corners so you could "pop" your weight around to swing and make the things jump. If you have ever seen National Treasure 2 (which really who hasn't?, you know you love it) it was that... ok maybe a little more safe but still totally National Treasure!






All in all an awesome vacation!