the old country.

Today I got the ultimate treat of a bambino-free relaxation day- a trip to the amusement park. My brother and I spent the day riding the roller coasters over and over again at Bush Gardens. It was especially cool to go and spend the day there with him, as we went often as children and it was fun to relive some old memories. Funny how we remembered some of our old fears and observations and realized we shared many in common-i.e., "will that big saw in the log flume slice me in half?" And how excited we were when we met that magic mark on the height stick and were tall enough to ride the Lochness Monster with our dad. For anyone who hasn't yet experienced the Griffon- you must go. Immediately. We rode it at least three times, and I still wish I had waited to go a fourth time. It is the smoothest and most thrilling roller coaster of all time. An amazing feat of marvelous engineering, it dominates the park with it's beautiful blue serpentine coils. You must check it out. Thanks for a great time today, Thom.

beach blanket bingooooo.

Our impromptu labor day beach party. Exactly one year ago I was pacing around the neighborhood over and over and over again, trying to bring on labor. September 2, 2006 had been my official due date. The eleven days that followed were very long, and dragged on mercilessly. What a celebration it is this year, to enjoy Henry on the outside of my body. What a celebration it is, to have such great, dear friends.

ciao, spaghetti!

A true italian!! Henry is showing his sicilian roots. His ancestors must be so proud.

feed me, seymour.

Henry is into feeding us lately. So nice that he has learned to share.

a bunch of monkies and some sunflower eaters.

Henry got up with part of his crew at the zoo this afternoon. The monkies were delightful. The pigs were feasting on flowers.

raise high the roofbeams, carpenters.

The past couple of days we had some workers come and install a new roof. It has been non-stop, incessant pounding of hammers, popping of nail guns, and dragging of shingles- which sounded more like morbidly obese dead bodies being slid from peak to eave. Henry, of course, was able to nap through it all. I don't get it- the creaking of the front door will wake him up, but this cacophony did not. It is finally quiet again; the remains of our old tiled roof removed. As if it never even happened. Except we have a new roof in place. And I really miss the old one, from an aesthetic standpoint... but I won't miss the leaks. Especially the ones above Henry's crib.

static electricity.

lull...

Greetings my dear bloggy friends. I apologize for my lack of updates recently; I've just been trying to take advantage of these last days of summer. And I couldn't not post today- as it is my one year blogiversary! That's right. Happy blogiversary to me. So hard to believe that this was me exactly one year ago:


And so amazing to think how much life can change in exactly one year's time. Henry is walking now- it is sort of surreal to see him circling around from room to room. I cannot even begin to explain through words how much joy and love that little guy has brought into our lives. Thanks, dear readers, for watching him grow along with me.

the last days of summer.

Lately we have been busy trying to ride out these last days of summer by doing... um, well- summery things. The same thing seems to happen every year around late-July. I realize that the hot months are nearly spent and that I haven't relished those ubiquitous summer activities enough before the 'back to school' ads begin bombarding us from left and right. I believe this whole 'summer thing' is possibly more a state of mind or idea, than it is an actual, palpable thing. It is a Sam Cooke song. It is fuzzy childhood memories of riding my bike around the neighborhood into the twilight with cicadas singing all around. It is fireflies, and camping, and floating lazily down a river with friends. It is that CountryTime lemonade ad- kids launching themselves off of rope swings into a creek while reeds bend in slow motion and old people sip lemonade and smile beneath jelly jar lanterns. It is a sort of myth I annually seek to obtain, a sort of old-fashioned sentiment I relish and long for. A few more weeks left to go... don't be surprised if I call some of you over to sit around a jerry-rigged rope swing next to our muddy marsh that doesn't actually swing anywhere. But will we be the kids launching off, or the old people sitting around smiling at one another?

a trip to the blueberry farm.

This morning we took a trip out to a blueberry farm with Henry's Auntie Beth. We collected buckets of the delicious fruit. Henry even helped- his little hands are quite agile, more so than I would expect from a ten-month old. The berries are so tasty- and addictive. I fear tomorrow my husband might have to roll me to a giant juicer, Violet Beauregarde style.