Easter Bunny's Helper

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First BBQ

     Barb invited our neighbors the Swanns (minus Darryl) over for the first barbecue of the season.  Elizabeth was a bit bowled over by the boy-energy.  After getting knocked down and cracking her skull on the flagstone patio, she decided that reading one of her fairy books inside with Daddy sounded nice.

     When the boys stormed in ready for more play, Elizabeth very forcefully told them to leave and never ever be loud in the house.

     A little taste of girl-energy.

Q&A

After the puppet show the kids got to ask the puppeteers questions. Elizabeth didn't ask any questions, but she was thrilled to be so close to the magic.

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Delightful Baby

Suzanne rolled over for the first time today!

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Aaron and Suzanne

At the Theater

We went to see Tears of Joy Theater present The Ugliest Duckling (spoiler alert: it's a platypus!) at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. Elizabeth and Lily Joy had a great time together.

They're friends.

By the way, I took this picture with the Droid X phone. It's pretty good. The NY Times recently ran an article about what gadgets you should get rid of and what gadgets you shouldn't. Pocket camera was one device they said you should ditch, because phones are so good at taking pictures now.

Whoa! That's some crazy talk. Megapixels aside, take a look at the lens on almost any phone -- it's tiny! The lens on your Canon SureShot or Nikon CoolPix -- a lot bigger. (When it comes to lenses, bigger [in circumference] is definitely better.) The other difference, and it's a huge one, is responsiveness. On my Droid X, at least, there is often a substantial lag between depressing the shutter button and the camera actually snapping the photo. Unacceptable except in a last-ditch backup camera; how are you supposed to capture the decisive moment if there's a one second delay between button and shutter? I'll take the cheapest pocket camera over the best phone camera any day of the week.

Beautiful Light

The sunlight was streaming through our sheer white curtains this afternoon, casting a gorgeous soft light on Baby Suzanne. Pictures happened.

Treasure Chest

In a closet in the basement we've got a couple of those plastic totes full of "props" -- wigs, funny hats, and assorted junk that we've collected over the years and kept in case we wanted to put them to use when making a movie. This closet is a world of wonder to Elizabeth. She first discovered some marionettes that Mark and Mary gave me and Barb years ago. Then she got hold of my lightsaber, which she subsequently brought over to the neighbors' house (both the neighbor boys also have lightsabers -- it didn't end well). On the day of the movie premiere, Barb and Elizabeth discovered an unopened retail package of costume jewelry that Barb must have bought for a Halloween costume five or six years ago and never used. It was a wonderful discovery to Elizabeth. At first she was scared to clip the earrings to her ears -- she thought it would hurt -- but eventually she came to love it.

She's such a girl!

Edit: The more I look at this picture, the more it reminds me of pictures I've seen of my Aunt Teddy as a girl. Elizabeth shows the Schanck traits pretty strongly.

Papparazzi

Last weekend at the world premiere of Sword Saint, the glamourous movie star Elizabeth Rose wowed the jaded Hollywood photographers with her incredible charm accentuated by gorgeous jewelry that was rumored to have originated from the jeweler of the house of the Russian Tsars-in-exile and a designer gown by J.D. Monkey.

Looks Like Elizabeth Got Hold of the Camera Again...

The pictures tell the tale -- though I am impressed that she took snaps of Barb and Suzanne, not just herself and the rug.

Moby Baby

Barb is wearing baby Zanny (tentative nickname which is unlikely to stick) in a wrap called a Moby. It's very comfortable for the baby -- she loves being so secure and facing outward so she can see the world from almost-adult height. It's not quite as comfortable for Barb, and the thing is like 18 feet long so it's kind of awkward to put on and take off. If you try to don (or doff) it outside, you're guaranteed to drag one end or another through the dirt.

It's fascinating how many different devices there are for carrying babies on your body. We've got the Moby (and its summer weight counterpart, the Gypsy Mama), the Ergo, and our home-made slings. That selection barely scratches the surface of the baby-carrying device world.

Spectacles!

Pipe cleaners from the rolling art cart transformed into surprisingly awesome glasses for Elizabeth and her life-partner Joey. The glasses lasted a couple of days and Elizabeth looked incredibly cute in them. This picture doesn't do her justice, but it's the best we got.

Peapod

Barb took this picture of sleeping Suzanne in a fleece wrap surrounded by Momma's sling. Baby fell asleep in the sling and then was eased onto the bed.

Her thumbsucking at the moment is a huge boon. A couple years from now, we'll probably be terribly frustrated by it. Although, as one of Barb's mom-friends pointed out, school (even pre-school) will generally break a kid of the thumbsucking habit.

Things tend to work themselves out.

World Premiere: Elizabeth's Firsts

World Premiere: Sword Saint!