Ben

One of our all-time favorite preschool teachers and mentors left Interlake recently. Ben, or Benny Eyeball as the kids call him, taught us all a lot, and we'll miss him greatly. But we wish him all the best!

Summer Tristen

Have I mentioned he starts kindergarten in less than two weeks? I warned him the other day that I would probably cry a lot once he started -- not because there's ANYTHING wrong with kindergarten, but because he's growing too fast.

At night, when I check on him before I head to bed, I see a lanky giant sprawled out there on top of his sheets.

Graduate sleepover

Tristen on his way to Interlake, the day of the GRADUATE SLEEPOVER, which was in June. Headed to Kindergarten in less than two weeks!

 

Dear Lori

The blanket is GORGEOUS! Really suits her, don't you think? :)

We're already using it every day -- has a spot in the living room where we grab it for tummy time and for covering Tillie during chilly morning feedings.

I know Tillie will cherish this quilt as much as Tristen loves the fish blanket you guys made him. He has slept with it almost every night of his life.

Thank you!

(Now come visit us!)

 

Becca of Liberty

How could I not post this? It's her best costume since Halloween 2009.

 

First cotton candy

Awake

This is what she looks like every evening from about 8:30 to 1:00 a.m. Except she's usually not dressed.

God. So alert. So late.

 

Moby

Rockin' it. Tillie and me.

 

Sharks from lillies

Chris and Tristen have been making dye from the anthers of the Asiatic lillies we get in our Helsing Junction CSA share.

Below: a shark. With a ninja. That's right.

 

Japan is too far away

We don't get to see Jeff, Kyoko, Aina (pictured!), and Hugo near enough.

Summer hits Seattle! Finally.

Just when we were beginning to lose hope, the weather warmed. Below, the evidence: pix of our first trip of the summer to Mathew's Beach. Probably our last, too, considering how much bird goo was in the water. Green Lake seems cleaner right now!

Tillie is 10 days old.

Next time maybe Grandma can send Chris some ice cream money, too.

Red washcloths

A while back I bought a new pack of brightly colored baby washcloths and added them to our stash. Tristen informed me that he would save all the red ones for Tillie. "Because they're my favorites," he said.

So the other day, when I opened the drawer and there were ONLY red washcloths left, I knew it must be time for Tillie's first home bath. Luckily, Aunt Amy was on hand as well.  Five-year-old + newborn bath + photo documentation = need for many hands.

The bathing crew.

Big bro helps lotion.

Mittens

It was a tough first week, with lots of pain during breastfeeding and the inevitable deep-down exhaustion that settles in when you have a newborn. But long about day six, I remembered to start savoring it. I just thought, "We'll never have a six-day-old baby again." And the next night I reflected, "Seven days. This is the last time we'll have a seven-day-old..."

Here's Tillie in her little mittens, which keep her from scratching her face.

St. Paul visits Seattle

So great to see Elizabeth, Don, and Maudie again. They were in town for a wedding, and we recovered from Tillie's arrival just in time to share a pizza before they had to hop their plane.

Maude and Tristen played super well together, with Maude introducing the concept of commerce as they built a town of Magnatiles and Tinkertoys.

Said Tristen incredulously after they left: "Maude is seven and a GIRL, and she didn't even mind playing 'build stuff' with me!"