Two Sides

Evangeline has many talents.

She is good at wearing a Freud beard in the bath.

She makes strange diagnoses of our behavior.

She is good at taking naps.

Grandma and Grandpop get here tomorrow. Hooray.

Godfather IV

Dad stuff again

I went to Charlotte today to discuss docetism. When I got home, it was time to grill steak. One of the benefits of having a charcoal grill is that in addition to cooking, you can also burn things in it.

Recently, Evangeline and I have taken to burning branches from the Christmas tree in the grill when we get bored.

The scary thing is that this tree used to be in our living room. It doesn't take much to get a ten foot flame from a Christmas tree. Luckily, we do this burning in a safe place about five feet from both our house, vehicle and natural gas meter.

Twiggy.

Evangeline and I went out for a few hours of father daughter quality time today. We went to the Greensboro Coliseum for the Central Carolina Boat and Fishing Expo. There were lots of boats, bait, and fishing poles. I really want to fish, but I have no clue where to start. I would really like to fly fish, but I couldn't really tell if there were any fly rods there. I think that these trade shows are not for the uninitiated. But never mind all of those things. We were really lured into this event for the sole purpose of seeing...

TWIGGY THE WATER SKIING SQUIRREL.

There really isn't much to say about Twiggy. He is a squirrel who stands on some skis and is towed behind a remote controlled boat. The whole show is presented as a water safety talk and lasts about 7 minutes. Evangeline got to pet Twiggy after the show was over, but as usual, she was too shy to touch the beast, so I did it for her. Needless to say, this was the first time I have touched a squirrel. The news was there too.

We then left the confusing arena of squirrels and spinners to go eat the cheese samples at Earth Fare. Since we were so close to Fr. Haugen's house, we stopped by so that Evangeline could harass her old friend Gus the dog, and so that I could drink a beer with my fellow Greensboro prediger.

This dog is incredibly tolerant of babies who poke and pull.

And in other news, we have sighted two new teeth.

Last Minute

This is the picture I got of Evangeline when I realized I hadn't taken a picture and right before the battery gave out. Struwwelpeter?

Toenail

Here's some general silliness today.

Even dad's funky toenail couldn't win the girl over.

Blinky

Evangeline needed a lot of extra attention today. Well, it alternated between needing extra attention and wanting time alone to do stuff like bend my glasses and touch the fireplace. I also caught her reading Measure For Measure. After supper she was being really cute and smiley, so when I tried to take her picture she did that blink-eye thing a lot. Oh well. We did manage to have some fun this day, too. And she didn't walk anymore.

Oh, didn't I tell you this is how I do pictures now?

Here's a nice one from Mike and Carol's this weekend:

Shocked at the reality of a real bathtub.

A Step in the Right Direction

We started out the day with Kitty Quest 2011 II.

She found them.

Went to lunch.

Visited great grandma Lucy, who has been moved to a rehabilitation hospital, but only after Evangeline was able to climb all over her.

She slept most of the way home, not having finished "Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear?"

In between all of this, she managed to find the time to take three steps. We aren't quite sure if this counts as "walking", but it certainly was more than one step taken in succession. She did this twice, so we will have to see what happens in the coming days.

Back 2 Asheville

We decided to make another quick jaunt over to Asheville as great grandma Lucy has suffered a mild stroke. She is doing quite well. Her hospital room has a spectacular view of the mountains. Evangeline couldn't get enough of it.

She was going to spoon great grandmas's broth away from her.

When we got back to Uncle Mike and Aunt Carol's, Kitty Quest 2011 began.

Under The Table

No, I didn't get a side job. Evangeline has just really enjoyed being under the table lately, sharp edges and all.

Do these teeth make me look like Louie Anderson?

Socks Free

 No coat, no socks? Dad in shorts? What's going on here?

Now if this is all the hotter it gets, we're in business.

Ta-Da

Picture for Grandma E. concerning Evangeline's curls.

Job

Sometimes a baby's job is simply to wave a plate around perilously while her nervous parents look on.

Ikea should pay us for this.

 

Toyland

Today we took Dad to his circuit meeting at Ebenezer and decided to go in and use their fabulous nursery for a bit. We were also going on a long walk, so I thought she'd like to play for a while before her ride in the stroller. Anyway, they've got a million toys and things to ride and all kinds of blocks and play kitchens and music machines and books and well, all that stuff. She was squealing with delight when we went in the room and immediately made her way over to:

Yes!

Sigh. I'll play with this if I have to.

Then I made her play with this... 

...which she tolerated for a bit.

Pining for stroller.

She rode this cow for about 4 seconds.

Then I made her use this walker and she went wild. Up ramps
and in and out of rooms. She'll be a good old lady.

Now where's that stroller?

PROGRESS

Evangeline realizes that she must progress if she is to be successful in this life, so she has made some significant steps towards achieving the goal of walking, so that one day she may obtain a job and be a productive member of society. While she has made a commitment to our great society, she still has some reservations about joining those who walk uprightly. Her personal best, at this point, is about ten seconds of standing and waving at her parents. Unfortunately, her grandfather has lost the game, and Beth is up next.

Though she is still deciding what to make with her life, she can at least settle that it is still fun to charm her father with St. Valentine's shirts. It worked.

Of a Sunday

Hanging out with Dim-Dim before church.

Pum telling the girls how to behave

We Don't Know What We're Doing

Tonight we allowed her to do this,

Now why shouldn't she be able to sit
on the coffee table, again?

watched her do this,

Sure, climb away.

laughed at this,

Whining...how cute!

and then when she rustled up a few garlic bulbs just couldn't figure out why she shouldn't be allowed to peel them. So we thanked her for her help.

Me?

Note possible ringworm on left hand

Wanna help?
(Plus good view of Kyle's possible ringworm on left arm)

Sometimes we aren't good at rules.

Another Trip

We started off the day with the furious eating of a banana and then decided to go to Asheville for Great-Grandaddy's 86th birthday. This was a surprise for a few folks, so that was nice.

She picked out a card for her great grandaddy that has dogs barking happy birthday.

She really cannot get enough of it, and decided to entertain us during dinner with it.