this week in pictures.

with very young kids, a lot of changes do happen in just a week's time.  for example, bean has gone from saying "NO" and vigorously shaking her head (in response to anything resembling an interrogative) to a gentle, soft, high pitched "no."  she appears to have long conversations with herself (also peppered with a fair amount of nos) that sounds an awful lot like speaking in tongues.  today i was being goofy with her and she looked at me and said, "no, mama."  she's already too cool for me.

my favorites!

reese is following the laws of physics; he's currently an object in motion that tends to stay in motion (whereas his sister stayed at rest for approximately 10 months).  he doesn't quite have the nimbleness of bean's ninja phase (think more along the lines of a tubby little salamander), but he is rolling, scooting, and nudging his way all over the apartment.  there's something really special about babies when they hit the 6 month mark and become giggly, slobbery little spheres of love.  david accurately described him the other day as "magically delicious."















we were off to a productive and exciting start with our first race together, a 10k around navy pier:

david ran much faster than we practiced...

...i ran much slower.

things got significantly less productive when bean cried/whined for 4 straight days.  unclear what was irking her, but it was a rather unpleasant time.  you can guess who the only person was continuing to adore her through her prolonged attitude problem:

the weather has been at times cool enough to keep us indoors (we saw the season's first snowflakes), although we've had two 60 degree days in mid november (that's weather karma for the 40s through the end of may).

magically delicious.

on the way to crawling and sitting like a pro.

 

 reading together.

 peek a boo.

 we're still working on hugs.

today was really the first in several that bean allowed me to accomplish anything, so we really geared up for maximal productivity.  much to her chagrin, i did finish her striped leg warmers, and in doing so have sufficiently distracted myself from my previous knitting project that now i'm eager to finish it.

 we also read through several catalogues to steal knitting ideas, read december bon appetit cover to cover (somewhat made up for the very disappointing thanksgiving issue), and finished eating animals.  i was overall really excited about this book.  it presents a lot of viewpoints and facts without being dry or overwhelming.  i have put it on david's required reading list--i think it does well to summarize not just the health, but a few key political, ethical, and moral reasons why i've chosen not to raise our children eating meat.

because some family members are harder to convince than those under the age of 2, i was happy to find leaping waters farm to provide us with a turkey this thanksgiving.  shipping a turkey halfway across the country isn't terribly efficient in any way, but at least this animal flew, scurried, pecked and mated without being genetically modified or pumped full of unnatural feed and antibiotics until its slaughter...a life known by far fewer than 1% of the turkeys that will star in thanksgiving spreads next week.  we are happy to support one of the few farms left with the ability to provide their animals with a good life and death.

this week, we are faced with the herculean task of choosing a thanksgiving menu...our work is cut out for us!

too cool for mom.