Sorry for the delay

Tom was away at the 40th anniversary celebration for the Dobie Paisano program, where he was a fellow in 2000. Then I was away at a conference in Philadelphia (again!). And then, we are up to our eyeballs in house hunting. Alice came down with a cold on Thursday, and while it is mild, we are being overly cautious and kept her in most of the weekend. Which means we took turns looking at places. Not terribly efficient, but since we have yet to see a winner, it gives each of us a good sense of the market. We almost thought we found the right house, it is just a tad small (good location though). Which made us think of the footprint we are leaving on the earth . . . maybe we should downsize, pay smaller heating bills, etc . . . In the end, I think the season for house hunting has just begun, and all the work we are doing now is prepping us to recognize THE house when we see it. At this point, we are even confident enough in one of us making an initial offer with the other person not having seen it yet. As our friend Steve said, "You'll know your house because you will recognize that is the right combination of compromises." Right now, I am willing to compromise on space and condition to get location. I cannot wait to see what we end up with!!!

In the meantime, some Alice antics:


This is the closest I have come to capturing one of Alice's cutest looks. If she wants you, she puts her hands out and tilts her head back as if for a kiss. Often, when she has lured you over she just laughs.


What we have here is Mama baking blueberry lemon muffins for Alice to take to her daycare on her day to provide the food for everyone. I found that if I bring the high chair into the kitchen, I can sit her in it if I give her yogurt on a spatula. It has to be the thick Greek yogurt or it doesn't work. She loves this!


She sat there through the entire process eating a TON of yogurt. Believe it or not, very little actually got on her.


At the pediatrician today they asked us if she was eating with a spoon or fork yet. We don't really feed her spoon or fork foods that she can easily manipulate, so not so much. I should have mentioned her spatula motor skills!


What a happy girl! My love bug.