Who can guess Sylvie's latest ailment?

Excerpts of Dad's speech from the BBQ

Sylvie helped me edit this, and at one point towards the end she reared back and let out this exasperated scream - like "Dad, WHEN are you going to STOP TALKING!" I do tend to ramble on...

Campaign Cook"out"

Today Trystan, Brendan, Madeline and Jake very kindly hosted an open house cookout for Dad's campaign.  A few dozen people braved the weather (which was NOT cooperative) and turned up for burgers and dogs - and we moved the whole shebang out of the rain and into the kids' playroom.  Madeline and Jake were very understanding.  Lots of photos in a new gallery, and at some point Dad might put video of his speech up on his campaign website (unless, of course, it's too embarrassing).  

The hat in the last shot was not a prop - never fear.  Mr. Husselbee of Highland Street was kind enough to donate it to the candidate on his way out.

Visitors from 90210

Today Sylvie's second cousins, or third cousins, or something... (Dad's cousins and his kids - anyone who can decipher the relationships as to Sylvie wins a prize (the prize being gratitude and publication on the blog) stopped in for a visit all the way from Beverly Hills, California!  Dad's cousin Gregg is a police officer in Beverly Hills.  Her own Beverly Hills Cop!  (I'll bet he never gets that...)  Here's a shot of him with Syl.

Just kidding.  Here are some shots of Syl with Cousins Gregg and Diane, and their kids Kendall and Ryan.  Syl was a big fan of her family from Beverly Hills!

In other news...

Mom finally buckled to Dad's will and visited a chiropractor - who told her that he's never seen such tensed up lower back muscles.  He was amazed he's been functional at all!

Here she is doing her prescribed stretching, while Aunt Emily and Sylvie bark instructions.

Dry food!

Sylvie started eating "dry food" today - these little banana flavored cereal things.  As you can see, she mostly got them on her face, on the floor, etc...  Pax is a fan.  

Because I'm a little weird, the placement of one of the flakes prompted this... I hear Pepsi might be looking for a new spokesmodel...

Videos

First, the bath video...  Yes, I know the soundtrack is predictable.

Then a quick clip of her first time standing for Dad.  Also predictable - maybe inevitable - soundtrack.

The next one is a peek into the game we play (ok, Melissa plays) almost every evening, as Sylvie's pleasant disposition transitions slowly but surely into the pre-bedtime fussies.  One of her favorite things is to watch Melissa play peek-a-boo, but sometimes even that can't stave off the meltdown for long.  In fairness to Sylvie, I should point out that this isn't a video of her just sitting there slowly wigging out - she's reacting to her mom.  But it is a good look at how she gradually transitions from happy... to manic... to just fed up with it all.

And finally - she likes to move it move it.  Syl is definitely in the "move everywhere and get into everything" stage - which we understand will last about three to four years.  I'm amazed at how instinctively she goes for (1) consumer electronics, and (2) danger.

Helping Mom with her work

A Day Out on the Town (Suburban-style)

A few photos and shaky video clip of Sylvie's Saturday out with Mom and Dad: lunch at PF Chang's followed by a quick stop at that New England landmark, Jordan's Furniture.  Sylvie loved the restaurant - they gave her a spoon to bang on the table, after all - but was unimpressed with Jordan's massive selection of quality furniture at 'Underprices.'

Splish Splash

Been awhile since we had some bath time photos.  Syl really enjoys it these days.  We're almost going to have to move her to the big girl bath though - she's learned how to grab the faucet lever in the sink, and unfortunately down = hot.  More in the July Gallery.

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Don't Fence Me In...

Overkill?  No.  Syl has leapt from sedentary to crawling, climbing, grabbing menace in less than a week!

She seems to like her new play area though - we'll see how long that lasts.  

She also managed to find time in a break from playing to hang out with her mom and aunts this weekend.

Miscellany

A few things to report, all documented more extensively in the July Gallery...

1. First, Sylvie has graduated to the big girl crib. This does not mean a change of crib, just an adjustment in elevation (lowering the mattress). As you can see, she demonstrated the need for this change by pulling herself up and pulling down her mobile. Not far from that to climbing out of the crib at the higher mattress level, unfortunately.

2. Speaking of standing up, she's doing it every chance she gets now, and is quite comfortable on her feet... so long as she has something to hold onto.

3. She really loves her dad.

4. And her mom (seeing herself in mom's eyes... or at least her glasses):

5. And her relationship with Pax continues to evolve in a good direction. Whereas a few days ago he wouldn't countenance her presence anywhere near him, now he seeks her out on the floor and settles in next to her. Whether this is out of affection or just the realization that where Sylvie sits is where the action is, we cannot know. But he lets her touch him now - a big step. If we could get her to stop trying to grab his eyes we'd be all set.

Video of the Rapprochement

Sorry for the delay.  Here is the promised video of the very first - but hopefully not the last - time PAx allowed Syl to "pat" him.  He even shows her some genuine affection.  And while in the photos earlier in the week his expression could easily have been mistaken for barely-suppressed annoyance, here I think you can quite clearly see that he's warming to the little tyke.  Sylvie, of course, needs no warming to Pax.  Which brings up another thing... she's crawling like a maniac now, and pulling herself into a standing position whenever she can get hold of something to hold onto.  I'll get video this weekend.

TEN THOUSAND!

That's right. Some time last night Sylvie's Place had it's ten thousandth "hit." Pretty fun stuff.

Coming to an Understanding

Syl started out the day feeling pretty under the weather - another cold! This photo really does pretty much sum it up.

As usual though, she snapped out of it and pretty soon was mugging for the camera.

The real news of the day, though, was the breakthrough Sylvie had with Pax. Or rather, the breakthrough Pax had with Sylvie. This is the first time he's sat still and let her pat him - much to her delight. We're pretty sure it had everything to do with Sylvie's Aunt Amanda's diplomatic skills. Pax has always been a particular fan of Amanda's. He seems to have decided that if Sylvie is okay with Amanda, then Sylvie must generally just be okay.

Not sure if the look on his face is acceptance... or resignation. Either way it beats the annoyance he usually shows when Syl comes within reach.

As for Sylvie's feelings about the whole business, this photo tells the story.

I managed to get some excellent video of the interaction, but don't have time tonight to do it justice. Hopefully will get it posted tomorrow. More photos in the July Gallery.

Say Uncle!

Sylvie is very excited to announce (okay, somewhat belatedly) that yet another of her aunts is giving her the gift of yet another uncle - and this one has a BEARD!!

That's right. In their understated, almost casual way Aunt Emily and Uncle-elect Zach have announced that they are engaged!

As many of you know, Aunt Emily is staying with Sylvie and her folks this summer, while Zach hunts the elusive Yeti in the wilds of Montana and South Dakota.

Congratulations Emily and Zach - Sylvie looks forward to helping Aunt Emily with the wedding preparations for the rest of the summer.

A day of firsts

First day in REAL SHOES!!!

First time in the kiddie pool!

First ride in the new baby backpack!

As you might be able to tell from the last photo, this was also Syl's first day with her latest nasty cold.  Happily, it seems this one is a pretty run-of-the-mill cold.   We'll see...

For real this time

I realize that I have in the past purported to post footage of Sylvie "crawling" when in fact what she was doing was another species of locomotion entirely.  This time it's for real.  Today Sylvie graduated from the "wounded soldier" drag/roll to bona fide crawling.  Life will never be the same for any of us...

It may not be at all a coincidence that today was also Sylvie's first day at her new daycare center.  She spent the day romping around with infants only slightly older - and more mobile - than she.  Could be that she took some pointers.

Sylvie's report sheet noted that she spent much of the day "sitting and clapping with her new friends."  This gives me comfort that these daily reports are not fabrications - or at least not entirely so.  There is nothing more genuine that could be written on the topic of how Sylvie spends the bulk of her time these days than "sitting and clapping."  She's also added a vigorous head shake to her repertoire, which can be quite amusing particularly when it happens to coincide with some refusal (as of her bottle).  I'll try to catch that on camera in the coming days.

Enjoying the day

A beautiful New England summer day, so Syl decided to treat Pax to his favorite excursion - Ashland State Park - along with Mom, Dad, and aunts Amy and Emily.