wet weekend

This was a good weekend to be a duck. After numerous sunny days spent in the office, we had much rain.

Did the rain stop our adventures? Nope, they were accentuated. We walked to the library to get some fiction and came out to a downpour. Somehow, we only have 1 umbrella that Jill used to keep the baby dry.
How is it that Jill looks wetter than I do? For the above photo, I had already taken off my rainjacket. Both of our pants and shoes were soaked through.
Rain makes me feel more philosophical. The following question came to me while on my ride to Block in the rain: (Sidenotes: a handful of fields already had corn plants poking out of the ground. I didn't take the camera for fear of destroying it. Finding a spot to hang wet bike clothes after wet walk clothes was tough.) how have we changed since becoming parents? Short answer: I'm less introspective [joking]. One minor change is that not only have we not watched a new movie in the last year, we haven't even been interested [that includes you, Avatar]. Maybe Clara brings us enough extra drama and laughter?

My boss told me that I would now _always_ have worries about my kid in the back my mind. Other than the usual stress of preparing her to become a visionary world leader, it's hard to think of specific worries. Maybe that's the rub -- they wouldn't seem so big if we could name them.

We bought this cool toy for Clara on Saturday even though officially she's too young. The animals and farmer can move all around the farmyard. She likes it nearly as much as an empty cereal box.

some unprecedentosity

Since we're such highly educated people, you might think that we always have our act together. To be frank, we have a ways to go. We haven't even started on boarding pre-school applications (I say she should learn locally in Chicago, but Jill has her heart set on Prague for extra focus on the classics.) What we did get done for the first time ever was give Clara a bath on consecutive days.

Jill did make some lemon cupcakes with strawberry cream cheese. I find that they must be eaten 2 at a time.

One reason for Clara's additional bathing was playing in the grass time yesterday. She liked sitting on it and pulling it up, but would not roll. Grass blades poking her face was no fun.
We took a ride out through the local tree farm yesterday. After riding past plowed corn and soy bean fields, seeing baby trees with flowering buds is a welcome sight. The farm is not small-- about 2 miles long by one mile wide.
For a touch of extra safety, Jill recently bought a flag for Clara's trailer.
Pulling the trailer at moderate speeds is much easier than trying the stick with the fast boys on the Wed night ride. Dave told us to get ready for his 35 mph pull minutes before it happened. Even if he had told me 3 weeks ago, I'm not sure I would have been ready. Dropped!

Finally, God knows if we're going to have any more children, but we have stumbled upon a fine name theme. Jill said something about 'older' names, but I heard 'oder' names. My favorite oder name to date is Modje (pronounced Mowed-HAY, accent mark over the e). Feel free to use that one and change spelling as needed.

now 7 months

The fine weather this week called for a picnic. Our Tuesday dinner with our adopt-a-students seemed like a good time to have one. We enjoyed curry chicken-salad sandwiches and Jill-baked shortbread cookies.

We loaded up the bikes with dinner and baby, and the boys walked over to Illini Grove. I rode the Ute cargo bike, which has been neglected for some time now. Jill puts groceries in the trailer with Clara, and I rarely transport lots of stuff. I had considered getting rid of it, but will hold onto it until after the revolution.

Our 3 'kids':

Clara is yet another month older at 7 months. No doctor appointment this month, so we don't have official stats other than that she is bigger and is in the 80th percentile for funniness. Still not too much hair and no teeth. She celebrated this achievement by getting her first runny nose. 2 days later she's fully recovered.

She wouldn't sit still with Raggedy Ann for the photo shoot.
A month after their initial plan, Grandpa and Grandma are in town to see the baby. We've hit Hickory River and the Courier Cafe. Maybe we'll visit Allerton Park tomorrow.

Happy Easter

Our first easter as a family of three was today. Christ is risen! 'I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.' Ezekiel 36:26

Our adopt-a-student Eric came over for a lunch of pork tenderloin (with mojo sauce), rice, green beans, lettuce, and strawberries. Yummy!

The family portrait was taken during the sunny part of the day.
Clara will be 7 months old this week. She's starting to eat solid foods. First was rice cereal mixed with formula. Now, Jill has put our new mill to use, making sweet potatoes, bananas, and carrots. SP were the best. Below, Clara enjoys some carrots.
Clara is developing a sense of MINE. She cries when we take toys away or when she drops them on the floor. Don't fear because Jill is already on the case. She and Clara play pass the ball (thanks, Grandma K) and celebrate each good pass.

Call me a wimp, but I skipped the morning team bike ride during a downpour so that I could ride in sunshine in the afternoon on Sat. I rode around Homer Lake, sailing there in about 30 min with a strong tailwind and grinding into the wind back for over an hour. I'm partly following friend Mark's program of 3 20 minute intervals. Mine were 12, 20, and 5 min. Not terrible by me.