Holy Hulk!

So the other day, JVL gave Cody a prize: a new action figure -- the Hulk, wearing some contraption involving beads and bones and whatnot. Upon seeing it, Cody exclaimed, "THAT is the Incredible Hulk! Look! He is wearing rosary beads!!"

Um. Later that day, he really was. (He came to church, too.)

Chunktastic

To those of you who, when I mention how often and how long Birdie has been feeding during the past week or so, wonder aloud: "Where on earth does such a little thing put it all?" I now have your answer.

Her cheeks.

Her arms.

Her belly.

That's right, I said her belly.

Her thighs.

Oh, and her thighs, belly, arms, and cheeks.

Ben & Jerry's named a flavor after her: it's called New York SUPER FUDGE CHUNK.

Just for a giggle, here's one of Cody in July 2008, same chair, even more chunks.

You Are So Beautiful, to Me, and Objectively Speaking, to Anyone With a Pair of Eyes

Let the Teething Begin

Yep. It's started. The mouthing, the rivers of drool, the chewing on anything she can get near her mouth.

Here, she's trying to figure out how to get that elephant down so she can chew its ears.

But as you can see, this hasn't interfered with her generally delightful disposition.

Fahrenheit 100+

Hi everyone! It has been SO HOT in Virginia the past few weeks. Mom and I made up a rhyme cheer that I like to shout: "It's toasty! It's broiling! It's roasty! It's boiling!" And it's also boring--nothing to cheer about at all, really. Because I can't play outside in the afternoon -- only early in the morning, or on the deck, but sometimes even that's too hot. So I'm inside a lot. Forlorn. Not even my excavator can cheer me.

Still, I'm doing what I can to keep cool.


Daddy keeps me sane by telling me that next month we are going to be able to be outside every day when we go to the beach! We talk about surfing a lot, and we decided we have to build up our muscles so we can have good long surf sessions. So Daddy and I have been doing push-ups together every day. They're not all that hard when you're buff like me.


I told you we did them together. See? What did you think I meant?

Granny is Awesome

Guess what?? On Sunday I was talking to Mom about how much I love and miss my Granny. And a little while later, I was sitting on the front porch with Daddy, when all of a sudden...SHE APPEARED! She came to see me! And Cordelia I guess. We are having the best time. We went on a date to Panera and the library. And today we played for hours just in the sandbox! Here is a list of things that make Granny the best.

1. She invents amazing games to play in the sandbox.
1a. She never gets tired of playing them.

2. She picks out much better library books than Mommy does (in her defense, Mom is usually in a rush, what with my sister not using her library voice).
2a. She reads them to me over and over. And when we finish and I say, "Please read it again, Granny?" she always says, "Okay!"

3. She plays with me as long as I want to play.
3a. She never gets up to feed or change Cordelia while we are playing.

4. She has a great giggle.
4a. She makes me giggle, too!

This is just a partial list. But you get the idea.






We are having the most amazing time. And I am so happy that I don't even mind that much when she takes a break to say hi to my sister.

Cordelia seems to already understand how awesome Granny is. Maybe she won't be so bad, after all.

Little Red Robin

Side by Side

As JVL pointed out awhile back, it's a really good idea to compare one's children at every possible opportunity. All the experts in the baby books say so. : ) Kidding aside, how cute are these of Cody, from July 2008:

And these of Cordelia?

And here they are, side by side.

The Velveteen Patches

I was looking through some pictures from around this time 2 years ago, just to see the size difference between the bear and the bird. And look what I found...the first recorded snapshot of CJP and his faithful sidekick.

You can even tell in the picture how Baby Patches is velvety and plush, instead of...well-loved.

Cody and Cordy at Play

In Cordy's Crib

The past few days, Cordelia has been woken up by waking up at the same time as Cody (naptime, not morning -- she's up around 5:30 a.m. these days. I'd love to say that's well before he wakes up, but, well...). He likes to burst into her room and shout, "Hi Sister!" Then, turning to me, "Cody can go into Cordelia-bird's crib WITH her!?"

She wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first.

But she's clearly the go-along, get-along type. : )

And likes being tickled!

The Foot of the Cross

This morning, as I was getting Cody changed and ready for the day, I pulled out a polo shirt for him to wear. Seeing the collar, he brightened and said, "That's a church shirt! Today is Sunday!"

He and I went to Mass together, and he was as good as he's ever been. At one point he leaned over and said a little too audibly, "Mom? Cody is doing a great, great job doing whispers! Cody is doing such a good church voice? I am so proud of you, Cody!"

When it was time to say the Our Father, Cody recited it along with everyone else, paying rapt attention, and after "Amen" said expectantly, under his breath, "Hail Mary is next. And then Goodnight, Moon is next." That's the preferred order of his bedtime stories -- two of his choosing, and then always, always, his Our Father book, followed by his Hail Mary book, followed by Goodnight, Moon. It was so hard not to laugh.

But the best was when we were walking back from Communion and passing his favorite statue of Christ. He says, as usual, "Let's go say hi to Jesus, Mom." We do. We pause to contemplate, and after a moment, Cody says, "This Jesus's toes are really, really big, Mom."

And as we took our leave, he said cheerily, "I love you Jesus! Have a good weekend!"

Cody's Creche