Cloning Baby New Year

1973:

2010:

Hope y'all enjoyed 1973, because apparently, 2010 is gonna be just like it.

Work It, Baby!

The New-Mother Pilates Workout!

Wild Thing!

Little baby "Max"...

But why, you ask, do we have our little freshly-bathed baby in the living room (next to an open laptop) in nothing but a towel?  Why is Mommy risking little-boy-fountain-pee for the sake of a cute picture?

Right.

Solid Food

Asa has taken to solid food like a fish to water.  He does come by the foodie thing honestly, but I never thought he'd get it so fast.

So far he eats rice cereal...

Apple, zucchini...

And, as of today, squash.

Today was particularly messy, but usually the worst of it is his propensity for chewing on his fingers between bites.  And blowing raspberries with a mouthful of veg.  Sometimes Mummy needs a full-body bib too.

This is a typical meal, although he doesn't usually have such an audience - Poppy and Nonni were in attendance, and really enjoyed watching our boy chow down.  Can you blame them, really?

Shades of Asa

Thanks to Nonni for snapping the pic.

Buddies

Wherever Asa is, there's a little gray shadow following behind.   And the affection is mutual.  I didn't quite capture it here, but when Oliver is around, Asa reaches for her and buries his hands in her fur.

If he fusses (heaven forbid!) she's there in a heartbeat, curling up next to him and purring.  She's not even close enough to touch him, just close enough to purr to him.  Tummy time, for instance, is not necessarily a favorite, but he stopped fussing as soon as she came by.

Asa has a little cold this week, so has been a little fussy at night, when his nose is all stuffed up.  Last night, he woke us up several times - and each time, M. found Oliver, curled up in the crib at Asa's feet - you guessed it! - purring.

Even as I write, he's in his crib for a nap - although he hasn't gotten that message yet.  Oliver listened for a few moments, glared at me (as if to say, "Fine.  I'll go comfort him", and last I saw her was headed for the nursery.

The other two cats?  Asa notices them only if they move, which means I don't think he's figured out that Gracey is alive.  When he fusses, you can usually find them on our bed, under the covers, waiting for the all-clear.

Follow-up to Politics

Thanks to Uncle Jacob for sharing this...

A response to the liberal-conservative divide that says more about the state of our nation's politics than it does about common sense or our own personal views.  To say that I never thought I'd agree with Theodore Olsen about anything would be to play into that very semantic trap - although this is not the place where I thought that the overlap might occur.  But here he is - a credentialed conservative, saying very many of the same things that I said last week.

Sometimes I really do think that there is hope for this world, and that my little family will not need to be pawns in this fractured, and fracturing, political game forever.