I decided to break from tradition this year and get a pie instead of a cake for Mimi’s birthday, so we went down to historic downtown Occoquan for a nice lunch at The Garden Kitchen and a visit to Mom’s Apple Pie for some fresh homemade pie. It was sweltering hot, but we went prepared:
I’ve never seen a baby look this cool:
I haven’t gotten around to posting anything recently, so here’s another mega-post. As usual, it’s pretty much all about the baby since our lives now revolve around her.
This is where the expression “sleeping like a baby” comes from:
“I’ll have the organic whole milk please”:
I think our closet is haunted:
She always dances spontaneously when she hears Beyonce’s “All the Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)”:
“Looks like we’ve got a mystery to solve…”
“YEEEEEEAAAAAAAH!!!!”
Cute overload:
Rice puffs sticking in all kinds of unflattering places…
…including in the dog’s mouth:
She finally figured out how to properly use a spoon!
Darling getting ready to amuse herself by rolling her ball down the stairs:
This is hilarious and cute at the same time:
I’ve been very busy lately and haven’t had much time to post, so here’s a couple weeks worth of posts consolidated into one big MegaPost.
I bottled my home-brew beer last weekend. This one is Cooper’s Wheat Beer. Should be a nice refreshing summer beer, but I won’t be able to taste it until it finishes secondary fermentation in about a week or two. There are 29 bottles here… about 22 liters of beer:
Baby Arwen got her first pair of sunglasses:
Those eyes might make Japanese manga characters jealous:
Baby ATTACK!
Just fell off the guitar case:
Darling examining a beetle on the window screen:
Father’s Day dinner with the family:
Taking advantage of the sweltering 95 degree weather we’ve been having lately:
It’s been a rough day… crash on the couch:
I just planted the new AeroGarden seeds I received last week. The lettuce garden we had before was kind of disappointing compared to the success we had just planting lettuce outside in the garden one year. So we’re going back to herbs.
This time it’s Cilantro, Mint, Lemon Basil, Oregano, Thyme, Genovese Basil, and Sage.
Arwen playing the spoon flute:
Arwen setting up our entertainment center:
Arwen checking Darling’s teeth:
We went to the local farmer’s market last Friday…
…but Arwen slept through the whole thing:
Lots of work to do this week, but at least I have help:
As seen in the previous post, my vacuum cleaner of 10 years recently died, and we embarked on a search for a new vacuum cleaner. Searching around online, I kept running across reviews that went something like, “I’ve purchased x vacuum cleaners over the past x years, so I finally decided to buy a Miele”, or “My parents have been using their Miele for 20 years and it’s still working great, now I want one”. So today we invested in a Miele (pronounced MEE-la) S2180 Titan… hopefully the last vacuum cleaner that we have to buy for at least 20 years. The company actually claims that they are designed to last at least 20 years. I say “invested” because these things aren’t cheap. Check it out on Amazon.
Miele cannister vacuums are well known throughout Europe for being the Rolls-Royce of vacuum cleaners. They are German-engineered and made in Germany. They have enormous power, but run quietly. Arwen no longer cries when we turn on the vacuum. In fact, Arwen loves the vacuum as much as we do.
We’ve only had this vacuum for a few hours and it is the first time I’ve ever been excited about a gadget not associated with entertainment. I know it sounds crazy, but I can’t wait to vacuum the entire house with it!
Eureka Whirlwind passed away Tuesday, June 8, 2010 while vacuuming the kitchen. Attempts at resuscitating Whirlwind failed when flames erupted from its motor during emergency surgery in the basement. Whirlwind is survived by Black and Decker DustBuster and SteamFast Fabric Steamer.
Yesterday, Stephen Strasburg made history in Washington D.C. by striking out 14 on his debut (watch him here taking 2 pies in the face!). Today, Arwen made household history by pooping 6 times, shattering her previous record of 4!
Arwen is now 8 months old and aspects of her personality are starting to show. I can already guess that she will be a very mischievous toddler…
She seems to dislike kids’ toys and prefer adult things like key chains, compact discs, cell phones, computers, and other electronic gadgets.
She really enjoyed being put into her hamper (note the dog looking very creepy behind her)
And the stuffed animal population in the house are terrified of her
Not all smiles though… sometimes she looks like she’s trying to solve a really complicated problem in her head
The leeks in the back yard are blooming, but I’m kind of disappointed that the flowers look almost exactly like onion flowers.
In hindsight, the trade that sent Tigers’ star outfielder Curtis Granderson to the Yankees and pitcher Edwin Jackson to the Diamondbacks will probably end up working mostly in favor of the Tigers. In exchange, the Detroit Tigers got prospects Austin Jackson, Phil Coke, Daniel Schlereth, and Max Scherzer.
Although the Tigers lost Granderson, they got a replacement player with potential to be better than Granderson. While Curtis Granderson is batting only .250 this season for the Yankees as a part-time outfielder, Austin Jackson has become a rookie star for the Tigers, batting .325 and making a running over-the-shoulder catch in the ninth inning to preserve Armando Galarraga’s near-perfect game last week.
And despite all this, he found the time to open my mail and send an autograph back to me. He’ll be getting my votes this season for the All-Star Game.
Thank you for coming all the way from Taiwan to visit me. When I grow up I want to go to Taiwan to see you.
Love,
Arwen
…nobody knows you’re a BABY…
I’m convinced that my dog Darling has the intellect of an 8-month-old baby right now. They amuse each other and play with each other’s toys. Darling will frequently steal baby Arwen’s toys or sneak some playing time with the toys when Arwen’s done with them. They both enjoy gazing out the window together in the morning. They also both know roughly the same tricks — sit, roll, down, play dead, and come here.
I buried the roots of some store-bought scallions a few months ago in the back yard, and they’re blooming now!
Arwen has her own seat now where she can sit and supervise us every time we go out and eat. She hates being trapped in the carrier now.
Last night was the season finale of Lost. It was the episode that was supposed to explain 6 years of mysteries and intrigue. In the end, it was a decent ending that brought closure to most of the character story lines, but did very little to explain any of the mysterious events that happened over the past six years. Lost geeks will be reviewing the past episodes and discussing the show for years, but I think I will just move on the way most people move on after reading the last page of a good book.
Some of the questions that I still have are:
I guess most of them will never be answered, and that is the root of why Lost was so appealing to so many people.
…because she does push-ups at 6 months old!
China’s landfills are overflowing. What’s the Chinese government’s solution? Hose down the garbage with perfume, cover it up with plastic, then in the meantime try to build huge incinerators to burn it all. Sounds like an environmental disaster waiting to happen.
Why can’t my dog make herself useful like this?
Dog Sings To Soothe Crying Baby – Watch more Funny Videos
Pedigree Dogs ad shot 1000 FPS using the Phantom camera
It’s St. Patty’s Day and the baby’s asleep. Time to celebrate…
After over a month, I think finally the last of the Snowmageddon snow melted today. Unfortunately, I think Arwen picked up some bad habits while we were snowed in:
Yup, the name given by the locals to the recent winter storms in the Washington D.C. area is “Snowmageddon”. It’s officially the snowiest winter in the history of the area (I think 2nd place belongs to the winter of 1898).
The Federal Government will be closed again on Thursday. The last time the Federal Government was open was last Friday, February 5 (I like this one person’s explanation for why it’s taking so long for Washington D.C. to clear up the snow)
Just when I finished shoveling the snow, another foot of it gets dumped onto my driveway:
At least there was a lull in the snow yesterday and I was able to get my latest shipment of coffee delivered. This shipment included Caribou Daybreak Morning Blend, Green Mountain Golden French Toast, Newman’s Own Extra Bold Special Blend, and Tully’s Madison Blend:
Nothing like sipping good coffee indoors when the weather outside is frightful!
For the second time this winter, the Washington D.C. area got over two feet of snow. While I don’t think this storm beat the Knickerbocker Storm of 1922, the winter of 2009-2010 should go down in history as the snowiest winter ever in Washington D.C.. The snow from this storm fell on top of about 2 inches that was already on the ground, and more snow is predicted for this coming week.
Here’s my dog dwarfed by the snow in the backyard:
and three feet of snow piled onto the deck:
my car is somewhere in this picture:
oh, there it is… I guess the tires gave it away:
I can’t believe I haven’t posted anything here so far this year!
Well, the Washington D.C. area is about to get dumped on by the second blizzard of the season, so I’ll probably post some more snow pictures here this weekend. We’re expecting about 2 feet this time, adding on to the 2 inches that’s still on the ground from last weekend’s snow storm.
Remember that movie, The Day After Tomorrow?
Yep, that’s exactly what this area will look like the day after tomorrow.
She smiles a lot now!
…but is still totally helpless as we give her a mohawk
Spent a couple hours digging out of 2 feet of snow today. Luckily it was the dry powdery stuff that isn’t too hard to move.
Maybe I’ll clear the deck tomorrow if I have another couple hours to spare…
