Raising a Teeny Greenie Peacenik: Highlights: The Second Half of May

The second half of May was fun... after we adjusted to local time, that is. Here are the highlights.

Auric has his two lower teeth and has been itching to feed himself finger foods lately. So we started with the puffs that dissolve with practically no chewing. They keep him occupied (while I sneak food in his mouth), until he starts to get frustrated with them. Since they are quick-dissolving, they gum up and stick to the food on his fingers, making it hard for him, as a beginner, to get the puffs into his mouth. Sometimes he looks like this:

The first Saturday after our return from our trip, we had a family picnic in a renovated park a few blocks away from our place, right on the Charles River. We were visited by a few families of geese with their young, fuzzy goslings.

We brought along our new boomerang and attempted to throw that around. As beginners, we had trouble getting it to return every time. But there were a handful of times that it came back to us. However, during those seconds as it switched its trajectory and started whirling in my direction, I have to admit that I wasn't sure I wanted it to come back and was glad when it landed at my feet. I mean, that thing can seem like a ninja throwing star, but ten times bigger. Granted it doesn't have poison blades on it, but still.

An update for those of you following the saga of Baby Trash Can: she's still with us. Here she is, posing with Thora and Auric.

Thora continues to mother this inanimate object in the most touching and hilarious ways. At times I wonder how long BTC is for this world of make-believe, like when she talks about whether BTC needs to use the potty before going on an outing, and I perk up, hoping to get a picture of BTC on Thora's potty. But on multiple occasions, Thora has kept certain pictures (like a BTC potty picture) from being taken, which makes me wonder if she is beginning to pick up on the eccentricity of BTC's existence. But I don't know. BTC was still a key player in dress-up the other night.

Baby Trash Can dressed up in purple tutu and pink feather boa.

Here she is with the other dolls that night, including Gerdy (the Cabbage Patch doll--the awesome gift from my sister to Thora), Baby Sister, Thora's original baby, (who was originally named Baby, and evolved to Baby Sister once Auric was born and Thora became Big Sister) and Baby Basketball (in the blue, floppy hat).

Thora's Babies in Dress-up

We were lucky to get a long-weekend visit from my dad, who is beginning another summer in NYC. We had lots of fun and he was loads of help (even if he doesn't think he was). Here Baba tries to push Thora over the swing set.

And as the weather heats up, we've had some great outings at the neighborhood parks with our friends. And Auric even has friends, too! The respective parents often park the babies in their strollers facing one another, or we hold them inches apart and let the socializing happen.

Auric and his friend Ellie

More great park photos to come in a June post. But this was a great time: Thora and her friend Noah "streaking" through a whiffle-ball game. (They're in underwear.)