Hyde Park Photos

Update: We found the camera! Somehow it fell into the deep abyss behind the computer desk. I'll go ahead and post of few of the Hyde Park photos.

Reed wanted to go see Mommy and Daddy's old house. He asked to get his picture taken and after Bob had taken two photos of him, Reed said, "Okay Daddy, take a REAL picture now. No pretend pictures." I'm not sure what he thought we were trying to pull on him.

Reed loved climbing on the rocks.

Daddy and the kids

Mommy and the kids

Family Shot!

(I'll blame the weather for my hair issues)

Day in the City

I wish I was posting photos right now of our trip down to Hyde Park on Saturday, but alas, I am not because I think we lost our camera. We are not 100% certain it is gone, but it doesn't look good. We've looked all over, so somehow we must have dropped it there.

We drove through the old 'hood reminiscing. Partaking in one of our old past-times, we checked out the gorgeous houses of Kenwood, this time diverted by the barricades blocking off the Obama's block that weren't there when we lived in the neighborhood. I guess that shows how long ago we've been gone.

After lunch, we headed out to Promontory Point. It is one of my favorite spots along the Chicago lakeshore. We wanted to show Reed Lake Michigan and the beach, both of which he enjoyed but his favorite part was climbing on the massive limestone stones that form enormous rough steps all along the shoreline. Hyde Parkers fought for years to preserve these historic elements of the landscape. They are fantastic (as long as you can leave the stroller behind.)

Unfortunately it was kind of overcast so we didn't get the gorgeous skyline views of downtown, but we all had a great time. I only wish I had photos to share...and a camera. Sigh.

New Car Seats

The kids haven't been to the pediatrician in a while (I'm taking them on Thursday for their 1 year and 3 year checkups) so I'm not sure their heights and weights, but I think Cora was approaching the height limitation on her car seat and Reed might have been closing in on the weight limit on his. It was time for a new arrangement.

Reed was out of his baby carrier by 10 months and at 1 year we turned him from rear-facing to forward-facing. My tall boy's legs looked scrunched and he enjoyed seeing more of what was going on. Since then the safety requirements/recommendations (not sure which) have changed. I'm all about it now.

Last week I was driving (the kids were still in their old car seats) and a distracted (talking on a cellphone) driver pull out in front of me. I braked hard and they also stopped. I was only driving 30 mph and there was no accident. Honestly it didn't even phase me much until about 3 blocks later Reed said his chest hurt. It was kind of a wake up call. It was almost a non-incident in my mind, but what if it was an incident?! It really made me think that if an accident would affect Reed a lot, how would Cora take it if she got whipped forward? It will be rear-facing for us as long as possible. It is a little less convenient, maybe. But Reed and Cora can look and talk back and forth pretty well in that arrangement.

Here they are, Cora in the Britax Roundabout and Reed in a Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL. They are pleased with the new setup.


But it seems that Cora still misses her old seat. She's been treating it like her own personal jungle gym until we get it packed back up in the attic.

Cora's Teething

....Enough said.

The front teeth are finally making their grand entrance.

Can You Show It Now?

I don't really think it is because of vanity, but Reed really likes to see himself on video. The other day he was singing so I grabbed the camera to video him. I asked him to sing to the camera. He hasn't exactly figured out that he has to do something first and then the camera plays it back. Here's our little entertainer...

Cora is One!

Happy Birthday, sweet baby girl Cora! I don't exactly know why the first birthday seems like such a turning point. So many of the aspects of babyhood are becoming a thing of the past. Hello toddlerhood!?! I guess it's official. She's one. Check. She's toddling. Check. I guess that's settled.

Anyway, we celebrated Cora's birthday over Memorial Day weekend and it was really fun. It worked out nicely to have a long weekend so that my parents, my sister's family, and my brother and his girlfriend were able to come up and join our local friends and family. Reed loved waking up Uncle Nay-Nay bright and early every morning to play and also playing with his Cousins Owen and Willa who haven't been up to visit in a very long time.

Here are some highlights.

Cora's cake-We had a cupcake theme!

Mommy and the birthday girl

Granny flying Cora around.

Cake--Yummy!
(though she didn't go totally crazy on it)

Lots of presents--Thank You!!

Her actual birthday at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Walking

I'm going to go ahead and move Cora over into the "walker" category. Sure, she doesn't strictly walk all the time. She still crawls a bit, but she is consistently walking more than crawling.

I realized yesterday I hadn't really captured a good clip of her walking. I apologize for the crying/whining in this clip. She really wanted to me to pick her up but I made her chase me a bit. Mark that as another one in the mean mom category.