daddy is hilarious

Some things just crack her up. This time it was Daddy and a football.

She even claps a little bit in this one for ya.

halfie birthday

Our little sugarbean is 6 months old! I made a cake and we sang Halfie Birthday to her, since we won't be around too much when her real birthday rolls around. We thought it would be fun to give Grandma and Grandpa a chance to watch Nadia paw at cake (that she wasn't allowed to eat... mean mommy).

And here she is just being her sweet 6-month old self. For those of you who want to know, she weighs 23 pounds (the weight of a normal 12 month old) and is 28.5 inches long (the hight of a normal 12 month old). She's trying desperately to crawl. She loves to bounce, she's learning to clap, and she's nailed down clucking her tongue and blowing raspberries. She also says "mamamamamamamaaaaa" and "dadadadadeedeedeedeeeeeee", but doesn't really mean it.

bedtime for bonzo

Nadia loves to sit with daddy and "read" a bedtime story.

"Hop on Pop" is one of my favorites, but daddy and Nadia think it's far too long.

Also, she got her ears pierced. She took it like a champ (daddy was more traumatized), and now she looks like quite a big girl.

Birthdays - Christmas - Anniversary

We celebrated all three special events together yesterday and today by "getting away from it all". We spent a night in a beautiful hotel on Michigan Ave., downtown Chicago (courtesy of Phil's brother, Tim and his wife, Michelle - that was their awesome Christmas gift to us!).

Here's the view from our cozy room.

We spent some time yesterday afternoon shooting some pool at a fun little, out-of-the-way joint known as Southport Lanes.

We had dinner at an old English pub/restaurant called Elephant and Castle - Phil had bangers and mash, and i had lamb curry - It was purely delightful to go out for a whole day (and night) and not have to worry about our precious little bundle (and a half). Thanks, grandma!

We nearly froze to death on our walks to and from the trains in the Windy City, but we were undaunted, and we had a glorious time together.

This famous couple sort of reminds us of ourselves - at some point in the distant future. I think she's a little more somber and stoic than I like to think of myself, but the two of them are funny in their own way.

last Christmas post...promise

She's just so cute - And how many times will she wear that dress?