Seamus Loves His Drum

... but needs to keep hydrated.

Thanks, Uncle Frankie!

When Seamus Met Buddy

Runaway Schmoo

Last week, we had our very first "oh my god, where is my child?!" moment. We were in the lobby of our gym, getting ready to leave, and Greta was talking to her friend Amy, with whom she had just finished attending a spinning class. Seamus and I had just emerged from the gym's day-care room, and Seamus insisted on running around the lobby, investigating and exploring, rather than being held.

"Oh, wait," I said to Greta, "I forgot the diaper bag in the day-care room. I'll be right back." When I returned from the day-care a moment later, I looked around and asked Greta, "Um, where is Seamus?" She looked at me in horror.

"Oh my god, I forgot I was watching him!" she said, and we scrambled to find him. I had visions of him trapped under a treadmill, pulling 50-lb weights off of a bench, or getting his arm caught in a spinning cycle's wheel. Greta, I later learned, instead had visions of him being abducted by the psychopaths who, TV news assures us, are lurking everywhere at all times.

It turned out he had made a beeline for the women's locker room. Sniff [choking back tears of pride] ... that's my boy!

Snow Boy

swingin' seamus

today at the wooster street playground ...



he can swing and eat a grilled cheese sandwich at the same time! verrryyyy impressive

Past & Present Thanksgivings

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

Here's a blast from the past ... exactly one year ago, my little boy was shoving mashed potatoes up his nose:



Today, we're with NanaBanana, Grampy, Mimi, and the whole Powell/Sodaro clan. Here's my sister-in-law Carol preparing our turkey, Larry. (Watching this has reconfirmed my non-meat-eating status ...)



It's unseasonably warm today -- all the way up in the mid 40's! -- so I took Seamus down to the beach a little while ago:





Among other things, he amused himself by playing with a piece of bamboo that he found: he would jam it into the sand, and then shout, "Oh, no, stuck!", and then pull it out again. He did this about twenty times in a row ... he is the funniest boy in the world.

Hope that all of you out there are having just as good a time today.

Video material of great historical interest

We bought a cool little video recorder last year, but lost track of it a few months ago during our move from Milford to New Haven. Today, I was ransacking the basement (looking for Seamus' birth certificate ...) and I found the video thing. I was delighted to discover that it had a number of videos of Seamus on it, which I will now upload here for your viewing pleasure.

Keep in mind that these videos are from July and August ... *he's even cuter now*. Amazing but true.

Video #1
Q: Is there anything cuter than a sleeping Schmoo?
A: Of course not.



Video #2
Seamus wants Nana to wear a hat



Video #3
Baby, just keep a-draggin' your red wagon along



Video #4
Seamus makes a movie; his retarded, pretentious father calls him "an auteur"



Video #5
Seamus fearlessly battles a giant ladybug and a small watering can

Love on the savannah

Seamus has a set of plastic African animals. Today, he was having the giraffe and the zebra give each other hugs and kisses. He also provided audio commentary for this mammalian love story: "Awwww," he said affectionately as he mashed the animals together, "awwwww!"

Seamus in the Autumn

In beautiful Wooster Square Park.

Sorry about the tiny video sizes -- taken with a Treo! God, I need an iPhone.

Ignore the dorky-ass narrator as well.

Grampy's Amusement Park Ride!

Grampy puts a laundry basket to good use.

More Schmoo-loween pictures

... courtesy of NanaBanana!

Free stuff on Election Day!!

Go to my Obama site to see what yummy stuff some companies are giving away to people who vote on Election Day.

http://obamasfirst100days.blogspot.com/

OK, so I'm not really a type-A mom, but...

I've been writing on type-A mom for a couple of weeks, and it's a lot of fun! I've written about everything from home birthing to great Halloween costumes for pregnant women, and it's just great practice. I think the site will get bigger and I'm really happy to be getting in now! 

The site is having a series of giveaways beginning on November 11th called "12 Days," and it's looking pretty cool. I've been reviewing some games, books, and CDs for the site, and I know that the prizes that Astacia the gift guide editor has in store are going to be amazing, including some jewelry, I am told. 

I'll have more about it as I know more, but for now, go check out some of the stuff I've been writing on typeamom.net! And if there's something you think I should write about, let me know.

More Halloween pictures to come!

Mooooooooooo

First installment of Schmoo-loween pictures!

Check Out My New Blog!

http://obamasfirst100days.blogspot.com/

Obama Boy

Photo courtesy of Nana.

Seamus Learns about Sharing...Well, Kind of

Surprise Visit

We had a surprise visit from Uncle Tim, Aunt Lizzie and Cousin Logan yesterday! Logan and Tim had tons o' fun in the leaves. Logan even got to run his bare feet through them!

Excellent visit

Our friends Evelin and Shannon are on their way back to Houston now, but earlier in the week, they came and stayed with us here in beautiful Wooster Square for a couple of days. And of course their incomparable daughter, Leila, was here as well ... she and Seamus had a whole barrel of fun together! The last time they hung out together, much refereeing of toy-ownership disputes was required (might have something to do with the fact that they're both "onlies" ... or maybe all toddlers have the "all interesting objects are *mine*!" behavior); this time, they spent much more time making each other laugh.

The day after they left, Seamus climbed out of his nightly bath after only two minutes ... it just wasn't as much fun without Leila!

I wish we all lived in the same building again ... sniff!

A very belated apology!

I was just looking at the earlier posts on this blog and came to the post where we asked people not to call or visit after Seamus's birth. At the time, with my pregnancy hormones raging through my body (and my brain!), it seemed to make sense. But looking back, I guess it might have sounded quite strange. It seems wrong now that I am reading it nearly 21 months later. Now I wish I had looked at Seamus's birth as a celebration rather than something I needed to protect from all of the people we love and who love us. So, if anyone was upset or offended, I do apologize.

Silly bug

Camera face for Evelin

We do what we can for fun here...

Lunchtime with Daddy at the Playground

Fire truck! Look!

A moment

The faces of Jim...

Upon winning the lottery...

Cool mushroom in our front yard

I love playing with my cousin Tony!!

Thanks, Auntie Teri!

Seamus sez:
I got a package in the mail today with a cool book, a crazy red fox that keeps chasing me, and some cookies! (home made!!)Here's a pic of me eating a cookie with the fox. He keeps trying to kiss me! And I'm sitting on my favorite chair!

two things every home needs

a cat on the windowsill:



... and a schmoo in the tub.

Our new home

More pics to follow ... click here for our new address. The password is Greta's maiden name (in all lowercase) ... if you don't remember it, email me!

[Edit: oops, I got the address slightly wrong the first time around ... our apartment is "Ground Floor", not "Apt. 1".]