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August 02, 2009
Meanwhile
There has been a lot of fuss about books and creativity and other kinds of dullness here of late. For those of you who have been patiently waiting for photographs of babies, we will, today, provide some satisfaction.
Last week we took Alden in for her scheduled checkup. We were, of course, curious to hear the latest medical opinion on her size. According to the doctor, her head is in the 75th percentile but her weight is well below the 3rd percentile. Based on other indices, the doctor determined that she is, in fact, thriving, but thriving on her own scale that bears little relevance to the norm.
She continues to eat.
Sometimes balanced, healthy meals.
Sometimes cheesecake binges.
When Robbi was Alden's age, she had a beloved rocking horse that she would ride with alarming vigor. We decided that Alden deserved the opportunity to alarm her parents, and so we purchased Lightning, who arrived in a large brown box.
Alden helped with the assembly.
My pace was too slow for her tastes. She seemed to be judging me silently.
Eventually Lightning was ready for a rider. Alden was shy at first.
But wasted little time in taming the beast. She even learned how to squeeze Lightning's ear, which, to our dismay, causes his animatronic mouth to sing a cheerful little ditty called, "I'm a Pretty Pony."
Confident in her mastery of animal husbandry, Alden insisted on being taken to the County Fair.
She made small talk with this horse, who had won some sort of prize.
As we walked away from the stall, she confided to Robbi that she was unimpressed.
Grandpa John, who was visiting from the great Midwest, introduced her to a cow.
Alden squeezed its ear, and did not hear, "I'm a Pretty Pony." Disgusted, she demanded to see the pigs.
Apparently, she liked the pigs, or perhaps it was their filthy sty that she admired.
"Reminds me of home," she mused, as we walked on.
There were live chickens.
And roasting chickens.
There were large, inflatable structures.
Alden and I decided to give the bouncy room a try. First we bounced together.
Then we bounced separately.
Alden did her best impression of a ping pong ball.
Eventually, it seemed, she was done.
Dad and I decided to do some bouncing of our own.
Robbi was inspired to scale the monolith on Tiki Island.
Not bad for a pregnant lady.
Alden relaxed with Grandma Judy.
Did some swinging on her own.
And did some sliding with Grandpa John.
Later on, inspired by the day's inflatable theme, we filled up Alden's pool for her very first swim.
She proceeded with caution.
But before long...
...discovered her amphibious potential.
We grilled some salmon for dinner.
And had some ice cream for dessert.
All in all, it was a very good day. This is how we roll in Chestertown.
Posted by bogenamp at August 2, 2009 04:47 PM