Jack-o-lanterns, etc.

Arthur got two pumpkins ("Art-er Punpum!") and we had to get the guts out of them.



Some 20th percentile weight persons wanted to eat the seeds:



What did Baby Theo make of this?



Was there a ladybug in the house?



A bunny/munny?



Just one year ago:



Look how pretty Ida Mama is these days:



Bye bye.

Ida vs. 18 month percentiles

Ida is kind of famous at daycare for out-eating Elsie and everyone else. Many have remarked on her belly. We've been worried, slightly, that the doctor would pronounce Ida obese . . .



...so we were quite surprised to hear that she was at 95% head circumference, 50% height...and 20% weight. 20% weight?!?

Ida vs. Autumn

Ace Frehley once sang, "I'm back! Back in the New York groove!" Well I, Pete, am now back from the New York groove, happily, and have found that Autumn arrived in PDX:







Bye bye.

Ida vs. Lake Quinault, WA

Look at this cool cabin Ida's mom found for us! You can see Ida's little face in the lattice if you look carefully. She's saying "Hi-eee!"



Here's a bigger picture of her face. That first day sure was rainy, but she wanted to ride in the backpack...



Look who else we found there! Some late-breakfast-arrivers!



Even Baby Theo was on the scene!



Pancakes, eggs, you name it.



Aunt Maggie ("Meggie") shared her eggs and also was very generous about reading Creepy Castle and all about "Melmo."



Uncle Arthur ("Art-er") was a little more focused on a) fish and b) cold ones.



But he was willing to paddle Ida around in the boat. "Ida boat!"



Of course it was mostly about Elsie and her dangerous teeth:



Screaming and climbing into cupboards was key...



...as was red light/green light . . .



...and wrassling, of course:



Here's another stair video (aficionados can look back to see how much has changed in three months or whatever...



(I told Arthur I knew how to rotate these videos; I lied, I guess).

One more:

Ida Hat, Moy Geeps, etc

Autumn is upon us. Ida has this hat! As she would say, "Ida hat."



This hat was made by Ida's special friend.



It keeps her ears warm while she's riding her "cruck."



Lately one of Ida's favorite phrases is "Moy Geeps!" She loves grapes:



And also Baby Theo, who can now sit in a Bumbo!

CHANDLER = CHAMPION!

(More on the SLC visit, probably, very soon, but meanwhile...)

Ida's moved on to daycare! It's a slow and tearful process, but reunites her with Elsie and Theo (Theo will be there in January).

Fortunately we'll still see Chandler a fair amount, but the careful, loving daily care she's given Ida is phasing out. Alas! But Chandler has to go to graduate school, live her adult life with the secret boyfriend and all; no matter how hard we reproduce, it's just not fair to hold up her life this way. Even though we'd like to. Anyway, Chandler is great. An outstanding person. Everyone should get to have a nanny like Chandler. It would solve everything.

Phenomenal!

Here's a picture of Ida saying goodbye to Chandler on her last day.



And here's a reminder of their first day, 9/5/07:




Still looking great ECJ!

Rock Cousin Showdown vs. Ida

Okay, so Phoebe, Bonnie Kate and Margo came to show Ida some tricks:



Ring-a-round-the-rosie, for instance:



Ida's crazy for the "all fall down" part, even if she delays and then stages several falls...



Wait, who's this guy! Oh, yeah, cousin Matthew! And Uncle Jim, too.



Rain threatened, so we went to OMSI, the science museum, where Bonnie made some science out of this necklace. There's Grace!



Did you honestly think that Grace could keep from putting some bows in Ida's hair?



It was Margo's second birthday! She was willing to loan the pink bows, as she decided to get naked before eating Ella's pasta with meat sauce. As Ida would say, "Margo naked."



After dinner, the cousins read some books:



Many questions remain: will Jim finish the Portland marathon tomorrow? Will Ichi really lose it and bite someone hard? How will Bonnie's forehead look after that harsh tumble? We'll get to those. Meanwhile, bye bye...

Ida vs. Cooking/Preparing for Cousin Deluge

We're in mad preparations for the arrival of Grace, Jim, Phoebe, Bonnie Kate, Margo and Matthew Rock . . . Ida has taken it upon herself to sniff every spice they have to eat:



Uncle Jim's coming to run the Portland Marathon, and will need to carb up . . .



... so these ladies are working on a serious meat sauce for Saturday night.



Ida says, "Power to the carnivores."



For those aficionados among you, or those who like to travel back in time, here's a couple photos of these ladies cooking almost exactly one year ago:

Get Well, Alea!

Ida is quite disturbed that a motorist ran into her friend Alea Adigweme and Alea's bicycle; she's going to be fine, but we wish her well. And Ida is not so disturbed to not take a bath in Alea's honor.

"Gooking"

You may have been wondering just what Ida is up to, in this long silence. Believe us, she needs little entertainment. She is extremely busy. (So are her parents, which is part of the problem.)



One of her favorite activities these days is "gooking"; rhymes with booking, and involves getting all of the bowls out and putting potatoes and onions in them, talking the whole time.

Arthur vs. Elsie

Ida looked on as wonder as these Bradfords came to our house, ate steak and chocolate ice cream, and then battled like two mastodons:



This whole family, even Baby Theo, are heading to Italy.

Travel safe, as they say.

Ida vs. Spoons, Sandpaper, Colorblindness

For those who said "it's called a spoon" after the last post...



Ida eats "gogurt."


Here she is helping her mom with a sanding project:




IN a serious note, some worry that Ida is colorblind and will have to go to colorblind school and get a guide dog. But Chandler says Ida is not colorblind.

yogurt, Old Dad, etc.

For his birthday, Ida peed in the toilet for her Dad. Unfortunately, or fortunately, we did not capture this on film. Instead, here's some yogurt eating:

Old Friends vs. Ida

It'd been a long time since Ida saw her old pals Alina (pictured) and Anya (who took this photo and countless others); boy, nothing like playing with big girls.