3 for 3: Miscellany News from the Weekend

1. Meera spent the bulk of her weekend continuing on her quest to master the fine art of walking. She is very, very close. She can take 2-3 steps on her own now (although she does this infrequently, and really only when she wants to get somewhere -- mainly to Mommy -- very badly and is feeling very focused). She is cruising around everywhere holding on to anything she can hold onto. Our days are numbered until she's a fully mobile, independent being. We're slowly but surely baby-proofing the house and trying to not be too sad about our baby becoming a toddler.

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2. Kyle's highlight of the weekend was that while at T-Ball today he hit a ball (from a thrown pitch, not off the T), "that went into the outfield between second and third base." He ran the bases as fast as he could and made it home. He was super proud. Saturday morning the boys went to the golf course with Braydon to hit golf balls. Braydon reported that Kyle was hitting the ball 90 yards. Kyle was very proud.
Later he (K) heard Braydon saying to me, "I can't believe he's hitting it almost 100 yards!?!" and Kyle was very annoyed with this, and wanted me to know that it was "not almost one hundred, it was ninety! I hit the ball ninety!" (as though "almost 100" is not quite as good as "90"). Anyhooo... golfing with Papi was #2 on Kyle's list of 'highs' from the weekend (photo above taken by Braydon with his cell phone).

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3. At a really fun birthday party on Saturday afternoon, a kids' music-yoga group performed (very fun combo: kids' yoga and kids' music all rolled into one!)... and all three of our kids loved it. Owen sat with Meera during a portion of the concert and it was so cute (photo above taken by Braydon with his cell phone). We tend to lose sight of the unusual make-up of our family as we get lost in the daily grind, but then, every once in a while, a little scene plays out (such as captured above) and we're reminded. Anyway... lately Owen is spending a ton of time trying to be the best big brother ever to Meera. He can be a bit overbearing for Meera at times (read between the lines there: he can be waaaaaaaay tooooooooooooo much for her to bear), and we've had to work really hard lately to try to keep Owen's unyielding love for her in check. But this weekend we seemed to finally have some sort of breakthrough when we took some time to have a little 'training session' with Owen and Meera early Saturday morning. As a result, Owen is now fully able (and about 97.6% trustworthy) to 'walk' Meera around (i.e., standing behind her and having her hold onto his two hands while they walk all over the place with him supporting her from behind). At the birthday party on Saturday Owen spent a large chunk of time showing off his brotherly skills... making many 5 and 6 year old girls insanely envious (the girls love "Baby Meera"), which, in turn, made Owen insanely proud.
In other Owen News... Tonight at dinner, while Braydon and I were eating this delicious salad, Kyle and Owen were eating hot dogs and beans. And... drumroll please for a new J-M Eating Record... Owen ate 4... yes, count them, four... hot dogs. C-R-A-Z-Y. Crazy amounts of food are required to fuel that boy's crazy energy.
We're embarking on a big week-- tomorrow is the first day of the last week of school for the boys.

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Strawberry Season Salad
(made up by me but inspired by the overabundance of strawberries here right now and the sad reality that strawberry season will be ending shortly)
On a bed of baby greens, layer halved fresh strawberries, thinly sliced vidalia onion, crumbled goat cheese, and toasted pecans (I'd actually prefer almonds or pine nuts instead, but we didn't have any on hand). Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Yum!