melted smoosh

happy belated birthday to our firecracker baby! you are developing such a fun personality -- you love to make us laugh by playing peekaboo, pulling duck faces, and crawling around with dish towels on your head. you scowl and squawk if you're displeased with something (usually Elizabeth encroaching on your personal space). and you chat happily to yourself while playing with baby dolls or wooden puzzles.  helping mama cook you can stand up unassisted and keep your balance for quite a while before squatting back down and crawling off like a shot towards your next adventure. you haven't taken a step by yourself yet, but you still have time to beat the Will child record of walking at 13 months (Cece is on tenterhooks to find out whether you're going to steal that crown of laurels from her -- Elizabeth walked at 14 months and Greta at 15 months so we'll see!).  helping yourself to your sister's yogurt you put anything and everything into your mouth. thank goodness you'

read Part 1 here ! 1) Farm visit.  so much of our activities revolve around the older kids that it was a nice change of pace to focus on the younger set for once! we joined up with several family friends to visit a local dairy farm. we had toured this same farm about 7 years ago when Greta was 3 and Cece was a baby. Elizabeth was so excited to see real live cows but wanted nothing to do with milking the cows or feeding the baby calves ... maybe next year!  she spotted the calves immediately when we got to the farm and was so excited to finally see them up close! taking a selfie with a calf... ... suddenly took an unexpected turn!! no clothes or babies were harmed in the taking of this photo. the tour finished at their farmstand and country restaurant. strawberry ice cream for the win! (and yes, she is soaked in sweat -- it was a hot day!) so proud to "drive" a real tractor side-by-side of Greta at 3 1/2 on the same tractor 2) New car.  Nick has been scouring Facebook marketpl

as our kids get older and more involved in school activities, May has truly become a whirlwind! it was quite the month so I'm splitting this recap into two parts!  1) School gala, orchestra concert, and art show. the school threw their first ever fundraiser gala this year and it was delightful! it was held at one of Pittsburgh's iconic restaurants, Le Mont, which sits on the crest of Mt. Washington and overlooks the city skyline. we had fun dressing up and it was especially fun to see our friends in all their finery, too.  Greta joined the orchestra this year and has been following in my footsteps with her viola. beginning strings is a tricky ensemble to direct and I was fully prepared for their one and only concert to be somewhat grating to the ear. once again, our music director pulled off an amazing feat and they sounded great!  Greta is on the far left after the concert, we all walked over to the school hall for the upper school art show. I was impressed with the variety of