You can just see his little brain whirling away...

Playing with my major score from last weekend's yard sales.  

Wooden bead maze = $15.00 at Ikea but paid $1.00

Baby amusement for 30 odd minutes = priceless.

I love these photos 'cause they really capture how entranced Tam was with the bead maze.  He couldn't quite figure out how to move them too much.  He did like pushing them a little bit, letting them drop, and laughing at the noise.  It was also fun to watch him "taste" all parts of the contraption too.  The only thing that finally distracted him was the sparrows began feeding at the feeders outside of this window.  He loves watching the birds too :-)

And here's to you Michael Jackson

Wow...
The end of a great music legend...
I just couldn't believe the news last night when I flipped on the TV and heard that he had died. The culprit? Cardiac Arrest and only 50years old. I just don't think that legends from my youth should be facing death already...they are too young!

I can certainly remember roller skating at the local rinks to "Bad", "Beat it", and "Billie Jean." Then later, I owned the cassette of Thriller and danced to "Black or White." It is certainly amazing to look back at all of the great and creative songs he gave the world. And the dancing! What moves! Not that I could mimic any of them (lol)

Eccentric at times, but his music kicked ass...Michael Jackson will certainly be a music legend to be remembered for years to come.

Thriller video
Bad video
Black or white video
Remember the time video

How do you cool off..Part II

Yesterday we went to one of the city's free water playgrounds! 

 This one is only 4ish blocks from our house and I think we may be there more as the heat continues.  I slathered up Tam with sunscreen and stuck him in one of the swim suit sets we got last Christmas. (Thank you shout out to the relatives who thought ahead and bought 12mth size, they fit perfectly!)  Hats for Tam and me, and of course the camera.  Brian assured me he had no desire to get wet, but I was all for cooling of in the water with Tam.

The water playgrounds, and wading pools, are free and open everyday from noon to 5.  I was glad to see that it wasn't overly crowded, and that the water was chlorinated and cool (not bone-chillingly cold).  Water sprays and shoots out of various columns at various intensities at various times.  The bottom surface is cement, and not much water collects (less than 1inch) so very little risk of any drownings.  

We lost no time getting Tam under some of the water fountains.  I wasn't sure if Tam would like getting sprayed with water or absolutely hate it.  No worries, Tam seemed to like it, if only for the fact that it cooled him off.  I'm glad I had the hat on him because it kept quite a lot of the water out of his eyes.  I let him "touch" the water drizzles, stand in the water spray, and sit and splash in the pools.  He liked the misting water and just watching the rest of the kids the best.  

Good times!  We stayed maybe 30 odd minutes before heading home for dinner.  I bet Tam sleeps well tonight after our water fun :-)

More great photos, taken by Brian, will be up on kodak site soon.  Look for the link shortly.

Is there an alternative acceptable answer ?

It's hot...how do you cool off?

It is so hot here this week!  The outdoor temperatures have reached high 80s / 90s and we are all just wilting.  I realized on Monday that I own NO shorts that aren't maternity shorts so I have been flouncing around in my hippy skirts.  It wasn't until yesterday, as my little dude is sweating badly, that I was finally willing to shut all the windows and kick on the central air.  oooohhh ... how did we live without this sin before now?  Brian hates the heat, especially at night while trying to sleep.  He's been hiding out in the basement where it is cooler whenever he gets the chance.  Tam has been weathering the heat really well, I think.  He has been sweating, and drooling, like a maniac!  But, he still has lots of grins and...perhaps some little teeth soon?  

Anyways, we needed a quick way to cool our little dude down.  First, into the clean sink he went with about hip-deep cool water.  He, of course, loved it.  I gave him a spoon, teething ring, cup, and burbee cloth.  He was in heaven splashing the water with one hand and chewing on the spoon with the other.  Yeah!

The next day, we tried a rubber-maid tub in the yard... I filled it with about 1inch of water from the hose and threw in the cup, spoon, and rattle.  He again was quite content and cooled off well.  

But I forgot to snag my camera :-)  

How is every else trying to stay cool?

Family resemblance

The top shot is of me at 6months. I too had lots of hair, though it didn't stick straight up off of my head. And, hey, I'm in overalls too!


The bottom photo is of my grandmother at 11month (I think)?

And then there is Tam at 6.5months.

Our faces look so similar at this age!

So True :-)

Tam's first outing to a playground - 7months old!

It's warm; the sun is shining; and we are looking for a new adventure for Tam... So off we go to a nearby playground!

The park is right next to my school, but still about 1.5miles from the house, a little too far to walk there and back again. It is a nice, small park with lots of grass and a great little playground. After kiddos afternoon nap and bottle, we all grabbed our hats and headed out the door into the sunshine.

The play equipment had several pieces of various sizes, plus swings. We let Tam try just about everything with our help. He has finally mastered sitting up with out support and so really enjoyed just sitting and watching the other kids around him. There were about 5-6 other children all around the ages of 1-6 playing too. One of the 3 year olds was really friendly and often came over to try to talk to us and to Tam. Tam, of course, just squealed and grinned, but who knows, that might mean "Howdy, Partner!" in baby-talk. There was also a puppy on a leash, which captured Tam's attention too. Nice doggie :-)

We would let Tam sit on one of the levels with one of us, and then the other would go higher or lower to give him different perspectives on the world. Giggles all around.

We let him try the really short slide on his back and he wasn't too sure about that. Not really a frown, but definitely a "I'm confused" look on his face. We then took him down the larger slide sitting up with one of us and he liked that better!

Then, we tried the swings. They had a baby reclined swing and the bucket swings with lashes to hold him in. He again wasn't too sure if he liked it or not... He did like going forward and having the wind in his hair but didn't like going backward as much.

There was also a merry-go-round that I was excited to try with Tam. Unfortunately, it was off its axis due to too many wood chips piled under it. I guess that means it was a merry-go-stop.

We also saw that they had little kiddo cages! These were two "pods" connected by an enclosed plank. The pods really did look like little cages :-) It was the perfect size for Tam to sit and stand in to look out at the world at our eye level. He really liked this spot!

All and all, it was a great little outing for us and we had some quality family time together. I know that goober won't remember this stuff yet, but I also know that we're grateful for starting to make these awesome memories together already.