Next comes baby...

Felixbits: Pizza joint

Told Felix we're going for pizza with friends tomorrow for dinner. "To the pizza joint?" he replied. "Uh, yeeesss," I said, unsure if I had heard him right. "Do you know why you call it a pizza joint?" he asked. Now certain of what I'd heard, I said I would very much like to know why he calls it that. "Because it's where you go to enjoint the pizza with your friends."

No pun intended, I'm sure.

Gideon in July

And here's #2 too!

(No captions because there's not that much to say aside from "CUTE"!)

Felix in the month of July

I know, July's not even half over, but hey hey, here he is anyway!

The Marin County Fair

We went to the Marin County Fair and had a blast! They don't have them quite like this in Europe, so it was new for the boys and as good as new for us.

Birthday party at a fire station

Talk about setting the bar too high for the rest of us.

Gideon in June

They say babies get to be their fussiest around the six week mark. Well, here we are, and if this is as fussy as you get, Gid, then we'll take it, and happily! Basically, kid, you're just as cute as a button and that's about the whole story.

The last photo was taken this morning. I parked the carriage in Felix's schoolyard and went in to sign his attendance sheet. When I came out Gideon was being mobbed. He slept right through it.

Movie: Gideon Goes Off

Rather reminds me of Felix at this age! Actually, Felix was about a week younger in that movie. Still have no idea what's going on in a little baby's head at a time like this.

Movie: Farmer Felix

Went to a party at a ranch in the Central Valley. Folks there don't need to get anywhere fast...or straight. Turns out it's a lot easier to tell Felix which way to turn than it is to try to steer the wheel when he's determined to be in control.

Movie: Embouchure

Nice embouchure, boy! I wonder if small lips make it easier....

Movie: Felix meditates

We try to get Felix to eat more slowly (one of us does eat slowly, the other does not, but we both agree slow is better). It's not an easy thing to teach, though we've been at it for half his lifetime at least. (And have had help as well.) But while sharing some salami the other day I saw an opportunity: in chewing I noted that the initial salt flavor disappeared after a bit and a range of new flavors were thereby unmasked. So masticate thoroughly, I told him, not just because you should but because you get to taste new things if you do. Actually, what I said was "you should concentrate on what you're tasting while chewing it." Upon hearing the word "concentrate" Felix figured--quite rightly--that this was a form of meditation, and so he sat down to do just that, in his own inimitable fashion:

By the way, the Superman costume is no coincidence: salami eating accompanies the evening borrel and Felix dons this outfit just about every day around that time. I suppose we all have our own ways of relaxing.

Movie: Over the Irish Sea

How do you get all these great movies, you ask? Often by taking three or four and keeping one. But sometimes you need to see all three (or, in this case, four) to really get the sense of things. Here I was trying to get Felix to sing his most recent song, yet another he has learned at school (or so I assume), and brought home to infect our brains. May infect yours, too.

1st try:

2nd try:

3rd try:

Final try:

Good enough!

Movie: Felix dresses himself

You never know what you'll find when you open the bathroom door these days. His request for a movie of him opening the toilet lid and then closing it on his pee pee is not one I plan to fulfill.

Felix Bits: What is a...

Increasingly Felix asks what things are, in increasing complexity. I'm going to start to collect them. Today's is:

What is a career?

Felix in the merry month of May

It's been a good month for you, Felix. Lots of time with good friends, a visit from Saba, and no shortage of novel experiences! Love ya big guy!

Movie: Felix graduates!

In a bid to save us millions of dollars in educational cost, we decided Felix can just graduate from "Mouse" class at his daycare and skip that whole college thing.