Mama's home

So, Mommy finally returned from Chicago to find that not only did Daddy do a great job of taking care of The Big Girl, but he also did a great job of posting to the blog at the same time. What a guy! Miri did try to post herself (see below) but instead ended up eating the computer so the old folks were forced to take over.

In other Miri news, she is crawling around everywhere! Baby-proofing has started. Miri's favorite things to eat include any paper (magazines that are on the table, mail, etc.) and cords (lamps, cell phones, computers, cable, internet, etc.) Plastic bags, of course, win out over any toys they may hold inside. Finally, our procrastination has paid off. We still have the jungle and bouncy seat from her infant days. Now they make great toys for her to hold onto while standing. For her eight month picture, Miri decided she wanted to crawl out of the chair, not realizing that she would tumble head first on the floor. Ouch! Good thing we have carpets...The recent fall explains her grumpy appearance in the picture. Her new mobility keeps us busy, but it is so fun that she can now go where she wants.

Two Stooges

Miriam is the first girl of her generation in our family. She has three older boy cousins, and their job will be to toughen her up — smack her around a little bit, make fun of her, toss her around, and so on. That's what family is for, right? (At least that's what Chris' brothers always did to him...)

Cousin Pearce came by Grandma Margery's house yesterday, and he showed Miri a new move — the head butt. Apparently, he does this to the cats in his house. Miri responded in good Three Stooges fashion — with an eye poke. It was quite the scene, albeit in baby-slow-motion! Check it out:

AAAAUUUGGGGHHHHHH! Mom's Away!

That blood-curdling sound you're hearing in the distance is emanating from Sligo Creek Park, or nearby at least, as Miriam realizes that her mom is away for A WHOLE WEEK. (If you listen closely, you'll hear Chris whimpering in the background as well.)

Yes, Erica took off for Chicago to do some training for her new job, so it's time for...Diaper Dad! (Cue "Mighty Mouse" music) With some timely help from Grandma Margery and his new babysitter sidekick, Linda, Diaper Dad leads an withering assault on fussiness, whining, and household dirt. Fearless in the face of atomic weaponry (baby tears), undeterred by the stench of a morning diaper (baby poop), undaunted by the prospect of strolling in the 95 degree heat (baby sweat), he somehow manages to keep the Asch household together in Mom's absence (for three days, at least).

But, man, do we miss her...

Crawling Baby!

There has been a lot of body surfing in the Asch household lately. No, not because it has been flooding (although li'l Sligo Creek has gotten pretty high with all this rain) but because Miri has been experimenting with her crawling. Before this week, the experiments consisted of Miri laying on her stomach, kicking her legs, and waving her hands back and forth. Needless to say, she got nowhere. But she is slowly learning to put down those hands, get that rear up in the the air, and crawl away. She is still face planting a fair bit, but she is now actually able to move around the house.

All this crawling is terribly exciting, but her folks admit to some mixed feelings. Now, we don't know where she is and she gets stuck all sorts of places--under her bouncy seat, between the coffee table and the sofa, under the table. Good thing we lowered the mattress on her crib! Now she crawls around while waiting for Mommy and Daddy to get upstairs to get her up from her nap. Check out the video below. It is courtesy of the Flip, a great video recorder Chris bought Erica in honor of her ordination (thanks for the idea, Laura G.!)

BBQ, Baseball and Boys

What a busy couple of weeks we have had! Yikes! Is this what parenthood is all about??
1. BBQ
We had a great time breaking out the BBQ for its first DC use (yes, as Chris always points out, we're actually in Silver Spring, MD, and thus are not DC colonists, but Erica figures, "Close enough!"). Chris had a great time grilling some veggie burgers and kabobs -- not quite the same as steaks and burgers, but a great Father's Day treat nonetheless. We absolutely love our new deck and look forward to lots cookouts in the future. We want visitors!

2. Baseball
After years (okay months) of lamenting that Miri has no baseball stuff, the past couple weeks broke the drought. Miri was a little jealous that her cousin Chase had three baseball gloves when he was six months old and she still didn't have even one, even though her folks are HUGE baseball fans. Well, Grandma Margery came through with a donation of a glove that Uncle Rob and Aunt Vida got at a game. Even better--it is a Washington Nationals glove! Unfortunately, the arrival of the glove did not lead to better luck for the Nationals who have had 87 different lineups in 89 different games. The only team doing worse seems to be Erica's hometown favorite Pads.

We would have been happy with the glove, but that wasn't all the week had in store for us. Miri also received her very own engraved Louisville Slugger bat, compliments of the Costa family. {Many thanks to Gregg for responding to Chris' latest rant about having no baseball stuff. What a lovely gift!} Miri loves playing with her ball and bat. No word yet on whether she'll be a southpaw, but it looks as if she might be headed that direction.



Scrappy ballplayer : The other day, Miri was playing with her baseball on the kitchen floor. Taking advantage of a moment when her parents were engrossed in reading the paper, she rolled backwards and banged her head on the floor. THUD! We looked down to see her on her back, arm stretched high in the air -- still clutching the baseball! Out! Whaddaplaya! She had to be scooped up and carted off the "field," just like many of her cherished Nats ballplayers these days...

3. Boys
The Quigley boys (and their parents) took the Asch household by storm when they came by for a visit yesterday. The boys loved splashing in the nearby Sligo Creek; Harper got into everything (thus providing the valuable service of showing exactly what steps we need to take before Miri becomes mobile). Aidan took great care of Miri, giving her lots of hugs, kisses and attention. What a gentleman! They left behind a great present for Miri, along with a couple of things dropped inadvertently during the visit. With Cousin Pearce stopping by last week, we are now accumulating quite a cache of "lost and found" boys' items!