Sometime about 5 or 6 months ago I remember thinking, "Geez, I can't wait for Lauren to be able to get around on her own." This was obviously the thought of a first-time parent not knowing what she was wishing for. Sometime around the end of June, Lauren started crawling. And that was great. She couldn't really go very far, and hadn't figured out that moving on her own meant she could go anywhere she wanted. Then the light bulb went on. Now, we spend our days following her around saying one or more of the following: --"No, Lauren." This one is always involved. --"Don't play in the cat food." --"Cat litter is icky." --"Those are Mommy's books." --"Don't play with the cords." --"Don't pull the chair over on yourself."
To make things even more fun, she's now figured out how to pull herself up to standing. And she tries to do it on all sorts of inappropriate things, usually those that have wheels or sharp edges. Apparently she likes a challenge.
Her latest accomplishment, other than completely covering her crib and herself in her own excrement (ask Chris for complete details): climbing stairs. So far the record is 5 stairs. Her usual target is one of the cats, who are equally as frightened of Lauren's new mobility as I am. So, I guess it's time to give some more cash to the baby industry for the purchase of some hideously ugly yet completely necessary baby gates and other assorted babyproofing devices.
Now, I can't wait for her to start talking so...oh wait, never mind.
Wow. Time flies when you're having fun. Or just really busy. The last few weeks have been pretty crazy, but I guess that's what happens in the summer.
My excursion to see Wicked was excellent. The girls went out for some great food and wine, and more wine, and more wine, at Due Amici, a little restaurant near the theater. And just about the only restaurant in downtown Columbus that's open for dinner on a Sunday. The next day we all agreed that more food and less wine would have been a good idea. The show was great, even though the understudy was playing the role of Glinda. For my first Broadway show, I thought it was awesome. I'll definitely check out other shows as they come through Columbus. Spamalot, The Wedding Singer and The Lion King are on my radar. Riverdance is not.
I also survived three 12-hour days of volunteering in the media tent for the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational golf tournament, part of the PGA's Nationwide Tour. The tournament went extremely well, and even set a record for the Nationwide Tour: an amateur, Daniel Summerhays, won the tournament for the first time in the history of the Nationwide Tour. It was also only the 5th time since 1950 an amateur has won a PGA-sponsored event; Phil Mickelson was the last one to do it in 1991. He now has the opportunity to declare himself professional within the next 60 days and join the Nationwide Tour for the rest of 2007 and 2008. Or he can wait until January and join just in 2008. He's got some big decisions ahead of him. He was very nice when he came into the media tent. In fact, all the players who came in were very down to earth. I suppose most minor-league athletes are since they're not rolling in the dough yet.
Chris and James also got a chance to check out the tournament. One of the perks of volunteering was the 2 week-long passes I received for family and friends to use. I hear it was a good time. I'm planning on volunteering again next year. Just maybe not for 12 hours, 3 days in a row.
Next up was supposed to be a visit to the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair to see Chris' mom at work. However, she did extremely well at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival in Colorado, and had to pull out of her next two shows, including Ann Arbor, to prepare for other future shows. So, we won't be making the trip to Ann Arbor. That's probably a good thing for us since we can use a weekend at home. We'll try to catch up with the Bileks sometime around Lauren's birthday.
...and the red circles show where Lauren is on the chart. If you're not familiar with these kind of charts, the top set of lines shows the percentiles for height, and the bottom set shows the percentiles for weight. The top line in each of the groupings represents the 97th percentile. Lauren weighs 27 lbs. 3oz. and is 30 1/4" long or tall. When do you change from length to height? Hmm...maybe once they're vertical more often than horizontal? Or is it once they're walking? Who knows. In any case, Lauren is obviously growing well. I've heard of 2 years olds this size.
She had one shot and one anemia test. Chris reports that there was no crying this time. None. She really is a freak of nature.
Whew. I think I've finally caught up on my rest from our busy weekend. Although we went to the NHL Draft, the highlight was Comfest. If you've ever watched a professional sports draft of any kind on TV, you probably know why. It's basically a bunch of old guys in suits sitting at tables. Every 5 minutes or so, one team comes up and announces their pick. That's it. What's crazy about the NHL draft is how young the picks are. Out of the top 30 picks, one was 19 years old and all the rest were 17 or 18. These kids looked like babies. I'm seriously starting to feel old, especially when I realized they were born in years that I vividly remember. Don't believe me? Look at the #1 pick.
So then, on to what many call the best weekend in Columbus. As usual, Comfest had its share of hippies, freaks, children, topless women*, dogs, political activists and the like. Saturday was the adults night out, so we took our blanket and a box of wine to chill and enjoy the scenery. Goodale Park really is nice, but you couldn't tell that on Saturday night. I've never seen so many people at Comfest. How many people were there? The line for the porta-potties was an hour long. We hung around at the festival for maybe an hour, and then the drizzle started. It never really rained, but it was annoying. So, we headed over to visit one of James' friends from college. Did I mention she lives a block from the festival? That was some great people watching in itself...sober people struggling to make it to the park with way too much beer and entertainment stuff, along with very inebriated folks leaving the festival trying to remember where they parked their cars. The evening was topped off by a random guy walking up to us as we stood outside. He just stood there, arms crossed, and stared. He didn't say a word. Just stared...and stared...and stared. We went inside. Then it was home and off to bed.
*According to Ohio law, breasts (male or female) are not a reproductive organ, so exposing them is not considered indecent exposure. So, I could mow the lawn topless if I wanted to. Don't worry, I won't. I don't mow lawns.
Sunday we headed back with Lauren, and the Thornburgs brought Tenzin as well. They were too cute.
Obviously Tenzin fit right in with his hippie garb. Lauren fit in once she soiled her pants 5 minutes after arriving. After that, it was smooth sailing. Sunday's always a nice, mellow day at Comfest, and we could actually get around and pee in a normal amount of time. The usual mix of people was there, including a woman who had back piercings that created a skin corset. Or so I hear. She was balanced out by the "A-OK Lady, Ambassador of Kindness of the USA." (I stole this pic from James...thanks!)
What really amazed me was the number of tiny babies there. The people sitting behind us had a 12 day old baby there. Seriously. 12 days old. I don't know about that.
Anyways, it was a great time, and now comes the countdown to next year. My only suggestion to the Comfest organizers is MORE PORTA POTTIES!!!!!
Finally, on an unrelated note, Lauren has decided she doesn't like wearing shirts. So, what to do? Take it off, of course. She's not quite successful in this attempt, but hey, she's only 9 months old!
Tonight we'll be going to the NHL Draft at Nationwide Arena here in Columbus. Not sure how exciting watching the draft itself will be, but there's a pre-game concert, food & beer, and all of the NHL trophies will be on display. Plus the tickets were free, so why not?
Also this weekend, the hippie fest known as Comfest. And it's only 3 blocks away from Nationwide Arena. That's right, hippies and hockey fans converge on the same city. Comfest is an annual ritual for us, and I've been going since I was in high school. Ask me about stories sometime and I'll be happy to share...just not on the internet :) We're doing an adult night on Saturday, and the Thornburgs have a babysitter, too, so they're joining us. Then Sunday will be more mellow and we'll take the babies to just hang out on a blanket in the park. The weather's supposed to be good, but keep your fingers crossed!
What else is going on....We celebrated our first official Father's Day with a yummy barbecue and fun with friends. Lauren still has 2 teeth, and we think she weighs about 30 lbs. She's huge. We'll get the official report next week when she goes to the doctor. Other than that, nothing too exciting. I don't have any new pictures of the pumpkin to post. We've been exceptionally bad about taking pictures lately due to our frustration with our 5 year old digital camera, but we'll try to catch some good shots at Comfest. Have a great weekend!
That's my brother-in-law, Jeff Christian, at the announcement of his trade from the Youngstown Steelhounds to the Tulsa Oilers. For those of you going, "Huh?" my sister Dorie is married to Jeff, who has played for the Youngstown Steelhounds of the Central Hockey League for the past two years. It was just announced yesterday that he will be playing for the Tulsa Oilers beginning this season.
This trade works out relatively well since my Dad currently lives in Tulsa, so at least they won't be completely without family nearby. Of course I'll miss having them around, but it was a great opportunity for Jeff and Dorie. Congrats!
