Camera catch up

I've got a pile of stuff I missed this month and I need to catch up! Official 9 month update coming soon, the teaser is that one tooth has poked up and three are well on their way. FFM is being as brave as he can about it, but the poor guy is finding that even his bottle is hard on his inflamed gums. I don't like to give him ibuprofen on an empty stomach b/c he's been gaggy and throwing up, so it's a game of give and take...I try to get him to eat so I can give him something to help the pain, he has a hard time putting anything in his mouth. The upside is he'll get four teeth all at once and hopefully will get a break for a while.

Here's some of the fun and games we've been up to (now that I've downloaded one of the cameras). Playing with friends...

And our favorite, rolling around. Our shipment arrived! Who knew I'd be so excited about a handful of boxes! Ok, ok, I knew. And Travis did, too. Oh, the wonders these boxes disgorged! Like my favorite pots and pans...and cookbooks...and just plain books! Oh yes, and loads of paper, too. Paper was lots of fun for a while. Especially great because right now we're learning all about new textures. I realized FFM spends a lot of time on carpet or a blanket with occasional spurts in the sand, so now I'm on a mission and I make him sit in the grass, on the sidewalk, bricks, concrete, and paper. It was great, for a while... ...then not so great. What did I do? Snap a photo, of course! This month I also finished my second knitted toy. The yarn wasn't as nice as the stuff I used for Chilly the penguin, but the platypus turned out OK using the yarn I could find here. He was a going away gift for a friend returning to the US. Toys are fun to knit, they won't get outgrown and I like the fiddly bits, but I have this fear that they'll someday show up in some terrible (yet wonderful) book by Stitchy McYarnpants like the one Christiana and friends gave me when leaving Dublin... FFM and I toured the Andy Warhol Exhibit that's at our Gallery of Modern Art through the middle of April. It was pretty fun, although the free kids part was the best bit. Look at us, we've been Warhol -ed!The best part of all was the Silver Clouds room. This picture is from the museum in PA, I haven't been able to get a good shot of the room here. The room here is glass on 2 sides and 2 stories tall. The clouds are filled with helium and the room is filled with fans so the clouds gently float about. Some stay near the ceiling, some sink to the ground. FFM and I walked through the room for a few minutes and then he just laid on the the carpeted floor and watched those clouds moving about for at least half an hour. We're totally going back.
And finally a quick story and preview of Sydney. These are 'Flat Brownies.' My young cousin Skylar's Brownie Troop is studying Australia this spring and they made 'Flat Brownies' (a la Flat Stanley) for us to tour around with us while they learn about Oz. Usually you get a single Flat Stanley mailed to you and you take a photo, write a note, and mail him on. We've got 15 Flat Brownies and we're hanging on to them until May, taking photos and sending email updates back periodially. Taking pictures of 15 flat little kids is harder than you'd think! They're great, they came laminated and everything, and straight away we duct taped them to a long string. Anyway, we've taken so many pictures of them (and they've lived in the stroller for so long) the that I feel the Flat Brownies deserve a mention. I have to say we've gotten a lot of questions about the Brownies and after explaining what we're doing people are always excited.We just got back from our extra long weekend to Sydney. Loved the city and can't wait to get back. More photos coming soon.