Post Chore Manhattan

Andrea and Lucy are visiting with the Hale ladies tonight, so that left me with a free night to get some things done around the house. I managed to fertilize the lawn, round up all the weeds (no small task), prepare the stakes for stringing the deck tomorrow, finish building my new time trial bike for Sunday's race, loaded the dishwasher, swapped out the laundry, and finally vacuumed the house with our new vacuum. Andrea will argue that not one of the activities listed above is a "chore", because I get pleasure out of doing each of them. I can't really argue with her, especially vacuuming the floors with the new Shark Upright that we got suckered into buying off an infomercial. We are not proud of ourselves for falling victim to a skilled TV pitchman, especially since it is the second time it has happened, but this new vacuum was worth every penny.

Back to the above mentioned Manhattan....

Friday Afternoon Babysitting

Our nanny leaves at 4:15 a few days a week, and today I had babysitting duty until Linden's mom got off work. Andrea insists that it is not called "babysitting" when it is your own child, but I think watching Lucy while her friend is over puts it into babysitting territory. I had this same situation about a month ago, where both babies decided to throw tantrums at the same time. They may be young, but I have a feeling that they planned that episode ahead of time to test my parenting skills and see if I had what it took to watch them. Needless to say, I surpassed their expectations and easily won their trust and respect. This time around things couldn't have been more different. The girls knew the "Father of the Year" was watching them, and decided there was no need to test me again. Instead, the three of us (and Willy) enjoyed a beautiful cry-free, dirty diaper-free, tantrum-free,
and overall incident-free afternoon together on the living room floor. We even made it through a full playing of Peter and the Wolf without anyone getting frightened. I used to be scared by the French Horns that signify the wolf, but these girls are much more advanced than I was as a child. They didn't even flinch.

At the helmet doctor

We went in yesterday to get the first fitting done on the helmet. Lucy enjoyed the 10 minutes of helmet free bliss as the doctor made a few minor adjustments. She is generally happy while there, but as you can see, holds onto a small amount of skepticism while she is there.

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Blog Spotlight - Aunt Susie

In honor of our first reported reader of the recently resurrected Baldwin Family blog, we want to do a short spotlight feature on the infamous Aunt Susie. The photo below was from Aunt Susie's first visit to see Lucy a few weeks after she was born. If you look closely, you can see that even from this early point in Lucy's life, Aunt Susie is more than happy to impart great wisdom and share the secrets to a happy and fulfilling life.

Not to be labeled purely an intellectual, Aunt Susie is also willing to help out with more mundane tasks. Below she is helping Grandma check little Lucy for an unfortunate and untimely containment issue. From the looks of it, everything appears to be clear.

Geographical challenges are no match for Aunt Susie, and despite one of 2011's "Storms of the Century", she made it from NYC to Chicago to see her niece. While in the Windy City, Aunt Susie helped escort Lucy on her first Bloomingdale's shopping trip and her first evening out in Greek Town.

The greatest gift that Aunt Susie has given Lucy so far, however, was letting her borrow some of those gorgeous copper locks. From the looks of it, though, our dream of a red headed baby seems to be fading. Andrea didn't grow hair until she was 4 years old, though, so we are still holding out hope!

Another Crown Shot

Best Friends?

Best friends?? I think so, but who knows. They could actually really dislike each other and we would have no idea until they can start talking in a few years.

I am kicking off this blog again....but this time I really mean it! I figure it will be a good place for Grandparents (and Granddude) to look at some pictures and also a way for us to look back in a few years to see how small Lucy was.

This is also the first formal picture of Lucy's pink crown. Under no circumstances will it be called a helmet or an orthotic device. She wears it because she is a princess.

Checking In

I have a strong hunch that I am the only one that reads this blog. Well, maybe some random bachelor fans from the midwest, but mostly just me. I have a trick that I am going to try. I'll post some random stuff....what I'm doing, some pictures, what's going on in my head....and then go back and check the blog in a few years and have a good laugh. So here we go. I'll start off today with a random photo. This is Linden hale, our cute new neighbor and maybe Lucy's first friend. She's rocking some extreme goggle type sun glasses, just being cool. I like her mom's beer in the background. Nice work neighbors.

So we are just a few short days (maybe weeks) away from meeting our daughter for the first time. I think Andrea may be the most excited. Not s much to see her daughter, but to get her out of her belly. That can't be comfortable. Maybe my next post will be from the hospital with the three of us. Unfortunately, Willy will not be allowed in the room with us. He'll be at "summer camp" with our neighbors, Kathleen, Murphy, and Meghan. Fun times.

We spent this morning at the Aldermen's Ford park out in eastern Hillsborough. Nice drive out there, nice romp in the woods, and then a nice drive back. Didn't see any wildlife, but I am sure there were some gators keeping a close eye on us, especially Willy. Stupid alligators in this state, I hate them. Is it too much to ask to take a swim in a nice refreshing lake or throw your dog some tennis balls near the river without having to worry about getting chomped?

Signing off now. Headed to lunch with Chris and Agnes to hear some big news. Big belly news.

I'll leave you with another photo. Chris and Agnes from a boating trip a few months ago.