Summer Retrospective

      Well this summer has certainly flown by, and I now sit in our quiet house.  Esme is asleep for her nap and Tina is having her first day with a new crop of 5th graders.  Esme and I just got back from our weekly trip to the Library for Infant/Toddler hour.  We were going to ride the bike, as we've been doing that quite a bit lately, but the rain arrived just in time to turn us back for the car, but not too late to have us stuck out in it for any length of time.

 This video comes from June 20th, right after the school year ended. 

Here's Esme, about two weeks later.  She's definitely got the moves by this point,
but almost seemed to want to get up on her feet, or at least foot, while moving.


     Looking back over the summer, I'm amazed we fit it all in, but there seems to have been too much going on for it to all be from one three month period.  When Tina finished up the school year in mid-June, Esme was not locomoting.  She could sit up, and move her legs as if walking if you held her above the ground and moved her forward, but over the past two and a half months, she learned to crawl, to shuffle, to 'topple/run', and with a few focused efforts, she has learned to walk.  The toddler I'm caring for now is not the same infant I was caring for in the last school year.

Cheer shows Esme what fun it is to wear a helmet

Tina gets in on the action

Esme's turn!!

     Cheer and Trevor kicked off our summer in fine style, not only joining us for the opening week of Top of the Park (an annual outdoor music festival), but also teaching Esme about the joys of wearing a bicycle helmet!  As those of you on facebook and twitter already know, Esme has come around quite nicely after her initial dubiousness.





She even lets me take her shopping by bike these days.  (This photo is from later in the summer, but there's little to no objection when I go to put the helmet on her anymore.  It may help that I get her in the seat first, or put on my helmet first, though I think she really likes to ride on the bike.)

     Two weeks later, Cathy and David came to stay with us for the hottest week of the summer, escaping the 80° heat of Houston with the 95°+ temperatures here.  We didn't go out much, but Cathy was able to take some great photos of a show my band, Bowling Green, was playing the night before they left.
     (There are a lot more photos of their visit, but they're all either on Tina's iPad or Cathy's camera.  Hoping to get access to more of those, soon.)
     It was especially neat to see David carry Esme around.  He's well over 6 feet, so she was able to play with the hummingbird fan pull, which she's been wanting to do ever since!

     Esme also got to visit with her Grandma and Grandpa in Lansing a few times.  

Here she is showing her newfound prowess ascending stairs:

     During the month of July, in addition to progressing with the whole crawling thing, Esme also got her first popsicle when we threw our 3rd Annual Porch Party.  There was a stage set up on the porch and Michigan blessed us with a sunny, but not oppressively hot, day.  Seems like it was our biggest party yet, with great food, friends, and musical fun.

     We also continued our weekly outings.  This shows Esme warming up to the idea of crawling as she travels through a play tunnel at the library.  (And we get there in record time thanks to the bike seat and fabulous purple helmet.)  We also try to go downtown on Tuesday afternoons:  either to Ypsi to the Farmer's Market or to Ann Arbor to pick up staple items, like coffee and beer.  Either way, I love making sure Esme is familiar with her community and feels comfortable going out to explore.

 Just a few other random tidbits from the summer.  Such as the fact that (and I think this was back in May, technically, but whatever) she went to her first wedding and was able to dance with Mom & Dad.  She also made it over to the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival and enjoyed the sounds of local folk musician, Dave Boutette, who runs the open mic where Bowling Green got their start.

     She's definitely become aware of the camera, especially when it's an iPod with the viewfinder showing her what she's going to look like in the picture.  I won't embarrass her with too many of these (for I fully expect her to read my perspective on her life story someday), but once or twice it's worth it.

     And let's not forget all the wonderful foods Esme has experienced this summer.  She loves tomatoes fresh out of the garden.  As you can tell, she also likes carrots, even without the molars that greatly help with such crunchy foods.  But she just gnaws away with her front teeth, taking little bit by little bit.  (Just stay close to listen for the tell-tale crunch that means a larger piece may need to be extracted.)

Grateful thanks to Jimmy & Somer for providing the mute button.
It reads 'Censorship SUCKS' for those of you who can't make out the photo.

And I leave you with what may be our favorite photo of Esme to date.

      Perhaps this is a reminder to savor every drop and enjoy life -- after all, as my friend Joel likes to remind me, this is not a dress rehearsal.