A Girl on the Go, Go, Go...

Apologies for the lack of updates folks... I was in lovely Minneapolis for a bit, then our camera went missing and the dog ate my homework. This week's assortment of pictures shows a sampling of Lucia's favorite activities right now... visiting with friends, going to the park and of course, Friday night pizza party at the Dogwood. Lucia continues to add to her vocabulary and says things like "hold you" when she wants to be picked up. She doesn't much care for the coffee grinder and says "noisy!" whenever she sees it. Really, she just gets cuter every day. And speaking of cute, have you ever seen two sea monkeys playing with a seal? Unreal, isn't it?

How Much Fun Can You Fit Into 72 Hours?

Well, when your Nonne and cousins come for a visit, quite a lot. Nonne arrived on Friday baring gifts fit for a Magi (Carrabassett beer, wine and Mrs. B's eggrolls... mmmm). After devouring some eggrolls for lunch, we set off for the zoo. Luce was out of her mind excited to have Nonne down for a visit, and loved showing her around the zoo. Of course, her favorite "animal" was a Bobcat construction vehicle working on a new exhibit. Mama Mer was stuck at work (boooo), so the three of us went to the Dogwood for our Friday Night Pizza Party. Aside from the great grub, the Dogwood has live entertainment on the weekends and Lucia has a blast listening to the guitar player and dancing around to the music. I'm not sure who had more fun - Luce or Nonne. The next wave of Mainers appeared on Saturday when we met the South Portland Infantines at the Children's Museum. The kids ran us all ragged and we were relieved to see sunshine during our much needed lunch time. On the way back to our house all of the kids fell asleep (naturally) so there was no napping at home. It was decided that a trip to Ikea was in order (that place is like Disneyland for adults... but cheaper). However, just as the last strap of velcro was secured on the shoes all hell broke loose in Chestnut Hill (AGAIN!). Fortunately, this time the riders of the apocalypse bypassed our house and landed on our neighbor's roof. It was quite a scene and provided lots of entertainment for the kids. Luckily no one was hurt, which is more than I can say for the poor house.
Thankfully for all, we had a very mellow Sunday morning and Lucia was VERY sad to see her cousins leave. I think she was mad at us all day (hey, we'd love for them to stay too!) until after our brief trip to the grocery store, Mama Mer was able to win back her love.

Next Step, The NYTimes Crossword...

Don't let the drool and nudity fool you, this kid's got talent. I tried to embed the video in the blog, but I think it was too big. Either that or I'm not as bright as my child (which is becoming more and more apparent with each passing day). Here's Lucia displaying an early love of puzzles. We're still working on her Yahtzee skills, that's next week's post.

It's A Dirty Job...

In case you're wondering where I've been, I was in Chicago for the past few days putting out fires. But I'll tell you what, Mrs. O'Leary's cow's got nothing on the New York Times. Uff, what a pain in the bucket. I much prefer the Associated Press' take on the news thank you very much. Neutral clinical trial news aside, Mama Mer and Luce were fine without me. Traveling for work stinks, but coming home to a face like this helps a wicked lot (as they say in Maine). Ok, I'm off to bed. It has been a llllong week.

Tanks Easter Bunny - - Bawk, Bawk!

I think our Easter can best be described in two words: food coma... uff. Mer and I wanted to see if Lucia would remember Maine without prompting, so we didn't mention Nonne and Papa at all in the car ride. We pulled into their driveway and asked, "Lucia, who lives here?" And she replied with a big grin, "PAPA!" so we of course asked, "And who lives with Papa?" And the still smiling Luce shouts, "ZOE!". Sorry Nonne, you got third billing. Of course once inside Lucia was allll about her Nonne and Papa (and she even warmed up to Zoe after the barking stopped). I failed to get any good Easter shots, but here's enough to give you a sweet tooth (sweet eye?). Oh, one final March b-day shout out to our pal Pearl. Hey, you're older than I am right?? Tee hee.

Ben, The Two of Us Need Look No More...

Those of you who have been in touch with us these past few days, know that the Mothers Goose have had a rough go of it as home owners. It all started innocently enough with a little water in the basement last Sunday (see previous wet/dry vac reference). Really, it was more of a nuisance than anything else and hey, now I have a wet/dry vac. Awesome. Then on Tuesday morning, there's really no easy way to say this... I caught a rat in our bathroom. Yeah, it's as traumatic as it sounds. Actually, not to toot my own horn but I'm pretty proud of myself for keeping it together enough to trap the lil sucker. He made it easy for me by hiding in Mer's bathrobe (!), so all I had to do was wrap it up and seal 'em in a giant Rubbermaid bin. Big props to Sadie for pointing him out for me (she didn't take her eyes off that robe). We have no idea how he got IN our bathroom, but we're thinking the excessive water over the weekend may have had something to do with it. Luckily, there has been no evidence of his family (exterminators came by with traps... and they're all clean so far), but Meredith now has a severe case of robeaphobia. We were pretty freaked out at the time, but now we've gained some distance and can finally laugh about it all. Our friend Cathy actually gave Mer a book about "tending to your pet rat" for her b-day. Thanks Cath, very helpful. Also, I have been plagued (heh) by mental rat references all week - Michael Jackson's theme song, the super intelligent Nicodemus, the swishy stylings of Paul Lynde's Templeton, not to mention the very obscure Ratboy movie which was an HBO staple in the 80s. I guess rats have always been in my life, which is fine - just NOT IN MY HOUSE. Mr. Rosella, any chance you wanna lend me your bb gun??
Well, I feel much better now. We had a great weekend and Luce even got the chance to explore her new backyard (rat free).

This Just In... Alison.

Ok, so Mothers Goose has the tremendous privilege of sharing with you the following breaking news: Lucia is going to have a cousin Leary! Or rather cousin Leary Reeves! Cousin Leeves? I'm kidding Uncle B, keep your shirt on... I know your lil one will be an Infantine ;-) Congrats to Aunt Alison and Uncle Brendan! We can't wait for September.

And of course, Happy 29th Birthday to Mama Mer. We're heading out to fancy pants dinner tonight, so I have to go find something to wear.