The difference now that is that Wesley’s the one playing carnie games.

I don’t think Wesley’s changed too much since our visit last year, other than he’s maybe thinned out a bit…

He still showed zero interest in seeing the animals, but thankfully he enjoys disgusting/delicious carnival food as much as I do. And I think he’s already anxiously anticipating the day he’ll get to go on a ride.

For two, I pretty much abhor the way I look in photographs, so I try to stay out of them whenever possible. The sad side effect of this is that few shots exist of Wesley and mama.

At the moment though, I’m pretty much obsessed with Instagram and with taking photographs with my new Iphone; I took advantage of its front camera and managed to snap this:

I’m bummed that the quality isn’t as good as that of my other Instagram shots, but I’m happy that at least a small record exists of me and my boy together.

And aside from that first time, he’s cried his eyes out for every haircut since — until now.

It helped that this time, when we told him we were going to see Mario, he thought we meant the Super-plumber-Luigi’s brother-save Princess Peach Mario. And that Mario fed him two or three lollipops. And that he got to play a racing game with daddy through the ordeal. We’re not above subterfuge. Or bribery. Clearly.

We slowly settled into our new home. Then it was burglarized.

Wesley’s ear infections finally cleared up. Then he had surgery to correct his hydrocele.

In August he started attending a lovely new Montessori school.

Then he got hand, foot, and mouth disease.

And as it turned out, I was fighting a wonky thyroid all the time and didn’t even know it.

We’re both doing much better now. As you can see, Wesley is looking strong as an ox these days and sporting a healthy head of Donald Trump like hair.

With summer far behind us, Craig and I are enjoying fall and feeling thankful for many things, mainly our health — and our little turkey’s.

They cuddle in bed telling jokes, and throw themselves about yelling “timber,” play chase all through the house, make farting noises, hang upside down. And the whole thing is loud, and crazy, and sometimes too much and also always beautiful. And no one does a better job of getting to him to laugh or smile than his daddy.

Hello blog world. We’ve been gone too long. Trying to get back in the habit and maybe thinking of updating/moving the blog. I miss this record of our life too much.  Besides, look who’s only gotten cuter in the time we’ve been away:

This morning, our beautiful friends came over for a playdate and to see our new home. We ate delicious souffles and chocolate croissants (which I cannot claim to have made). We three took naps. We then drove around our new neighborhood and bought two 25 cent cups of lemonade from the girls down the street (I paid a dollar and still felt I hadn’t paid enough). We took our new remote control boat for a run in the pool. And maybe tonight Craig and I will get to sit back and watch a movie. In our new home.

We’ve been here two months and love it more each day.

It needs things, yes: a lot of work in the backyard, a lot of landscaping in the front one; more storage space in the kitchen; a new sink in a bathroom; a cleaner, not-milk-stained sofa and nicer furniture all around; some artwork. But it’s a nice large house with room for many toys and many books – with a pool to swim in and a yard to run around in. And a place where beautiful things have already happened, like Wesley’s first painting:

And where there is always a lot of light and a lot of love.

Trying to get back into the groove of writing regularly and taking more photographs (if I can find the camera’s charger) . We’ve been away, but we’re probably doing better than ever. Summer is almost here. We’re living in our first real house (still not having entirely unpacked). We were all three kids at Disney for a few days. We’re eagerly awaiting Craig’s school year to end and summer to really start for us as a family.

Wesley is a year older – and healthier. At the end of my semester in early May we went to see an allergist and found Wes to, for now, only have a small reaction to dust mite, then visited the ENT, who confirmed his ears were full of junky fluid. We stayed home together all this past month, my sweet baby and me, keeping away from the petri dish that is day care and staying clear of dairy for a while. The results are two clear ears and a passing score on the hearing test. He’s talking more than ever now and is fond of holding up his hand to his ear and stating in surprise “I hear _________!” – the telephone, a trumpet, crickets, a motor – the world. Looking forward to new summer sounds in our backyard and all around.