Weekend with the Three Sissies

Mabel had an awesome time with her cousins this weekend. She babysat them on Saturday night, with a little help from mom and dad, and then went to her first Brewers game with them. It was supposed to be the whole fam, but little Olivia was under the weather so she stayed home with Meagan.

Mabel's working hard on her first steps. She came really close at the Wigchers, but is still working on her confidence.

Some very exciting news... her clogged tear duct seems to have corrected itself. And though we haven't been to the doctor to confirm this, it looks like we will be able to avoid surgery. We are SO relieved.

Just How Big Is Mabel?

This one pretty much speaks for itself.

Steppin' Out

Nathan picked up this cute walker thing on Friday and Mabel loves it. She's walking all over the place and can really pick up some speed when she wants to. She is very proud of herself when she's tooling around with this thing.

Aunt Meagan and Uncle Bill visited this weekend. Bill was supposed to play an alumni baseball game at the University of Chicago, but the game was canceled due to the weather. Having already lined up Gammy to babysit the Three Sissies, Bill and Meagan still came for the weekend. We had a great time going out for pizza, drinking some wine and doing a little shopping. And Mabel can't wait to wear her University of Chicago onesie.

Mabel seems to be working on some more teeth. She is drooling constantly and had a bit of a rough night last night. Hopefully tonight will be better.

A Prickly Encounter (Or, Curiosity Killed the Cactus)

We're back from spring break, and not a day too soon - we sure were tired of the drudgery of cloudless skies, baseball games, golf cart rides, and four-hour cocktail hours. Feels good to be huddled back in front of my space heater in my windowless cubicle.

Our flight home from Phoenix was thankfully not as adventuresome as our outbound flights (nor as lonesome - our gracious hosts at American Airlines were kind enough to grant us seats together this time - on the same plane, even). There is one final spring break incident to log, however, and one that wasn't nearly as much fun as pizza and Michelob in front of a warehouse-sized old-timey Wurlitzer.

We decided on Saturday morning to book our last spring break lunch as a picnic in scenic White Tank Mountain Regional Park, a short drive past dozens of 'Homes By Towne' signs west of Grandma and Grandpa's soon-to-be-former duplex. Sandwiches and wheels were consumed, gossip was shared, and a wonderful time was had by all. After the meal, Mabel and her parents embarked on a quick stroll around the picnic grounds to have one last look at the local flora and to snap a picture or two. Cue ominous music.



Pops and Mabel settled in front of a cholla cactus while the Mama took a few snaps. In between shots, while Pops fussed with his hair and makeup and the Mama monkeyed with the camera, Mabel reached out and took a great big grab out of the business end of the cactus. Her hand emerged from the plant with a good seven or eight 3" pickers stuck right in the fleshy part of her hand. We could tell right away that her ensuing cries weren't a request for a bottle or diaper change.

But that's not all. As her parents began pulling the pickers out (a dangerous task unto itself), either the wind, stupidity, or just plain karma pushed another, bigger, pickier round chunk of cactus right into Pops' ankle. With this piece covered with spiky pickers on all sides, Pops ripped off his shirt and shoes trying to pull the cactus out of his leg, with varying degrees of success. The Mama continued to care for the subject of this blog, while foolishly neglecting to roll some video on the scene that no doubt would have won us the $10,000 grand prize on ABC's America's Goofiest Injuries.

Thankfully, all of the wounded were restored to full health later that day after some rest, some trappist ale, and some pureed berries.

With our return home, Mabel and I decided to make a clean break with the winter of a thousand snotsicles, dozens of man hours lost to illness, two pink eyes, and one chronically sick family. Part of our spring cleaning was to cast aside (for now) the songs we've enjoyed on our daily trips to and from daycare. There ended up being a few dozen tunes on the playlist that provided the soundtrack not only to our daily commute but to Mabel's freshman semester of daycare, Pops' return to work, and the highs and lows of the Packers' playoff run. I'll list a memorable handful for the historical record and for those of you creating your own Mabel Celebrity Playlists at home.

Althea & Donna - Uptown Top Ranking
The Left Banke - She May Call You Up Tonight
Loudon Wainwright III - Be Careful, There's A Baby In The House
Boz Scaggs - Lowdown
Pink Floyd - Matilda Mother (original lyrics version)
Lizzard - Milk and Honey
Joe Maneri - Paniots Nine
Steel Pulse - Ku Klux Klan
Alan O'Day - Undercover Angel
Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Roast Fish and Corn Bread
John Lennon - Whatever Gets You Through The Night
I Roy - Space Flight (To Venus and Mars)
Liz Carroll - The Diplodocus/The Gandy Dancer/The New Leaf
Sister Nancy - Bam Bam
Marlee MacLeod - Just Like Geronimo