{catching up} farewell, mullet

Connor was born with a full head of dark hair. After 11 1/2 months of growth, his baby mane was making a definite style statement: muttonchops are back in.

Except that they aren't.

So, we took him to my mom's stylist for his first haircut a few weeks before his first birthday.

We started with this-- a mullet in its full glory:

With the assistance of 5 adults, including a professional stylist {who, to my great relief, did not lose any fingers in the sometimes-harrowing process}...

...and lots of bottled water & cookies...

our shaggy baby emerged as a respectable little boy:

Connor did not cry & neither did I.

Nor did I save his hair in a little baggie.

He's had two haircuts since, and has consumed in the process approximately 7 snack-size {slightly hair-covered} chocolate bars, and at least half a dozen {similarly hair-covered} sugar cookies. Feel free to judge. But my kid doesn't sit still for carrot sticks.

{catching up} learning to walk

Looking back, I can hardly recall a time when CP wasn't scrambling all about the house. At 15 months old, he's long since traded his penguin-like waddle for a full-on toddler run. As such, he has about as many facial bruises as you might expect would appear on a semi-blind, semi-drunk amateur stilt walker.

But, in fact, it wasn't all that long ago that our little nugget became uprightly mobile. Connor took his first lurching steps forward at exactly 11 months old, on August 29, 2010. It only took about 4 weeks to go from this:

note: no babies were harmed in the filming of this video, I promise.

and this:

to an independent explorer:

and brave ambulator:

With a little bit of direction & a lot of practice:

Connor shortly perfected the art of forward progress & added some fancy moves for style points:

At any given moment these days, you can find him (1) squeezing behind the living room gate ineffectively cordoning off the fireplace and TV wires; (2) turning on the cold water faucet in the bathtub; or (3) flushing every toilet in the house. He never. stops. moving. I follow behind, doing my best to save his beautiful face from the wrath of hidden hazards, documenting his steps, and beaming with pride.

{catching up} lee & matt get married

Labor Day Weekend 2010: Shawn's brother Matt & his longtime love Leann finally tied the knot. During the entire wedding weekend, I managed to snap only this one shot of the happy couple: a blurry rendering of Matt and Lee practicing their vows during the rehearsal.

My dearth of documentation of the blessed event can be attributed to multiple factors, including lack of photographic skill {obviously}. But mostly, I chalk it up to the fact that for the duration of the rehearsal and the wedding I was: (a) six weeks pregnant, (b) foolishly teetering in three-inch high heels and spanx-ed into a size 6 sundress from my honeymoon, and (c) single-handedly responsible for wrangling this lunatic:

I managed to keep him off of the altar during matt & lee's vows, which was really no small feat. No sacraments were disturbed, despite Connor's mangling of the Holy Water font.

The ceremony was beautiful, even viewed from the confines of the {locked} cry room, and the reception was absolutely spectacular.

Lee was, unsurprisingly, a stunning bride. And Matt wore a tux.

My newest sister in law has been a fixture in Shawn's family since before Shawn and I started dating so she is hardly new to the family. She's the kind of girl who is so pretty you might want to wish her a stretch mark or two, but so kind and sweet that you never could. Whereas total strangers think that I may be a pregnant 40-something, Lee is often mistaken for the middle school students she teaches {although with many decades ahead of sleeping next to someone who refuses to repair his wheezing deviated septum, she's bound to get a few wrinkles eventually}. Needless to say, I won't ever be posing next to her in any Fenwick Island beach photos. In fact, I should probably refrain from taking any photos with her ever, really.

A rare exception: The bride & I at her bridal shower, July 2010.

We wish Matt & Lee a lifetime of happiness, filled with love, laughter, and beautiful blue-eyed babies! {on the latter subject: Lee, please note that your husband tried to feed Connor a whole grilled cheese sandwich when he was only 8 months old. When Shawn objected to the sandwich, Matt defended himself on the grounds that "it doesn't have ham in it." Good luck.}