At The Piano

Song of the Day: Diane Young by Vampire Weekend

Fall! A wisp, nay, a whisper of it in the air! I have purple mums outside on the front step and I wore a scarf this morning! Delightful!

And there are ceramic pumpkins and turkeys everywhere! It's the perfect time of year!

Last Sunday morning, something utterly adorable happened. Well, with Mr. Adlai around, there's a good chance something adorable is always happening, but this was beyond cute. Fitz was playing the piano, and well, see for yourself...

The simplest things are the best: Sunday mornings, a hymn played on a piano, just being together. 

One Year in Charlotte

Song of the Day: Blue Sky by Aloe Blacc

It's hard to believe but we celebrated our one year anniversary in Charlotte Saturday! But what a year...

...a new job...

...a new house...

...and a new member of our family...

I love walking around the house and finding a bunny hiding in a corner...

Home Sweet Home!

Looks like a very tiny child left a hand print smudge on the window,
and the adults just don't have the heart to clean it.

The Tooth!

Song of the Day: All My Life by K-Ci & JoJo (still on my 90's kick...)

Pictures taken by my best friend Katie at one of weekly lunches! You can see the tooth in the last couple of pictures!

Is He a Baby or a Puppy?

Song of the Day: Barely Breathing by Duncan Sheik

Ah, 90's rock. I'm on a huge 90's music kick right now. I mean, Fitz and I are always 90's rock fans, but I'm going through a huge 90's rock-pop-anything phase right now.

And it's awesome.

Adlai, however, is going through a not-so-awesome phase right now: teething. For real. Not like all those months of halfhearted teething. I mean slobber everywhere. Grumpiness. Wanting to eat everything including my face.

He's got one tooth that's totally emerged, and its twin is making a break-through. I suspect by the end of next week, he'll have two teeth on the bottom.

His two front top teeth are also on their way!

So my baby has turned into a puppy, chewing, gnawing on everything, leaving a trail of saliva.

Well, he's still a baby.

"Cuz you'll always be my baby...doo doo doo da doo da doo..." sung in my best Mariah voice.

Cue adorable baby-baby photo:

Nine Months and Counting!

Song of the Day: You Can't Be Told by Valerie June

Tomorrow will be Adlai's nine month birthday!

"Nine months old?? That sounds like a lot, Mom!"

And how are we planning to celebrate?

By going to the doctor's office!

I can't keep track if he's going to get any more shots or not, but it seems likely. Sorry, kiddo.

In the picture above, Adlai is wearing the most beautiful coat I have ever seen. Fitz's great-grandmother sewed it for his grandfather, and The Coat of Many Colors has been passed on through the generations. So it was Adlai's turn to wear it.

Good thing we got a picture of him in it last week because I'm pretty sure he won't fit into it today.

Mr. A is cruising, pulling up, standing up. His entire day, it seems, is a workout. Which may explain the better sleep as of late. Or not. I don't know.

The curse of being a first-time mom, I analyze everything only to realize none of it makes sense.

It's like the moral of every science-fiction tale out there: humans are not predictable! They make no sense! They do irrational things! Like sleep one night and not the next! Blast these confounded humans!

But humans like Mr. A are oh so cute, so it's OK.

The other day, we think he said "Da-da." It's hard to be sure because it was hidden in a long string of gibberish, but Fitz and I both turned our heads at the sound.

Mr. Adlai also has his first tooth! I don't have a picture of it because it's hard to capture on film. His tongue is in the way.

But I assure you it is there. It also happens to be remarkably sharp. Like his fingernails.

Which no one ever tells you about. Baby fingernails are weapons.

Nine months old! Ah, the life of an infant!

Concert!

Songs of the Day: Underground by Ben Folds Five, Odds Are by Barenaked Ladies, and What You Wish For by Guster

First, a picture of Adlai...

He's pulling up and standing all on his own! Yikes!

OK, now I can proceed. 

Last night, Fitz and I went to a concert over at Charlotte's Music Factory center/complex. It is an awesome venue. It's got a touch of the American Tobacco feel, back in Durham. It's so nice to find little places around Charlotte that remind us of Chapel Hill, Durham, and Winston-Salem. 

Back to the concert. So, it was the Last Summer on Earth Tour that featured Guster, Ben Folds Five, and Barenaked Ladies. I had seen Guster before (eek, maybe twice, I can't remember), and Fitz and I both went to a Ben Folds concert back when we were dating. It was great to re-experience two of our favorite music groups plus see for the first time the Barenaked Ladies, and they were all fantastic. Some memorable highlights:

1. Guster was awesome as always. The drummer is insane. He rarely, rarely actually uses drum sticks, mostly because he's playing the bongos but even when he's playing the cymbal, no stick required. It looked like the ultimate workout. 

2. Ben Folds is the most amazing piano player ever. I caught myself wondering if Beethoven or Mozart ever punched a piano keyboard the way Ben Folds does. 

3. Barenaked Ladies was fantastic. They are an amazing band to see live. The bass player is a crazy good dancer. 

4. The lady in front of us was a petite woman with long, bleached hair and who was probably in her forties. She looked like what I imagine Avril Lavigne will look like down the road, short schoolgirl skirt and heavy black eyeliner still going strong. And we're guessing she was Canadian because she went crazy for the BNL and I think shouted "Hooray Canada!!" Crazy. Jumping. Singing. Hysterical. I was just glad she was petite so her jumping didn't impede our view. 

5. There was a very pregnant woman behind us, sitting the whole time (not that I could blame her). When she left before Ben Folds Five had finished their act, I wondered if she perhaps she had gone into labor. But I'm sure she just was getting fed up with not being able to see. 

6. I haven't been around that much pot smoke in a while. Not since the last Dave Matthews Band concert I went to. 

7. I was surprised by how many young, and when I say young, I mean they weren't even born when BNL released "One Week," people were at the concert. Good music reaches across the generations. I know this because I'm a big Eagles and America fan. 

8. BNL sang Taylor Swift's Trouble. I liked their version better. 

9. It was a perfect night. If you're aware of the summer that Charlotte's been having weather-wise this year, this astounds you. And me.

And 10. I'm alarmed by how many times I've used the words "awesome" and "amazing" in this post. Oh well. 

We forgot to bring Fitz's iPhone in with us, so we have no photos. Sorry. But it was super. Super dee duper. 

The end. 

Baby and The Beach

Song of the Day: I Love Beach Music by The Embers

Ah, family vacation! It's the stuff of legends!

So, for a wonderful week, the three of us went to North Myrtle Beach to stay at Fitz's grandparents' lovely beach house. At the end of the week, Adlai met someone very, very special: his (and my) sweet Aunt Susie.

It was a wonderful evening spending that time with her and her husband David as well as with my parents who drove up to spend some time with Adlai. They also babysat for us while Fitz and I enjoyed a delicious Italian lunch of homemade pasta smothered in a delectable marinara that ended up all over my shirt. Just to clarify, I did not make this pasta. I ate it. All of it.

Anyway, enough jibber jabber. The pictures!

First time out at the beach!

Adlai, you look so serious!

"Hmm, I wonder what's over there?"

"When are you going to feed me??"

"This is my serious face."

"This is my happy face!"

"This is my excited face!!"

"This is my dazed and confused face."

A stroll in the stroller

I can't begin to describe how much sunscreen we lathered on this small person.

"Nom nom, just eating my iPod."

"Ooh, that looks interesting."

At the K&W for breakfast!

"Mom, you forgot my bib." "Sorry, kiddo."

"That's OK. As long as you can get these strawberry stains out of my favorite shirt."

"And give me some of your pancake." "Fine, here you go. We're even."

"Hey Mom, I'm just checking out these blinds. They work just fine."

Playing putt-putt

Putt-putt at Captain Hooks!

We try to do a selfie...Adlai looks like a famous explorer lost in deep thought...

Going for a hole in one!

"The greens are fast today, Dad."

"We better not make this a three-putt, Dad."

Adlai is not a lost boy.

Back at the beach, with a shovel this time

"Hey, is that a seashell over there?"

Crawling on the beach

"I see my shadow!"

"There it is again!"

"This shadow thing is kinda cool."

"Hi Mom!"

"A bucket..."

"Can I eat it?"

"Nope."

"Sand..."

"Breeze..."

Fitz and Adlai

I mean, Fitz and Superman

Superman and Katherine

Adlai, when did you learn to write??

"La dee da..."

"I'm glad this hat has a chin strap!"

"I like the beach. And my shadow."

"This is crazy. I don't like the pool."

"Seriously, get  me out of this thing."

"And stop splashing."

"Do you people have a license for this contraption?"

"I am most displeased."

"You people are cruel."

"I'm having an out of body experience."

"The end is near."

"OK, it's not so bad."

Dad and Susie and Adlai looking at the carousel

Aunt Susie!

Together at last!

So sweet

"Dad, my face is HUGE."

Family!