21 Months!

Since the 20 month post was so late, it's not like we've got lots of new developments to share with you. So we'll just share lots of pics.


Riding in strollers is for schmucks. Nervously chasing your child and defending the ankles of passersby while she pushes the stroller is for parents of Meredith.


After Meredith was finally relieved of her stroller pushing duties (much to the relief of people trying to enjoy a safe walk on the sidewalks of Memphis), she was cheered up by the sax man.


Gigi keeps Mow safe while she and Walt revel in the wonder of the trolley.


More revelling--the two stare slackjawed at the farmer's market buskers. Dancing came shortly after staring.


Mer and Marshall having a fabulous bath.


How often does Chris take a picture? Not very. But you KNOW he took this one, cause a mommy would never let both children clamp their mouths on the trolley stop railing in downtown Memphis.


Meridy made a mess and cleaned it up. She always likes to clean, but especially if it involves a bag of some sort.


Well, Daddy did take this picture, so he does take breaks from encouraging bad behavior every now and again.

We're Happy. So Happy.

We're back online folks. No more poaching our neighbors' signals from the backyard. Once temperatures started getting above 95, we figured it was time to pay the piper.

Here's Meredith's big, happy smile, which is now, officially, the face we get anytime she realizes a camera is pointed at her.

And here is what she was actually happy about: stickers stuck all over the place. Have you ever looked with slight disdain at the minivan windows covered in partly peeling stickers and wondered who could let things get to such a state? Well, in yet another parental epiphany, I now understand how one's world becomes coated in stickers. Just one humbling moment after another, this parenthood thing.

Happy Father's Day

Daddies have so much fun entertaining you at dinner that passersby might wonder who was actually being entertained.


Daddies protect you from big kids who are using their size advantage over kids that are more appropriately aged for the sprinkler park.


Daddies have so much fun dressing up with you that it never crosses their minds that they might look silly.


Daddies explore with you.


Love you Daddy.

20 Months!

Meridy admires the "Ssippi."

We are SO tardy with this post. Notice how I use the royal "we" to deflect blame when an error is made? That conversational gambit, combined with my freckles, gets me out of untold amounts of trouble.

Okay, not really. So Meredith is 20 1/2 months old, and we are quickly approaching the date when sane parents switch to measuring the lives of their children in years, rather than months. But we're going to hang on to the sentimental schedule 'til the last minute.

20 months. Mer's got lots of words and tricks. She says the ABCs: A B C D D D D D D. She counts: twooo, niiine, fowoer. She growls and make pirate noises. Some of my favorites: lifting up her shirt, patting her abdomen and saying, lovingly, "bodyyyyy!!!!!!" Pointing at her Papa's shoes and enunciating as clearly as any linguist: "boots!" Standing on Chris' chest, holding his hands, preparing to fall backwards and saying "Ready? Ready? twooo, fowoer...aiiiiiiiii!" She's putting together some sentences -- whole legions of words pour forth when she needs to make her point. As in "Mer her color now yes." And upon arriving at the car in the parking lot: "There it is!"

She's going through a very clingy stage. Chris stayed in Sunday School with her last week because we couldn't inflict a tantrum on the folks at our new church. She's not thrilled to be dropped off at school lately. She lost it when I went for a run the other day. If Chris isn't there, she constantly asks where he is. I'm afraid this may not bode well for the imprint on her brain associated with the word "soccer" as this seems to usually be my answer regarding his absence. Anyway, we're not accustomed to this, so we're having to roll with the punches Mer throws in this new stage. As exhausting as it can be, sometimes it's nice to be clung to. Speaking of which, Meridy gives the BEST hugs.



So there's the 20 month (and 14 days) post. And here's some random pics to go with it, since I've been taking lots of themeless pics of late. Love yall.

Mer loves her Uncle Mamoo...though she's not too sure about his shoes.



Showing off her Carnival Memphis medallions. Those Bollweevils don't just hand those suckers out, so one of the Lareaus must be a good Memphian. Also showing off one of Mommy's dresses. Generally looking a bit 70's -- in a good way.



Exploring Harbor Town...Where Mommies go when they need a pretend vacation, rather than another trip to the grocery.

Urban Excursion

We went to Quetzal coffee shop this weekend, to take a break from stealing internet access from our neighbors. While Chris enjoyed the cyber-fruits of our Cafe au Laits, Mer and I took to the streets. This was due mainly to a screaming theme she had going on that afternoon. But we enjoyed ourselves and found some interesting sights in the back alleys of Memphis' "Edge" district.


Obviously, excursions like this one are one of the best reasons to have little people in your lives. Without Screaming MowMow, I never would have known this stuff was back here.






Oh how I wish I had taken some video of Meredith dancing in front of this club. She really didn't want to leave the door, which was open and allowing wafts of dry ice smoke and 80's hits to tempt toddlers who were passing by enroute to more wholesome locales. Thank heaven she didn't try to gain entrance, but she did shake her behind there on the curb for quite awhile.