Game One: Czechs vs USA

First, let me say that Tivo-ing the game to watch it 7 hours later didn't really work all that well. Let me give a shout out to long-time listener, frequent commenter Kevin Conway for being my unsought source of game info--by posting game results on this blog. Thanks KC. But really it's okay, cause it was good to have a heads up on the results of such a depressing game. From this point on, I'm just going to watch World Cup games for the love of the beautiful game. America, despite our gains in the last 10 years, is still the baby of this sport. These countries have been playing football for hundreds of years. Yes, hundreds. So we'll just love the game for the game--root for the boys in the upcoming games--and cheer for England and Brazil when the time comes. (Disclaimer: These opinions are those of Kate Lareau and Kate Lareau alone and are possibly/probably not endorsed by Chris Lareau or any Lareau/Sugg relatives).



Anyway, as you can see, Mer was all decked out for the game. Uncle Matthew came up with the tag-line for her shirt, since our hope was that Giant-Man Onyewu might be able to slow Nedved a bit. Turns out that wasn't the case.

The evening wasn't a total wash, because earlier in the day, we tried out swinging for the first time. Below, you'll see Meridy looking unsure (at best) about the whole thing and Walt demonstrating how simple and, in fact, almost boring it is. Needless to say, he's an old pro.

World Cup Mania

It's World Cup 2006 and Meredith is appropriately excited. Her Papa Sugg bought her a soccer outfit before she was even born and she and her little mate Ollie (Timothy Charles) Cogan were all decked out for the England/Paraguay game. Never mind that watching it with Dad's soccer team meant a 7am drive out to the farthest reaches of outer Collierville. It was worth it. (It usually is when bacon is involved--thanks Cogans!). Not surprisingly, England took that one. America makes it's first appearance on Monday--Tivos will be working overtime to capture the game for we schmucks that needs must go to work despite such an important event. The Ecuadorian presidente gave his country a half day off when they won--you think Bush will hook us up? GO USA!

Where's Meredith? (AKA Peek-a-Boo)

As mentioned in a previous post, Meredith has become aware that she can play an active role in our "Where's Meredith?" games. She lifts a cloth over her head and waits for us to ask where she is -- sometimes there's quite a long pause while she makes delighted little sounds -- and then she brings down the cloth and waits for us to say "There she is!" Sometimes she forgets to bring the cloth down (funny). Sometimes she forgets which direction to look when she brings the cloth down and looks expectantly to an empty corner of the room (sad). But it's usually a pretty good time. Awww...our first game.

Harbortown 5k: Baby's First Race

Friday night was the Harbortown 5k, and the Lareaus decided to take it on, armed as we were with a new jogging stroller and a desire to introduce our daughter to the joys of road races. Right. She did great for the first 2 miles. But then it was dinner time. And we all know that dinner time waits for no race. So after a detour through a sprinkler to see if that would cheer her up (decidely not), we realized that the only answer was a pit stop for a bottle. Said bottle was concocted on the side of the road, and sweaty daddy carried Meredith and fed her, while mom pushed the empty stroller. It was stunning how many people thought it would be funny to say "Can I have a ride?". Those who weren't asking for rides or laughing with (at?) us, were glaring at us as if to say "You maniacs, take your kid home." Oh well. We finished the race...together. And by the end of the bottle, Meredith thought 5ks were fabulous, especially if you run them on your dad's shoulders.

8 Months!

What a difference a month makes. I just uploaded all of the pictures from our Memorial Day weekend. There were 129 and about 120 of them were of Meredith. As I watched the pictures pop up on the screen, I realized that our little girl has definitely begun to show her personality--and she's also really started having a good time. This month she's begun saying 'dada,' and although I don't think it's related to any particular context, I'm sure Chris would differ on that point. She can roll a soccer ball back to us when we sit in front of her. It's possible that it's doing a bit more bouncing off her tummy than anything more purposeful, but she's delighted with the results, regardless of her involvement in them. This weekend she began to play peek-a-boo herself, putting the napkin in front of her face rather than waiting for us to throw it on top of her head. She's eating some pears these days, and doesn't make the sour gagging face every time we put something other than milk in her mouth. That's Meredith...our daughter...the consummate eight month old.

Green Grass

Mom and Dad have been fighting a hard fought battle for grass in the backyard. The baby girl needs some soft stuff to crawl around on, right? Right. Rocky clay is not exactly the terroir one seeks for the tender toes of one's baby girl. In the meantime, Mer is content to hang out on a nice soft blanket in a shady spot. For a long, long time. We love ya, Meridy.

Update

So we've been out of touch for a bit...lots going on.

But here's the good stuff: Grandpa came to visit!


And the boys finished eighth grade (that Taurean on the left--Salutatorian of his class!--and Robert on the right--being the clown he is) and were lucky enough to take two lovely dates for a night on the town with their chaperone, Chris. A good time was had by all.