Bon Voyage!

Our great friend Tori and her family have left D.C. for their next adventure - living in Mali! I am so sad that she won't be in town anymore but am excited for the Smolivers to start this exciting chapter in their lives. Tori says Mali is only four hours ahead of us, so hopefully we can get some Skype calls set up soon. She came over a few days before they left to see Mabel and say goodbye to Dylan.

Happy Easter!

We spent Easter in Shepherdstown with Grandma Sandy, Grandpa Tom and Granny Lib. It was a quick trip - up on Saturday and back Sunday afternoon, but we had a very nice time. Mabel's too little for Easter egg hunting or bonnet wearing (and she is very anti-hat these days), so we did a lot of crawling - the hallways at Grandma and Grandpa's house are long and wide, and Mabel loved how fast she could get going. Sunday morning I went for a nice long run on the canal and then Dylan and I took Mabel for a walk through town and showed her the church where we got married, the Entler Hotel (where our reception was held), and also Granny's house on Princess Street. Lots to explore in Shepherdstown! We also had a nice Easter dinner, and toasted the safe escape of Captain Phillips.

The Littlest Badger

I got home from work the other day and Dylan and Mabel were just returning from a walk around the neighborhood. Check out the stylin' outfit Dad had dressed Mabel in - compliments of Grandma Sandy, who made sure the #1 granddaughter had all the right Badger gear, down to her socks. As we say at Camp Randall, U-rah-rah!

A Few of Mabel's Favorite Things

Today Mabel is 10 months old. I'm not entirely sure how that happened ... magic, maybe?
Anyway, in honor of this auspicious occasion, we hereby present a list of Mabel's (current) 10 Favorite Things, in no particular order.

1. Cheerios
2. Kitties
3. Dad
4. Books
5. Warm peas (try them! very good!)
6. Frozen bagel, all the better to gnaw on
7. Magazines, all the better to rip up into tiny shreds and cram into my mouth before any can notice
8. Johnny jump-up
9. The small bottle of saline drops that I enjoy shaking like a maraca
10. Crawling. That should actually probably be #1.