TBA is on his way!

Kelly's baby shower was so much fun! The part that tickled me the most was that her family was late, because they had the time wrong. Bob gave them a call and found they were just hanging out, waiting for Thea to finish her nap, not realizing we were already there, ready to party. Daria had a fabulous spread and set up activities for all of us and the kids. We made iron-on onesies for TBA and used fabric paint to fancy them up.


I think all the kids had a fun time, too!

Rosie was painting while Dash tried different fingers to chew, good times for all.

Checking in on Dash

Hi Dash! It's Mommy.

You're almost four months old! So far this month, we traveled by plane to Connecticut on Oct. 7, your first plane trip! You did great. You were a perfect traveler on the flight out, but cried some on the flight back (my ears were popping, too, so I think the 2nd plane flew much higher than the 1st). We traveled with your sister Rosie, your Auntie M, and your Grandaddy Jim and spent most of your time in my lap (although your Grandaddy was holding you a lot, too). AJS stayed home to take care of Weegee and visit with his friend, Alan. Grandma needed to watch Grandaddy's bird, Groucho, as well as Auntie's cats, Riijah and Zita.

All of your relatives were very happy to meet you! We were visiting to celebrate your first-cousin-once-removed Eric's wedding to Sandra. We spend most of our time visiting with your great-aunt Judy, great-uncle Bill, and your other FCOR Chris. At the wedding reception, you were quite the popular little gentleman with the older ladies! Your FCOR Teressa held you the longest, along with many other relatives. You showed everyone how you like to try to talk, stand up, and smile all the time.

You love to flip over on your belly and grab onto toys and fingers. Lately, you're trying to do a sort-of crawl, which is like an inchworm: up on the elbows, butt up, scoot forward on the knees, and push the elbows forward. You're moving around more that I'd like at four months with that maneuver! You're sleeping on your belly and getting much better at keeping your pacifier in your mouth. Your daddy and I think you're a sweet, happy, good-natured little guy.

Love you!
Mommy

Dash, Rosie, and I flew to Connecticut with his Auntie M. and Granddaddy Jim for my cousin Eric's wedding reception over the Columbus Day weekend. They did really well on the flights, although I don't think Rosie liked the security at the airport much -- those conveyor belts and metal scanners were scary. Dash was very popular with my relatives and was passed around to most all the ladies! I'm glad that Rosie has been able to visit with my side of the family, if only once a year. It's nice to know your relatives. I hope we'll be able to continue visiting with Dash, too. Rosie and he have a couple of 2nd cousins that are close to their ages. I know I couldn't have done it without Auntie M.and Dad there to help -- thanks so much to you both!

Why Dashiell?

For those of you who don't know this story, I'll let you in on how we picked the name Dashiell. Foremost, we were looking for a relatively unusual name that had some meaning to either of us. Dashiell made the short list, being the name of a crime-fiction writer whose work AJS enjoys, Dashiell Hammett (writer of "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Thin Man"). Some other names we were considering were: Orson, Jasper, Harold, Ronin, Riordan, Kane, or Vaughn.

Anyway, one evening, AJS brought home a DVD of "The Incredibles," the animated Disney/Pixar movie, and while we were watching it, the mom says to the son, "Dashiell Robert Parr, you are an incredibly competitive boy. And a bit of a showoff. The last thing you need is temptation." And we both looked at each other and said, "that's it! His name is Dashiell!"