All the news that's fit to eat

This week is a big week of firsts chez Bamford. Greg had his first day of school today, for which he made 3 pans of brownies. (Clearly he is the man to beat for teacher of the year.) Clara's first tooth has made its presence known, much to Clara's and my chagrin. Thankfully, she's been a good sport about it. Her other first, figuring out how to "commando crawl", has been a good distraction from the pain in her mouth. If my blog entries seem shorter, it's because I'm spending more time chasing her down! Her favorite way to occupy herself is to rip up paper which subsequently ends up in her mouth. Soy-based ink: yum! Which leads up to what will be my "first" this week: testing baby food recipes. Clara seems very interested in eating, and with this tooth on the scene, it won't be long before she'll want to eat at the table with us. Her timing is impeccable, however; we have a bounty of fruit from our yard and from neighbors. I plan on freezing plenty of pureed peaches, pears, and applesauce to last into the winter. In the meantime, The New York Times could not be anymore delicious.

the sand beneath her feet

Last week as a final hurrah for summer, we drove down to the Oregon coast for a few days of fun in the sand. Clara loved the sand. She loved feeling it between her fingers and toes. She loved it a little less in her mouth, but it was nothing a little nursing couldn't remedy.
Now Greg is back at school, and though we miss having him at home, we know he's enjoying being back among his colleagues and students. So while he spends his day talking about history and literature, Clara and I are doing some "heavy" reading of our own, including the "great" chubby books "Baby Faces" and "Mouse Paint". So Greg's not the only one discussing character development, themes, allusion, etc. during the day. Who knew there was so much subtext to "Good night, Moon?"

Clara puts her foot in her mouth--literally!

We are enjoying having some time off together as a family. Going for picnics at the beach in Seward Park, wandering Pioneer Square, picking apples in the backyard, and doing lots of gardening, in general. Clara's favorite things to do are swinging, rolling over the floor, ripping up her parents' newspaper (while they're reading), and putting whatever she can in her mouth, her own foot included. Ah, to be that flexible...

Photo encore

Since I know you can never get enough photos, I thought I'd give you a summer photo gallery encore to make up for my lack of posting earlier. Hope this satisfies your Clara jones.

Summer photo gallery

Our photos didn't upload on my last post, so here's some summer photo highlights for ya...

Summer in NYC & Michigan

So much happened over the last 6 weeks that it's been hard to keep up with the blog: Clara learned to roll over and laugh at her Daddy's silly faces; teething began; we went blueberry picking with Clara's grandparents where she had her first encounter with a beaver; Great-grandparents Beckmann met their first great-grandchild; great-aunt Doreen and cousins Allison, Nathan, and Robin made the trip up from Indiana for some serious photo ops at the Armitage house; and Clara completed her tour of all five boroughs, highlights of which included: visiting our friend Liz and enjoying her outdoor patio in Brooklyn on July 4, visiting my friend Emily in Queens and meeting her beautiful newborn daughter Sabina (with whom Clara was fascinated), taking the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty where Clara made friends with some very friendly tourists from Northern Ireland, going shopping for groceries in the Italian neighborhood of Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, and taking long walks through all the beautiful parks and vibrant neighborhoods of Manhattan. Though we've had a great summer of travelling and sight-seeing, it's nice to be back in pleasant Seattle where the air is cool; our garden is ripe with apples, tomatoes, and rhubarb; and we have an insane amount of room in our house by Manhattan living standards; and our formerly chubby cat Milosz has shed a few extra pounds (thanks, no doubt, to our housesitters Simon & Josie giving him lots of play time). Also, Greg's shipment of H&H Bagels arrived today, which softened our landing in the barren deli landscape of Seattle. Yes, it's good to be home.