Mother's Day, First Foods, and a Family Poop

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. Greg and Doug packed a picnic for us, and we all rode our bikes down Lake Washington Blvd. for bicycle Sunday. We picnicked by the lake, with the snow-pack of Mt. Rainier visible above the trees and just below the clouds. Clara made me a beautiful card at preschool with the message inside: "Mama, you are nice." Greg gave me a box of Fran's gray salt caramels (which, apparently, are Obama's favorites, too.) We have great taste.

Mother's Day marked Annabel's 6-month birthday, and she has undertaken many new activities befitting a half-year old, such as eating table foods, sitting up (with someone at the ready to catch her lest her ginormous head starts aiming for the floor), and scooting "commando-style". For now, Annabel mostly eats pieces of bread, pizza crust or Cheerios, though she's made some attempts at pinto beans and peas. On Mother's Day, she even had a piece of baguette with goat cheese and cupcake. Fancy!

Clara is incredibly proud of her latest accomplishment: pooping on the potty! She did it our last night in Palm Desert. We were lying in bed together when I thought I detected her starting to push. I asked her if her poop was coming. Yes, it's coming, she said. Do you want to poop on the potty? No, she said. We could call Daddy in Seattle and tell him about it? Okay! She ran into the bathroom, pulled down her pull-ups, and pooped all by herself. (I was nursing Annabel down to sleep during the entire process). We called Greg, who was very happy to hear the well-detailed news. Ever since, Clara has been going poop on the potty all by herself. Actually, she prefers that we don't intervene, though she will call us to come see the results and to help wipe her bottom. Just the other day, she called me in to see "a poop family: a mama, a daddy, and some baby poops. It's a poop family!" Ah, yes, out of the mouths of babes...