monday at the madhouse // hello little toddler

Oh dear, sweet Magda. Your world is about to get rocked.Magda has, for the last 10 months, just hopped up on the couch or slinked off to another room whenever Ezra began annoying her with his crying or chasing or "petting." But this weekend... it happened. He is now pulling himself up into standing, mostly so he can be eye-to-eye with the Vizsla. I love how in the photo above, she's not even looking *at* him. She's looking *above* him. Like you do when you're giving a speech to a large audience and you are terrified, but trying to appear confident.And let's be clear, Jamie and I are also a bit terrified. The Spawn just began crawling two weeks ago! And now he's standing? And taking steps? I thought we had a few months! Man, I was wrong. And let me be clear, he only takes steps when using a prop (like an ottoman) as his walker.But let's get on with the rest of the week, shall we?Playing ball is one of his favorite hobbies. We like it because a) he shares the toys with us and that's important and b) he loves to put the balls into other things (like cups or boxes) and that's good training for his college basketball scholarship.I just threw this one in because I couldn't resist.See? Another ball in his hands. But do you notice something else? His eyes have changed color. They are now a very, very brown hazel, instead of the grey green. This makes me sad as I looooove Jamie's grey eyes, and I hoped Ezra would inherit them. But alas, it looks like they may be the color of mine in the end. We'll see...And in case you were under the impression we are all smiles and happiness over here, we still have fits. Especially when we have woken up from a nap and instead of mom getting us out of the crib, she stops to take a photo.This week we also took Ezra swimming for the first time! This was at our neighborhood park, and we were stunned that it wasn't more busy.The pool Ezra is in is only 8" deep. Over the wall is the "bigger kid pool," which I think might be 2 feet deep? 1.5 feet? Not a lot deeper, but intended for kids bigger than Ezra. He's already scheming on how to get over that wall.This weekend we also had brunch with Chris! He made us a *delicious* meal, and we had so much fun catching up.And I just wanted to get in another shot of Magda. She is just so fantastic these days. It's so hot and miserable that she's getting much shorter walks, but she's still been a total superstar.And lastly, one more shot of Ezra (and his brown eyes) walking toward me. Man-oh-man. Not a baby anymore.Also! Since I left you high and dry on Friday in terms of internet shares, I'm making up for it today. First off, have you seen the new Converse sneakers? Lovely. And if that doesn't interest you, check out the markings on this baby horse! Or this underwater WWII airplane graveyard! Wow! Or this awesome architecture poster where you can find the style of your own house. We are in an American Foursquare with Craftsman-like details. Mmmm hmmmm. Love that sort of stuff.