three new puketures*

* puketure /pyook'-cher/ n. a portrait, esp. a photograph, that is so adorable as to cause in the viewer an unbearable inclination to hurl.

and baby makes seven

Mom, Dad, Wyn and I entertained two very special visitors last Saturday afternoon. Oops, better make that three very special visitors. You see, our good friends Jay and Mary Beth are expecting a little boy in November. So...my brother and I thought we'd show them what it's like to have children. That's right: we fussed, we cried, we categorically refused to behave. You'd think we would have scared the bejeepers out of them, but no. These two are real troopers. Anyhow, we managed to turn ourselves around and behave like angels during dinner at Thyme & Honey, so it all worked out in the end.

Congrats Jay & Mary Beth! We can't wait to meet your little guy!

happy friday!

a conversation between 18-month-olds

Zak: Hey, do you know what today is?
Wyn: Thursday?
Zak: No. Well, yes. But no...
Wyn: Ummm, oh, I know! I read about this somewhere. It's the first day of the rest of our lives.
Zak: (Sighs) It's our 18-month birthday, smarty pants.
Wyn: Zowee.
Zak: And you know what that means?
Wyn: That Mom, Dad and a few fortunate others have now changed three years' worth of diapers between us?
Zak: Exactly.
Wyn: Double zowee!

[Click here to see the conversation we had on our 6-month birthday.]

blue eyes

weekend in review

Check this out. Sometime, oh, last Thursday or Friday, Zak began employing what can only be called "The Ape Walk." He hunches forward as far as he can without falling over, sticks his arms out behind him and sort of hobbles about. By the way, he thinks this is hilarious. It scared Mom and Dad at first, which may have been the whole point, but now he seems to be doing it just for kicks. Perhaps he picked this up during our last visit to the zoo? Hey, at least we're good at entertaining ourselves, people.


Anyway. On Saturday, Aunt Marjorie, Uncle Stephan and Cousin Sam invited us to their block party. Thank goodness we knew what to expect (no actual blocks.) We had a great time, and I even wore my Cubs hat to mark the occasion.

Mommy stayed behind so that she could finish painting our room. Goodbye, strange caterpillar and butterfly mural; hello, cool green paint and familiar space theme!

the bird and the broom

Mom and Dad took Wyn and me to the Brookfield Zoo last Saturday. This was a great opportunity for me to practice my "S" sound, as every time I see an animal (elephant, bear, housecat, you name it), I go "sssssss, ssssss, ssssssss." We spent quite a bit of time wandering around the Hamill Family Play Zoo, where as you can see, I explored my inner bird.


Wyn's favorite thing at the play zoo was this broom, which was part of a setup in which kids pretend to be zookeepers. He would not let go of that broom for anything; he carried it all over the building. I'm not sure what this says about my brother's future career aspirations.

Unfortunately, the camera battery went dead before Mom and Dad could take any pictures of us with actual animals. Ssssss, ssssss, ssssss, sorry! Next time...

shopping trip

Yesterday, Daddy came home from work early so he and Mommy could take us to a carnival at our park. There was just one problem with that. The carnival is next Wednesday. Oops. So...we walked around Oakbrook Center instead.


After we shopped 'til we dropped, something monumental occured. Mom and Dad took us to McDonald's for the first time. (We are Americans after all.) Now, you nutrition freaks need not worry. We rejected pretty much the entire meal, from cheeseburger to apple dippers. We did like their milk though. Guess it's something we'll have to grow into. Or not.

changing rooms

Continuing our theme of before and after photos, here are two shots of our living room. As you can see, Zak and I finally talked Mom and Dad into repainting the walls. That dark green was making us cranky (and Mom really cranky). We're all feeling much better now. Ahhhhh...

block party: misnomer or misunderstanding?

Daddy's boss invited us to his block party last Saturday, which sounded like a lot of fun. However, Wyn and I were surprised to discover that there weren't any actual blocks involved. To make up for this blatant misrepresentation, Mom and Dad allowed us to run around in the street (okay, walk around in the street).


Seriously, my brother and I had a blast at the party. We played. We watched dogs. And we met lots of great people, including this strange new friend who followed me around the whole time. I named him Harold.

sorry grandma betty

Yes, our curls were adorable and fun to twirl. But the ends were all frizzy and split-endy, and frankly the whole look was a little past its prime. So voila, haircut time. This is our most significant cut to date, going far beyond our previous Emergency Mullet Removal. We think it makes us look much more mature (yeah!) and much less red-headed (waaah). What do you think?

sam b. lots of fun!

What a great weekend for visitors! After seeing Hunter on Saturday, Sam came over Sunday night. Oh yeah. And get this: he brought three balloons for us to play with. One each! They were great fun, as you can see, although the blue one later floated into our parents' room and attacked Mom while she was sleeping. But that's another story. We had a wonderful time with our cousin, no surprise, and we're ready for him to come back over right...now!