Two months!

Big Boy turned two months old last week! We marked the occasion by going to the pediatrician. According to their measurements, he's 10lbs, 13oz, and is 23 inches long. Also, perfect. But, then again, you knew that, right?

He's smiling more and even starting to coo some. Actually, here's are some big old grins, but the photo quality is somewhat poor!

 He still has his serious moments, though.

What else? (Is there anything else?) This past Saturday, we went on a little hike out at the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge. It was Jacob's first hike! This was actually also our first time out there. It was lovely. There are a bunch of interconnected trails, so one could, theoretically, put together a six or seven mile hike, but the short one/two mile trails are perfect for us. We hiked to a prairie dog area, and we even saw some prairie dogs, so that was neat. Natalie enjoyed watching them poke their heads up and run around. Also, she enjoyed the trail mix we brought, transforming it from a mix of raisins, nuts, and chocolate chips to a, uh, nut mix. Anyway, we'll be back. I'm actually not sorry that we didn't find it sooner - I think had we come across this earlier, we would have dismissed it in comparison with Seattle's lovely urban nature, but now we were ready to accept this on its own terms. And, bonus: way less elevation change!

We've had a real stretch of spring weather here, with highs in the 80s (I guess the rest of the country calls that "summer". Hah.). Warm weather called for a surprise ice cream treat after preschool! Natalie did her daddy proud by selecting chocolate ice cream and adding some Reese's Pieces (which makes it nutritious, right?).

We also had Natalie's parent-teacher conference two weeks ago. She's doing great! One thing the teacher mentioned was that Natalie wasn't yet drawing pictures of people with identifiable features. I sort of filed that away, since, well, it didn't seem like a problem to me, given the rest of the report and coaching someone on drawing is certainly not my skill-set or approach. Anyway, like, three days after that meeting, Natalie spontaneously drew a portrait of me.

I come off a little two-faced, but I'll take it.

Natalie also had a playdate with one of her friends from school. This was the first time I'd actually seen her engage in real, interactive, elaborate, pretend play with another kid. Here they are heading off to a "camping barbeque" with their babies.

I also finally finished the baby carrier that I've been working on for Natalie since, oh, September. To be fair, this is the first thing I've ever sewn on my own, and since the machine is in the room next to hers, I don't usually work on it when she's sleeping. Or, you know, when she's awake. So progress was slow. But it's done - and a big hit!

Natalie also went to a karate-themed birthday party a few weeks ago. Karate might, uh, require too much discipline for her (and most of the other party guests), but is there anything cuter than little kids running around an playing?

Last, here are some shots of everyone just hanging out:

 Be good! Enjoy your off-road adventures!