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Camille tagged me on her blog. You are suppose to find the 4th picture in the 4th folder of the pictures you have on your computer....and post it. Then tag 4 people. My pictures are not that organized yet. It's a relatively new computer and I've only been putting pictures on it for the last six months or so, but the Mac does seem to naturally group them by date, so this was the fourth "event" for which we took pictures. We were in Annapolis in May to watch the Blue Angels perform. They are a group of 6 navy jets that show off all the cool things navy jets and aviators can do. They come to Annapolis every year for "June Week" which is a week of festivities that culminates in the Midshipmen graduating from the Navel Academy - when I was a kid it actually took place in June and the name has never changed.
This is Teddy and Jackson on State Circle in Annapolis - doesn't Teddy look happy, and if you look closely you can see that Jackson has no teeth at least on top, I think maybe his bottom teeth had finally started coming in by that point.
I can't really get my head around tagging anyone else to do this, so sorry for that, but it was fun to do it - thanks Camille.
Camela
Was a rousing success! Brad's sister even came down from New York to join us which couldn't have been more wonderful. We managed to even arrange for a bit of snow to add to the ambiance. Doesn't the snow make the house look just so, I don't know, poetic.
It was COLD; probably hovering around 20ish. But on the up side of that, our garage was a very convenient walk in freezer. We did lose a few people who were going to come up from DC because of the weather, so it wasn't all good.
We set up the bar in the dining room which again proved to be the key to getting people to actually mingle throughout the house. Though here in the early part of the evening, there weren't many people hanging out in the bar... that changed quite a bit as the night wore on.
This shot was taken right after the previous shot. As is typical everyone started in the kitchen and it's such an open room that it wants people to congregate in there. I don't know why it is always so important for me to get everyone out of the kitchen, but it is.
I thought this was going to be a funnier picture than it is, but the picture just doesn't do it justice. That's a king size bed under all those coats and it was nearly invisible and about 2 feet higher than normal. In person it was really a funny sight, so it might be that this will only be amusing to me, but that's okay, that's true of a lot of things.
This is Georgia grilling Alice's new 'friend' and as soon as I snapped the picture Georgia complained that they'd needed advanced warning - candid shots just won't do for her LOL.
So here is the approved picture of the three of them. They are all looking at and pointing to the blank TV screen. - geesh. Do you think it defeats Georgia's intentions that I posted both pictures?
Georgia and me in a 'sorority pose'. Isn't she just beautiful and this picture doesn't do her justice. And yes, I never did get around to putting on any party clothes. I kept my jeans and tee shirt on all night long. But I figured, it's my party and I'll look like a slob if I want to.
Anyway - we had another great party celebrating with our friends and family although my mom and step dad totally dissed us at the last minute. They got a better offer and even though they had RSVP'd to us first, they totally went to the other party. They did come and spend much of the afternoon with us; going to kids' basketball games and helping with last minute prep, so that's something. (and no mom, I'm not remotely mad).
Now more than a week later, Brad and I still haven't sat down to write up what went well and what didn't which will make planning the party next year so much easier, but it's on the list.
Camela
I'm sure I'll keep tweaking it right through December, but I think we managed to get the house looking just like we wanted to again this year. Brad out did himself on the outside lights - this year's addition was lights around the garage doors. After last year's 'last possible second decorating' issues all I asked of Brad was that he not be hanging lights on the day of the party. So he got all the lights up with a week to spare and they looked great... until half the side window went out.... and a little space on the icicle lights on the garage went out... oops. Well my darling husband was up on the ladder replacing those lights the night before the party.... muttering something about... as long as it's up by midnight.... I don't think that was his favorite part.
Inside we added little fiber optic trees in the boys' rooms which they absolutely love. This brings the ridiculous tree total up to 6 - well 7 if you count the tree we put lights on outside... hmmm. Maybe it's time to admit I've gone a wee bit overboard. I'll have to think about it. Each year, my goal is to be able to use no actual lamps - rely only on Christmas lights, the fireplace, and candles and I think we're almost there. I added these cool really big stars that I hung in the dining room over what was to become the bar for the party and they are designed to have a hanging light bulb in each of them. I think maybe next year I'll try to make that happen, we'll see.
We got our tree this year and we went for one a bit larger than usual. It's not quite double my height, but I swear it didn't seem that big when we bought it.
This is what the tree Brad was putting together in an earlier post finally looked like. The presents reflect the light from the tree and can be seen very nicely from outside.
The front door, right below the high tree. I love how this looks.
This is a needle point my grandmother did after my sister was born and we were the only 2 grandkids. More than 15 years later my cousin Keith was born, so she squeezed his name in there too. Then 3 years after that my cousins Matthew and Michelle were born and she was so mad at herself that she hadn't been able to foresee the future and know just how many grandkids there would be. By the time Kevin and Sarah showed up 10 years later she was past the anger - mostly.
I have never gotten this to where I want it to be. I love the manger and the big angel that watches over it and I even love the people and animals, but I've never finished them. I bought them to paint and glaze a million years ago and for several years I did a bit each year, but I haven't touched them in years other than to bring them down and put them out. They need to be glazed so they will look better in the setting. It's on the list.... I'll get to it one of these days.
One of the many trees. This one sits at the end of the hall in a window that is one of the things seen first when you round the corner to get to our house.
This is one of the little fiber optic trees in the boys' rooms. They totally love them. Please disregard the little road and field painting on the walls of my 10 year old's room.... Okay so I painted that when we moved in and he was 4. The little trucks and tractors were perfect for a preschooler - maybe not so much for an almost middle schooler. I promise, here and now, that I will redo his room in the spring.
These are the cool stars that I mentioned before. Aren't they just the coolest!!!
This is another of the trees. This one is in the front of the house sitting in front of the bay window where it can be seen from the side of the house seen first when rounding the corner, just like the little tree at the end of the hall earlier. I probably should have included a picture of the decorated real tree (the big one) but, well, it's not really decorated yet. There are lights and a few ornaments, but, well, it's on the list.
Merry Christmas,
Camela
This is all Misty's fault - she totally jinxed me!!!!
Yesterday I was chatting with my friend Misty and she complained that there hadn't been any good 'crazy things that happen while Brad's away' stories lately. So of course then today happened...
It all started with Jackson throwing up first thing this morning. Now he sometimes throws up for literally no reason, so it's not always a sign that he's really sick. So we talk about it and I watch him closely and we decide that he's up for going to school. I drop them off at morning care only to realize that I had forgotten Teddy's bells in the kitchen. I had told Teddy I would bring them when he very politely asked me to do it, but oops. So I told the boys I'd run back home, get them and be right back. Round trip probably took less than 7 minutes. I pull into a space hoping I'll be able to get out of the area before the buses start pulling in - I'm already going to be late to work. I reach in to grab the bells and hit the case just right and snap my thumbnail in half. I swear I almost fainted on the spot from the pain. My nails are very strong and rarely break. This is the worst break I've ever had in my life by a mile. The nail is hanging on by one side and blood is slowly dripping down my thumb - it was very pretty. But there's nothing I can do about it right at the moment. I run in, hoping to be able to run right back out... but no.
Jackson is near hysteria - thinking I would never come back as I said I would. I take one look at him and his reaction and think - I screwed up, he really is sick, he needs to be at home. I gather him up and head out after first letting lots of 10 year old boys ogle my bloody thumb. I'm still a person down at work and the idea of losing a day is frightening, so I decide to head to my office and get some work I can log in and do from home. Jackson promptly falls asleep in the car which he never ever does - can you say bad mom for sending him to school in the first place? We're about half way there when he starts to freak out. "mommy, mommy pull over, I'm going to be sick. Hurry." shoot shoot shoot (okay that's a nicer thing than what I actually said). I get the van pulled over.... did I mention I was on a highway.... and that it was pouring?
Given Jackson's penchant for throwing up the van is fully equipped with things for just such an emergency, but of course they are in the back - the way, way back. "Can't I just do it in the grass, mom?" Well sure, but it's pouring.. and it's a highway.. Find a bag and some paper towels, get him set up in his seat, hop back in, merge back into the rush hour traffic, go to work. Then we get to do it all again on the way home - different highway, but same weather and outcome.
Then... at home, the internet is down all day long.... The internet is never down. Brad works from home, when he's in town, and every single thing he does is over the internet... But no. It's down and no amount of resetting it will help. So the stuff I brought home to do... yeah, not so much.
Oh well - Thanks a lot Misty!
Camela
We're decorating early this year. Our annual Christmas party is the first weekend in December and last year doing all the decorating between Thanksgiving and Christmas nearly killed us (and our marriage). So this year we skipped Thanksgiving in our house. As soon as the Halloween decorations came down, we pulled out the Christmas stuff and we've been working on it ever since. We have decided everything will be done; inside and out by the end of Thanksgiving weekend or else.
Last night we decided to put up the tree that goes above the front door. For the first time ever Brad decided to assemble it up there instead of down on the ground and then having to awkwardly carry it up the ladder and get it up there. This, however meant he had to climb all the way onto the ledge up there. It's a pretty big ledge, but it's also pretty high up. The first picture is of him up there will both pieces ready to assemble and arrange the branches. 
More arranging and spinning and arranging and spinning all to my specs. My husband is a very patient man, who is willing to put up with a lot of arranging and spinning.
Now we've gotten the last minute addition of the lighted tree topper installed and all the arranging and spinning is done.... but... well, um... Now to come down. "Boy it sure is a long way down..... Hmmm, I just have to reach around and put my foot on the ladder and I'll be all set..... It's going to be just a minute or two"
"Take your time, I've got the ladder whenever you're ready to come down."
"I'm almost ready."
"I know, just take your time."
"Okay, I'm coming down."
"Alright, whenever you're ready."
"Honey can you just have some food sent up?"
Camela
Bandit, our Jack Russell Terrier's, favorite game is treadmill fetch. While I'm on the treadmill, Bandit comes to the front of it with a tennis ball and drops it on the very front edge. The ball rolls down a little incline until it lands on the tread part and heads towards my feet. I then kick it, trying to get it out the door (I'm only mildly successful in the aim department). He retrieves it and we start again. No matter how long I'm on the treadmill, I always tire before he does.
Camela
So today is Teddy's first basketball practice. As I've discussed, Brad left me with a detailed list of who had to be where and Jackson's practice was yesterday and Teddy's was tonight; both at 7pm. Great. Run home get them dinner, talk to Brad a bunch of times, head out to the car, get seriously delayed because Jackson didn't like that I pointed out that finding things is just not his strong suit (his shoe was literally in the middle of the room he said he lost it on the way to - I had to take 2 steps from where he was bitterly complaining about the world and Teddy especially being against him in not letting him find his missing shoe, to see the shoe). I took the 2 steps and saw the shoe all alone in the middle of the room and sighed in frustration about how no one in this house but me can find a single thing... I was not that polite I think... Jackson thought this was even worse than the world conspiring together to hide the shoe, now he had a real villain. Hiding and crying and running ensued. Finally we got out of the house, made our way to the school, found the gym... only to discover his practice really started at 6 and not 7. Teddy was so bummed I checked the email from Brad. It said 6. I'm seriously a moron.Camela
Jackson had his first basketball practice today and had an absolute blast. He's on the Gonzaga team. I think it's so great they use college names; it helps me get them into the college basketball frenzy that happens in our house in late spring. The fact that he had no idea what he was doing on the court was completely lost on him. It's an instructional league and his coach seemed to be really great - just kept showing Jackson that he shouldn't be skipping and dancing and flailing his legs wildly around while dribbling the ball and telling him it was great that he could dribble with both hands but that he really should try to only use one at a time. Brad's going to take him next time.
On the way home I called Brad so he could talk to Jackson about the practice. I can tell by Jackson’s responses that Brad is asking lots of basketball related questions. Yes he likes his coach, he knows only 1 guy on his team. He "played" with him last year too. Jack interrupts Brad to say, "wait I have to tell you the best part. I figured something out today." There's a pause while Brad asks what. "I can sharpen my tooth, my snaggletooth, well all four of them actually." He was very excited by this. "All I do is grind them against each other and I can make them really, really sharp. Sharper than the point of a sword. Sharper than an arrow. Here, listen to this." silence. "Did you hear that click dad. That was me grinding them together, I tried to do it really loud so you could hear." We're very proud.Camela
The day started well enough; got up early, felt well rested... but then it started. I found Ridgely, the lab battling a neck problem, motionless on my bathroom floor. I had to check that she was breathing - she was. The poor thing couldn't even wag her tail, did I mention she's a lab. I ran downstairs and got her some aspirin and her steroids. She'd managed to rouse herself by the time I'd returned. She must have been extra stiff from the sleeping???
Then I'm all ready, I've given Teddy his five minute warning. I head downstairs to start breakfast and get Jackson to put his shoes on only to see our neighbor peering in our window. Why? you might ask. Because it's Tuesday and every Tuesday she shows up at 7:15 to take Teddy to chorus. I apologize and tell her I thought it was canceled this week. Why? she asks..... why indeed... well it turns out it's because I'm a moron who can't think for herself. I tell her, actually said the words out loud "Because Brad gave me a detailed schedule of who had to be where when before he left for North Carolina and this wasn't on it." The sad part is that it's true. I know exactly where and when both boys' basketball practices are and on which days because he left me a list, but the thing that happens every single week... uh no idea. Even worse than all that is that later when I told Brad, he apologized for forgetting to put it on the list. Seriously pitiful.... But back to the morning, I send the neighbor on her way and yell to the kids RUUUUUN!!!! Teddy's got to go. Ted get dressed! Dry cereal for breakfast! Run to the car! Fly to school! We make it, only five minutes late. Totally forgot lunch.... oops.
The highlight of the work day was learning that the CEO is heading out of the country again and wants the budgets done before he leaves. I'm still a man down and I've got statements for three companies, and budgets for two companies, untold bank recs and all the other day to day stuff I normally do to get done in the next couple of weeks - oh and Thanksgiving is in there too.
I run out the door at 5:00 on the dot, stop at Chick-Fil-A to get dinner for the boys so I can get something in them before we have to be at Jackson's first basketball practice. I get to school to pick them up... only to learn they've pulled down and broken one of the blinds that cover the cafeteria windows and got to have the assistant principal have a discussion with them - yippee. On the way home, Jackson is trying to guess his punishment; will I be grounded? will I? will I? He's never been grounded in his life, I swear this child was bating me. I really don't have time to deal with this, because I'm likely to freak out and that's never pretty. We get home, I get their completely nutritious dinner in front of them and run upstairs to change my clothes.... homework, what homework?
Then I hear maniacle laughter and squealing and Teddy running up to me and a thunk and then crying. It turns out Jackson thought it would be a good idea to take his perscription nose spray and spray it on Teddy's hair and then when Teddy was going to come up and tattle on him (my favorite thing) Jack threw the glass medicine bottle at Ted and caught him on the leg. He's got good aim. I'm very proud of myself for not killing anyone. Seriously I think I should win something for that. I went down and told Jackson that now he was grounded. For a week. No friends, no TV or anything with a screen, no dessert. I told him he'd get plenty of reading in and that I still hadn't decided how I was going to punish him for the incident at the school. Jack said... "This is the worst day ever." I told him I couldn't agree more.
Camela
We are watching The Princess Bride for the second time in a few days. The boys love it as much as I do; especially Jackson. He's been running around saying "my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, PREPARE TO DIE" all said with a really bad Spanish accent.
At the point where Dread Pirate Robert and Princess Buttercup are making their way through the big scary forest that has a real live name that I can't think of and they have survived the shooting flames and the lightening sand and are talking about the unusually large rodents (Jackson says they are a cross between a wart hog and a large rat-perceptive boy I think) and Dread Pirate Robert is telling Buttercup that he doesn't believe they exist. So, of course the rodent attacks just at that point. And both times we've watched that Jackson says to the screen, "dude, you were schooled!"
And each time it made me laugh.
Camela
Breakfast is over and Brad is trying to get Teddy to clean up some candy mess he made before we woke up and the attitude was starting already.
Brad: "Ted, you need to pick up that trash right now."
Ted: (absently as he heads, as if in a trance, towards the computer) "I'll be there in a minute!"
Brad: "No son, I mean right now. Don't sit down!"
Ted: "I said I'll be there in a minute."
Brad: "No. Ted. Now."
Begrudgingly, Ted got up moaning and groaning the whole way with half the trash in question to put it in the trash can. Brad hot on his heels with the part he missed to which Teddy mumbled indignantly again as he threw away the final piece.
Me: "Teddy, none of these requests are unreasonable; chill out."
Ted with an attitude laced voice: "Some of them are!"
Me: "Teddy go up to your room right now and write down all the requests that were unreasonable. I'll be happy to discuss them with you when you're done."
There was a bit more.. 'aww mom, come on', and 'stop talking, keep your mouth closed and get your butt upstairs' -- and up he went.
A few minutes later he called down. "Mom, I'm all done."
"Okay, bring it down." I can't wait to see what he's come up with. I'm totally expecting a list that is going to completely annoy me. But I'm ready, bring it on little boy.
He hands me a piece of paper that has one sentence on it:
"What I meant was that some requests are unreasonable but you have never asked me to do one."
What do you say to that?
Camela
Teddy's teacher is about to have back surgery and will be out of school for several months. She wanted to touch base with all the parents before she left since she will miss the parent - teacher conferences. She called one evening and the wildly paraphrased version of what she said was that he's doing great academically, though it would be nice if he remembered to follow through and turn his stuff in more often. But socially... well... if he doesn't learn to tone down his strong personality and start using better basic social skills he's going to get picked on by bullies in middle school next year.
Okay, I might be exaggerating, but really -- not by too much. And I can't say I disagree with her. Teddy comes across as an extremely confident kid. He is very assertive. If we're in a store, for example, and he has a question, he doesn't have the slightest issue finding an employee and asking whatever series of questions he needs to figure out what he wants to know - up to and including asking who else would know if the one he asked doesn't know enough. Adults absolutely love him - they think he's so mature and that it's so cute coming out of his little body. But the reality is Teddy is very sensitive and unsure of himself. He masks this by coming across so confidently - which works better with adults than with kids. With kids; sometimes it works, but sometimes not as much. (This is yet another example of how Teddy got all of Brad's good qualities and all of my bad ones. I continue to hope that the good will outweigh the bad in his case).
He sort of walks in with the assumption that people want to talk to him and want to hear what he has to say and he doesn't do a good job of laying some of the groundwork needed to make friends and connect with people - he's just magically already there. When that doesn't work out and the kids don't want to play with him or aren't just exactly on the same page as him - he not only has his feelings hurt, but he's just plain confused. Brad and I are working on basic social cues with him.
Anyway - this post took an odd turn along the way... Now back to the heredity thing...
So his teacher was trying to give me an example of how he is unbending and so sure of himself, but unknowingly for her the example she used is Teddy's poor (or wonderful depending on the day) genes and nothing more.
She told me that the class was broken into groups and were to be pantomiming different ways people react when they are stressed. So it gets to be Teddy's turn and he just sits in his chair and doesn't do a thing. He's not moving in any way, just sitting there doing absolutely nothing. The kids in his group were guessing things like 'you don't care about things' and 'you are tired and don't want to do anything'. Teddy just sat there saying 'no, that's not it', 'nope', 'no', 'uh un' - but he never did another thing, just kept sitting there in that chair, not giving the other kids a single thing to help them out. Finally she called him over and found out from him that he was trying to show "losing your appetite". They discussed things he could have done and ultimately he picked something else more demonstrative and went back and did it and they guessed it with no problem.
The problem with this story being an example of his overall social cluelessness is that he gets that particular trait so darn honestly..... A story from my past.
One Christmas many, many moons ago, we were at my paternal grandparents house and after dinner we were all downstairs playing pictionary. My grandparents had pulled out all the stops with this game. There were easels and colored markers and we broke into two teams and off we went. So at some point it was my Grandma's turn and she looked at her word and her face showed pure confidence - whew this would be easy, if she looked so confident. She got up and grabbed a yellow marker as she commented conspiriatorily that having the colors would make this one really easy and drew a very small yellow rectangle in the middle of the huge piece of paper stuck to the easel. She took a few steps back so we could all be awed by her masterpiece while she waited for us to all shout the answer out in unison.... uh. hmmmm. "rectangle?"
She looked at us like we were morons. She pointed to it, "it's so clear." Ok, what could that be. uh. yeah. I got nothing. There were 4 or 5 of us guessing, but it was pretty consistent across the board. "Grandma, we're obviously not getting it. I understand we're the stupid ones, but we need something else, anything else." "But Cammy, that's it. There's nothing else I can draw. That's what it is." And she sat there mutely for long minutes as we struggled with what on earth this little yellow rectangle was possibley the exact replica of. Luckily the other team was also struggling, though don't think we weren't hopeing to gleen clues from their guesses. Finally my dad looks up at his mom with confidence and says "Gold Brick", and my grandma looked at the rest of us - her moronic opinion of us all proven correct as her beloved son proved her point that her masterpiece was all that was needed.
So poor Teddy never had a chance with 'loss of appitite'.
Camela
So as I was putting Teddy to bed tonight he told me that a friend of his has reported that his older brother gets detention in middle school almost every day. This led to a very analytical and pragmatic discussion, as only Teddy can have, as to exactly how many detentions he might get throughout his middle school career. Of course this took several minutes and lots of back and forth to get to the final answer of three or four; five at the absolute most. I told him I could probably live with three or four, but would not be happy with any of them.
But this detention discussion led to him wanting to let me in on some very important information.
"Mom, I'm getting older."
"Yes you are"
"As I get older and get to be a teenager, I might just become unmature for a while."
"Really. Why is that?"
"Sometimes teenagers do stupid things, so I guess they become a little unmature, like Steven who gets all those detentions."
Aaaahh. I've decided this is good information to have.
Camela
"Mom, can you make my Halloween costume?" "Uh...sure I can sweetheart, what do you want to be?" How lovely of him to ask me to make it for him. I'm thinking I'll be able to buy some sort of costume and embellish it in some way and viola costume made.
But no.... Teddy wants to be Iron Fist for Halloween. Iron Fist, I mean - really?!! What the heck is Iron Fist and how many 10 year olds who aren't Brad's son actually know what or who it is? It turns out he's some sort of super hero; complete with big, huge, and absolutely imperative chest tatoo. Let me repeat that.... chest tatoo - it takes up nearly the whole chest and Teddy is SO excited about it - see an image here.
Did you look? Did you see that big, huge, collar thingy that is sitting there defying gravity? Okay, let's think about this. I can do this. I can do anything. I need... what... tights? Okay, tights might take care of the legs, but what about the upper body part? And Halloween, in case you've forgotten, is on October 31st and it can be pretty cold on that day, so how do I keep him warm when the Iron Fist's 'shirt' is basically opened to the waist and let's not forget we have to be able to see the tattoo. My first thought is, I can paint the tattoo on his chest. I'll use acrylic paint or even Halloween make up and it'll wash right off the next day. But what about keeping him warm? I know, I'll get a beige colored t-shirt and paint the design there. Now, how do I do that collar? Am I going to actually have to buy lycra fabric and a pattern, OMG, when is that possibly going to happen.
Wait, wait, wait. I know, I know, I know. I just need to put something else in front of him and hopefully he'll fall in love with something else.... right? So under the guise of going to get Jackson a costume we took both boys to a costume store, and sure enough, Teddy's eyes bugged out at the red ninja. And then when you added the plastic swords that go with the outfit.... well game over. So I bow down to the ninja gods and am ever so grateful to the plastic sword goddesses as the balance of my October just got a heck of a lot easier.
Camela
As has recently been pointed out to me, the garage is not my friend. Or maybe it's that I am not the garage's friend. Or maybe it's that when the garage is involved, I am not a car's friend - yeah, that's the one.
Me: Honey, I scratched the bumper of your van. I didn't pull it in far enough so the van was perfectly placed so that the little thingy that sticks out of the garage door below the lock managed to scrape itself along the bumper. I was really surprised that it didn't just bounce back up once it encountered the bumper.
Brad: No (shaking his head) it wouldn't do that.
Me: Of course it would, that's an important safety feature and besides it went back up the last time it hit the bumper.
Brad: (eyes bugging out of his head) The last time?
Me: Uh yeah, the last time. It hit the bumper and popped right back up. (big grin)
Brad: I'm so glad you have developed a pool of knowledge from which to draw your information about this (totally glaring at me). We should go inside and stop talking about this now.
I decided that we didn't need to discuss the time I opened my then pretty new convertible inside the garage and put a bit of a gash in the top - oops.
Camela
All the crazy, annoying, time consuming things that are going to happen at the most inopportune moment happen when Brad is out of town. Some past examples inlcude;
-the fire alarms that go off at 4am because someone, ehem, forgot to change the batteries
-the bird that the boys and I found sitting on a curtain rod in the sun room one day after work - the boys tried to sell tickets to see our new 'pet' and the dogs were intent on trying a new and tasty snack. Meanwhile I was trying to get the boys to keep the other kids out of the house and corral the dogs to the basement (no easy task given our guest). I then spent at least half an hour getting the bird to leave while the kids cheered wildly. I opened all the doors and many windows and tried to shoo it out with a broom. (yes this was even more ridiculous than you can imagine) I think because of our high ceilings, the bird just wasn't that impressed with my efforts and just happily flew from one curtain rod to the other until finally he grew bored with our game and flew out the front door. It's a wonder I didn't just follow the damn bird that day.
-The 6 foot snake sunning himself on our 2nd story back deck. Come on now, it's 12 feet off the ground; how the heck did he slither his way up there? Bandit was losing his mind barking so hard in circles around the thing. I guess I should be happy because it was bandit that alerted me something going on. Ultimately I was able to push it off the deck and my neighbor tried to impress me by managing to pick it up and throw it into the woods behind our houses. (how I dislike being impressed by my neighbor) And I figured the snake must have climbed out on one of the tree limbs that extend over our deck and then jumped (or was pushed) onto the deck.
-The dead turtle found upside down in the living room - no doubt a present from Bandit. "Mom, can we keep him, can we huh huh, he's so cute??"
But this time during Brad's absence we had a three-fer (is that a word?) First there is the mouse we have living in our kitchen. We often have a few mice that try to take up residence with us as the weather turns colder and this year was no exception. But we really, really thought we'd taken care of our little guests last week, but apparently a search party was sent to look for the original missing friends because... uh here we go again. And these little guests of ours this year have proven to be very clever in avoiding the surprises we have waiting for them in all the usual places and they are very, very brazen. In the middle of the afternoon twice now I have seen him scamper, no that's not right, saunter is a much better word, across the counter top in search of something to eat. I am doing my best to not freak out about this. I'm fine when he's right there, I have no problem in the moment. But later when I'm thinking about it... Okay I've got to think about something else or I'm out the front door in search of my bird friend.
Then second, on Saturday Jackson comes running into the house. Mom, we have a baby snake in the garage, it's so cute, you've got to come see it. There is much excitement and glee in his voice and I can only imagine Teddy and his friend Matthew are just as excited outside; probably torturing the poor thing. I take a few deep breaths, curse my husband for his absence and head out to take care of it. In light of our last snake visitor I was prepared for a big ol' thing and the possibility that I would need help, which I hate, but luck was on my side in this instance as it was truly a baby (I am absolutely confident he was an only child!).
This little guy was maybe a foot long and a quarter the width of a pencil, if that, and he'd managed to get himself stuck on a piece of packing tape so he wasn't going anywhere - oh joy. So after checking with the boyscout in residence, Matthew, to get his opinion on poisonousness, I explained to my 2 boys that no, we coudn't keep him as a pet no matter how cute he is and that in fact we have to help him out and put him of his misery. He was so stuck to the tape and so small that I didn't think I could get him off the tape without it being grosser than I cared to fully contemplate - that his only option at this point was to starve to death and since we all live on this planet together we shouldn't make a creature suffer uneccessarily. So I had to kill it, before I disposed of it. 'Teddy go get me a pair of scissors...' Once the deed was done, three boys went off to tell the world that they'd seen snake blood - woo hoo.
And now we get to the trifecta; Lice. You've got to be kidding me, right??? Jackson has been saying his head itched for 2 days. I've been telling him it was because he was filthy, yet still I didn't clean him (example 457 of my being a bad mother). He said, I must have lice, that's why my head itches. I'm thinking... how do you even know what that is or would feel like, you are just filthy little boy... But as I'm about to dump him in the shower this morning, I decide, the least I can do is check his head right? I'm thinking I'd see little bugs crawling around if he had it - wouldn't I? How the heck should I know. But I look and I look and... dun, dun, dun, I find a single little bug of some sort. We have 2 dogs, could it be a flea? It's about that size, maybe a bit smaller. I have no idea, but well... ick ick ick ick ick ick ick ick ick ick. Being a prepared human I have a lice kit in the closet and clean his head with lice shampoo and run the tiny little comb through it and am in the process of washing and or spraying anything and everything his head might have come into contact with -- Did I say the laundry was done??? Silly woman. Oh and I'm cursing my husband's absence again.
And that boy loves to sleep in my bed and when he wasn't feeling well on Thursday night I let him fall asleep there. And of course ever since I found the little bug in question, my whole body itches, I'm sure they're crawling all over me. So I'm also cleaning everything in my room too and I'll use the same yummy shampoo on my hair just in case and the same teeny tiny little comb on my ultra long curly locks; now that should be fun. But this is just a normal day in the life without Brad.
They've gone to Tampa. They left on Thursday and will be back late on Sunday. I hate it when he's gone over a weekend. Brad and 3 of his buddies have headed south for their mostly annual golf trip. They've gone somewhere warm to golf 4 out of the last 5 years. Brad tells me that not only did I approve this golf trip maybe 8 months ago, but he even made sure I was comfortable with how many weeks it would be after the convention was over. Do I remember this? No. Do I believe it's true? Yes. Did my hand in the planning of this trip help me be supportive and gracious in the weeks leading up to it? uh, no, not so much.
So my poor husband, who so often feels guilty for his travel schedule has had to put up with my - shall we say - attitude - about his trip for at least a couple of weeks. Can you say passive aggressive? I swear I thought I was way beyond this whole snide little comments part of my life, but apparently that's not the case. Oh well. He finally told me to stop it. I'm not sure I was even aware of how rude and annoying I was being, but when he pointed out; in very clear terms, how he'd done everything he could have and should have in advance of this trip and that I needed to back off a bit - he'd had enough, what could I say? He was totally right.
So once that little conversation was over, I was back to my (I hope) normal self - hoping he would have a great time. He called a little while ago and one of the guys he's with (a big Red Sox fan) got them tickets to the Devil Rays vs Red Sox playoff game - how cool is that? All I can say is that it's very loud there. I can't wait to hear all about it.
Camela
The Harvey Awards are the comic book world's version of the Golden Globes. The awards are held in a hotel ballroom and people tend to dress up, at least a little. Brad and I were seated at a table with several artists and writers, who's names may be impressive to some but were completely meaningless to me. The dinner was very nice - steak and crab cake - and the ceremony followed. It went off without a hitch. What the attendees didn't see was the bit of chaos that happened behind the scenes.
First the programs. There were, of course, last minute changes to it and we ended up getting the final draft on Friday in electronic form. Unfortunately for the programs Friday was filled with Brad and everyone else shuttling all the guests to and from the airport and making sure the Convention Center was set up correctly for Saturday morning. So no actual paper programs could be produced. Finally at about 11:30 Friday night after a room service dinner of really yummy, but way too heavy for so late at night, hamburgers and maybe one too many drinks to smooth the day away. Brad contacted the only Kinkos that is opened 24 hours a day and sent the program over to them to create. Problem 1 solved, but who, oh who could we get to possibly leave the show and drive down to Columbia to pick up said programs. Well, me of course. When I offered to go first running across Brad's face was horror, then reluctant gratitude, and finally the little light bulb went off for him. "Oh, you actually don't care if you have to leave the show (read convention) for a few hours and miss part of it?" ... uh no.. not so much.
Then after our long day on Saturday at the show, complete with my trip down to Columbia to get the programs and then back to the show, Brad finally tells me that the seating chart for the awards dinner has yet to be finalized and that I need to go back to the hotel and pull up the relevant files on his computer; get on the phone with him so he can walk me through the changes that need to be made, and then find the catering staff and tell them to rework some of the tables from their original plan. Oh and then you need to pull all the place cards and put their correct table number on them so they are all ready to go when the cocktail hour starts. "uh, honey, you want me to make it back to the hotel, get the seating chart updated, piss the caterers off, mark all the place cards, shower, and make myself beautiful (clearly the longest part of this project) all in the next hour and a half?" To which he said "yeah, Johanna and KC will help you." Did I mention I love my husband.
I run back to the hotel with the box full of name tags and other paraphanalia, make it up to our room only to discover I can't find his computer... anywhere. Oh F$%@. He took it to the Convention Center at 6:45 that morning 'just in case' and there it sat in the corner of the VIP room all day long. Okay, slight hiccup in the plan. Run down, get my car, drive back to the Hall, have someone run the computer out to me, back to the hotel, up to the room, get the seating chart done, hand draw a quick sketch of the seating changes, call the caterer to tell them they are coming.... "Uh. Really? Changes? Um. We just finished the final set...." "Yeah, sorry about that, I'll be right down." I put on my best groveling and sorrowful look and begged and pleaded his forgiveness that the tables needed to be adjusted and the final count for dinner went up by more then a few at the last possible second (later, the chef came out to talk to Brad to make sure there were no more additions). It all got done and I couldn't possibly have done it without Johanna and KC; they took care of the name cards completely. I think there is a good picture of the 2 of us from that night and if I get a copy, I'll add it here, but the only picture I have from that night is AWFUL and no way am I posting it.
The actual event was fun and everyone had a good time. I took a break in the middle because after my running around time I had had one too many gin and tonics and needed a little breathing room. I went up to our room and IM'd with a friend. I'm confident I didn't have a single coherent thing to say, but it gave me the down time I needed and hopefully I entertained her, until Brad texted me that I needed to come back. Eventually it was all over, congratulations all around, now lets head to the bar...
So I showed Brad my Comic-Con post and he only got as far as the pea man before he said "mid to late 80s science fiction adventure series V". It was about Visitors to our planet who were actually reptiles come down to breed food (yuck) and there was a big 'reveal' at the end of the show where 'we' learned that under their human disguise they were really green and scaly.
So apparently they weren't peas at all, but really scales. I will stick to my belief that they were green and round just like peas and nothing at all like scales. Brad said 'they looked like scales to me..... well I guess that's what I was expecting them to look like so I didn't look too hard." I'm thinking the poor guy couldn't find the scales he wanted in the make-up department and went with peas thinking no one would look too hard as most of it was under his helmet anyway.
We have survived yet another Baltimore Comic-con. For the uninitiated comic-con is slang for Comic Book Convention. I'm totally in the know by saying comic-con.
I finally got Brad for the most part to actually let me actually work at the thing. I've been spending this weekend with him running around doing things for 3 or 4 years now, but I think he's been so happy that I 'let' him indulge in his comic book passion this way that he's just happy I'm there and has always wanted to reward me by trying to make it like a mini-vacation for me. He'd say "Cam, you should sleep in, come over whenever you feel like it..." and for lots of the time I'd stand around waiting for that one moment where he'd have something to give me to do.... help an elderly guest out and hail a cab for them or something equally as challenging.
This year, I put my foot down as he was running around all stressed again because he didn't have the resources he needed to get everything done. 'Hey buddy, look right here in front of you. I'm a very smart person, more than capable of doing whatever you need done, including stupid mundane things like comparing names on a list....' Mostly this year it took (though not without a lot of reminders). I kept reminding him I was here to work. I told him I wouldn't come in future years if I was just going to be a decoration on his arm at the awards dinner. I've got better things to do than hang out with a bunch of crazy comic book fanatics for a weekend. But work we all did and the convention seemed to be another rousing success.
There were big storms coming through Baltimore for most of the weekend, but it didn't seem to dampen the mood at all. The hall opened at 7am on Saturday morning for artists and dealers to begin to set up their booths. At 6:45, still dark outside, a group of us trudged through the light rain over to the convention center to get it all going. The hall was set and ready and after some 'issues' dealing with security everything got going. By the time 10am (when the doors opened up) rolled around, the line for people with tickets was wrapped back and forth on itself all the way up to the third floor (the convention was on the first floor). I asked the woman who was first in line what time they got there that morning and she said "4:30am". Did I mention it was raining. "It's my birthday and yet here I was learning that I could survive as a homeless person who had to sleep on the concrete in the rain, all for the love of a man.... The things we do for love." I said "yeah, that's why I'm here too" We must both love those men of ours.
When the doors opened, the people started filing in in an relatively orderly fashion. I think it took 15 or 20 minutes for the whole line to make its way into the hall. I was positioned at the bottom of the escalator on the first floor and it was my job to make sure people on the first floor who were just arriving didn't try to cut into line ahead of the thousands who had been slowly winding their way down from the floors above. It was a bit tough to keep track of all those people and get it right until Brad sent me a bit of help. 
This lovely gentleman made chaotic crowd control a thing of the past. He had no problem keeping in character (whatever that was) and the fans who had just purchased their tickets didn't bat an eye when he told them exactly where they needed to go; up, up, up, to get to the end of the line. You can only barely see it but he has peas, yes I said peas attached to the side of his face on his right (it's the left side of the picture). It was this thing attached to his face; I'm sure it was really amazing makeup, but for me I couldn't see past the peas. It was supposed to look like a bit of his face had been peeled back to reveal what was underneath it. It would have made sense to me if what I saw 'revealed' was computer chip-y looking things; as if his character was really a machine. But peas. Really the were green and looked good enough to... ok, I'm not going there, but you get the idea. There is probably a sci-fi reference that made sense to the rest of the people who saw it, but to me it was just part of dinner and someone needed to clean him up. 
And then there was the box office line. OMG. I had to leave to run an errand at about 12:30; two and a half hours after we'd opened, and the line to buy tickets was still winding back and forth inside and up the stairs and through the lobby and out the door and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. I'm sure there were still at least 1,500 people in line at that time. I was told that the line contined without break until 3:30; and the hall closed at 6pm. - WOW.
Though I was running around, in fact out of the building much of the day, people watching was still the best part. I've attached pictures of just a few of the interesting people I saw on Day 1.
I have no idea who she's supposed to be, but I thought she was cute as a button, and as soon as I lifted my camera to get the shot, she straitened up and gave me a big smile. Do you think she likes the attention?
Well I'm sure you can all recognize your friendly neighborhood spiderman. I'm not sure what he was getting ready to pounce on, but apparantly just his presence stopped whatever danger his spidy-senses sensed.
And these two, spent a great deal of time in the lobby on the first day, waiting for the opportunity to brighten someone's day with a photo op. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the Storm Trooper Garrison (apparantly that's what a group of Storm Troopers is called) that was out on the streets of Baltimore directing people to the correct Convention Center entrance. I've seen them in past years and it's quite a sight to come around a corner to be met with a life sized Storm Trooper, complete with weaponry telling you where you need to go. I assure you the only proper response is 'yes sir'. WOW.
Overall, things ran very smoothly. Lots of people having lots of fun. All the crew was running around, working hard to make it look easy and I think we were almost completely successful.
I am SO not sure this whole GT math was a good idea. Brad and I discussed and debated it FOREVER. Sure, Teddy is super good in math - his parents are a CPA and an Electrical Engineer, this is not a surprise. But he is also high strung and emotional. He gets frustrated easily, he thinks he's the worst at everything he doesn't immediately get.
When he was, I don't know, 4ish and he wanted to dribble a basketball like the older kids could. He picked up a ball for the first time and dropped it and... oddly.. wasn't able to immediately dribble it. Well this was the end of the world for him. He was the worst kid ever. He was NEEEVVVEEERRR going to be able to dribble a ball or God forbid actually play basketball, he might as well just sit in his room for the rest of his life. It took a lot of persuading to get him to even touch a friggin ball again. The same thing happened when he first sat on a swing and couldn't propel himself instantly. Just about every new thing he wasn't immediately expert in, was a traumatic ordeal in his life until he did master it.
That said, in school he's yet to be challenged in any subject. Not once. We live in one of the top school districts in the country. His elementary school is one of the top 2 or 3 in the district. Even in this current housing market, houses don't stay on the market at all because people so want to be in this school district. I point that out to say that this is a school where they don't teach to the middle. In kindergarten they have 4 or 5 different reading groups per class of 20; completely based on ability and kids are moved around to different teachers if their level isn't in their class. I call it the La La school because it's so not like real life, so not like any school I've seen before, but still he's not been challenged and at some point one would think he would be. I'm not sure I was until one class in high school, but we live in a totally different school district than where I went to school.
But I don't think Howard County does the GT math program well at all. Instead of teaching gifted students differently which is apparently the original point of it. That some students learn differently so they will teach them differently. In our county GT just means 2 grade levels up and lots and lots of work. (I will say they do the non math GT programs very well.)
So our dilemma with GT math was this. On the one hand we have Teddy who struggles with new things and struggles with things that he doesn't get on the first try; struggles in a very emotional way. But on the other hand, he's yet to be challenged in school and this is his last year of elementary school. His middle school isn't nearly as good and caring as his elementary school is or as his high school will be. It's still a Howard County school, but really not in the same league as the other 2 schools he'll attend. Do we risk how hard it might be for him, since the expectations are much higher. He won't be allowed to do it all in his head anymore, there will be A LOT more homework, it's a new system, etc.. OR Do we push him now because I'd rather him be pushed and even fail now in 5th grade when it doesn't really matter, then get slammed at some other point when it does. We decided to push him now and see what happens. We can always pull him out.
OK, so now we get to the POWs (Problems Of the Week). Each week there is a problem that requires some extra thought and effort to solve. And the answer is to be given in 2 parts. One part is the work, how it was actually solved and the other part is the worksheet where the student describes their thought process as to why they chose the method they did. For the worksheet part there is a very specific structure and very specific language that is expected. Mind you at this point, a month and 2 POWs in, I don't know what the language is, but that's a different issue, or maybe it's the same. So for the first POW Teddy had he immediately created a diagram that helped him solve the problem and he got the right answer in maybe 2 minutes.... Great... uh no. So me, stupid parent, who doesn't want to push my delicate son, thinks, great he has the answer (I checked to make sure it was correct), he can do the worksheet tomorrow. Ultimately he did the sheet. His handwriting was lousy, but he answered the questions in the fewest number of words which has always been his style.... He got a D.
This was crushing to him. The teacher told him and the others that got a D that they could do it over. She wrote comments. She has a reputation as an exceptional teacher, though she's still very new to us. I talked him down from the ledge... you're new to this... we'll learn from this... we'll try to do a bit better next time... let's see if we can address her comments... But he's still really hung up on the D.... Good God. What have I done.
OMG, these last 2 nights as Brad has been away and we've had soccer and piano respectively were when we had to put the finishing touches on not 1 but 2 POWs one each night. I will say the fact that we survived is proof possitive I should win a parenting award - NOT. I am very proud of the fact that all the windows and mirrors in the house remain in tact, as does (much more importantly) Teddy's mental health. Although when he gets his grades back on these, I'm not sure it still will be. OMG.
This has created a new house rule; POWs will be done on Sundays, no exceptions. And wow. I just don't know if I'll survive this.
To get a note home from Jackson. When they've gotten more than three reminders to behave in a certain manner, the teacher can give them a time out during which they have to write a letter home to us to describe how they were breaking the rules. He got it on Friday, but of course didn't tell us about it. And we've had such a crazy weekend with neighborhood picnics, cookie baking out the wazoo and comic book convention staff meetings that I didn't go through his back pack until Sunday evening...oops. Normally, I would have him write out a letter of appology to his teacher (teachers in this case since the behavior started in homeroom and continued into math), but it's too late to start that tonight. So we have a to-do for tomorrow evening.
Camela
It took 3 days to receive the first phone call from Jackson's teacher. His poor teacher must have appologized 15 times for having to disturb me at work and I was totally making it so much harder for her because I just couldn't stop laughing. I kept telling her how sorry I was that I was laughing, promising her that I was taking it seriously, but come on... 3 days! Only Jackson can get himself in enough trouble for a call home that quickly.
He'd been acting up in one way or another during technology class, but then it was the fact that he bopped his neighbor on the head with his pencil that caused the call. The school has a very strict 'self to self' policy - so pencil bopping is a definite no no. Once the poor woman tells me about the bopping I start laughing all over again - I was so not helping. Gee I wonder where Jackson gets this from? She was quick to tell me he reacted exactly as he should once he was caught; apologizing and taking full responsibility - he is a good kid, he's just Jackson.
Finally I managed to compose myself and was able to convince her I wasn't a complete loon. We haven't yet met the boys' teachers so I took a few minutes to tell her all about my cute little guy. How his brain defaults to joke and mischief, yet he's full of infectious charm and will unabashedly smile with his bright red lips and peer cutely at her from behind his long eyelashes to try and appear sweet and innocent. I told her not to believe it for a second. He is a good boy who will follow the rules, but he's a goof ball who wants to entertain and in the first week or so he's going to be testing all his new teachers and aides to see just what their limits are. I wished her luck, I sure hope she's more than a match for my little guy!
My beautiful Teddy
Jackson being Jackson
Brad and the boys at the Whalehead Club
We just got back from a week in the Outer Banks of North Carolina; Corolla specifically for those who know the area. On the way down south as is our new tradition (2nd year) we stopped in Williamsburg to go to Water Country USA, which is an amazing water park. Lots of fun things for kids and adults alike, though Brad thinks there's an awful lot of 'ink', but since I fit right in, I guess I don't see it.
The water park was it's own adventure. We decided to take the 'back way' certain it would be quicker, but... uh.. not so much. It took about an extra 45 minutes or so, but no worries we eventually got there and much to our delight the parking people got confused and somehow thought we'd paid for the super deluxe parking and made us turn into this cushy lot pretty darn close to the entrance. We didn't realize their mistake until we were parking, so bully for us. We got there and met up with our friends and headed out to find some fun. Three long rides later; including the wave pool and 'Hubba Bubba Highway' (who can't love that) the skies opened up and it looked like the end of the world was near. It went from 80 beautiful, sunny degrees to 65 windy, dark and stormy degrees in the blink of an eye.
All the men pulled out their phones which had miraculously stayed dry amidst all that water and rain, and looked at radar pictures. At first we believed it would be a quick storm that blew over in a few minutes, but soon it became clear that no such luck. The storms, they were a-stayin'. So we made a run for it, only I couldn't come up with a reason to run because we were going to be soaked to the bone no matter what, so the boys and I took a leisurly stroll to the car; jumping in as many puddles along the way as we could. In the car we all changed into dry clothes (and I appologize to the family who I inadvertantly flashed) and headed to the hotel. Later when we headed out to dinner we were shocked by how spoiled we've truly become that smoking isn't allowed in bars and restaraunts where we live, we turned and left the first place we tried as their smoking 'section' was separated by a half wall from the rest of the place... uh.. no thanks. Finally we ended up with really bad food and service at some chain, but the kids had fun rolling crayons down the slanty table so it wasn't a total loss.
The next morning we had a nice breakfast at a local IHOP before heading down to NC. When we arrived at the go-cart place, our first stop, the first people we see are our neighbors who live four doors down the street from us. Brennon and Teddy were in the same class last year (this year too). Too funny. I don't think we've seen then all summer and here they are hanging out in Corolla just waiting for us to pull up.
We've always been really lucky and had terrific weather in the Outer Banks, but I think this year was the best ever. It was low 80s and sunny every day. The surf was mostly not too crazy except for the last couple of days when we got a bit of an effect with surf and wind from Tropical Storm Faye, but that just made it more exciting. For the first time ever the boys really, really liked playing in the surf. I don't know if it was the fact that Jackson really learned how to swim this year or not, but whatever it was - daredevil Jackson was all over being knocked down by the waves; he was in hog heaven. One after the other he positioned himself, much to my dismay, to get pummeled by wave after wave. He'd go down and disappear under the foam and I'd watch nervously until seconds later his cute little face would pop grinning from ear to ear before he'd yell 'AWESOME!' or 'SWEET!' and get ready to do it again. Teddy enjoyed it as well, but I think he enjoyed playing with the waves even more; thowing balls and toy boats into them and then retrieving them.
The adults did our traditional things; golfing for the men, spa and lunch at the Blue Point Grille for the women. This year the men took the older two boys out golfing as well one afternoon which I think all 4 of them enjoyed immensely. For the second year in a row our friends brought their South African au pair, Mandi with them. What a decadent treat for us adults to be able to go out to dinner all together. And once again we went to Meridian 42 which was just as amazing as it's always been. As is one of our favorite traditions we ended the week at the outdoor concert at the Whalehead Club where we enjoyed wonderful music, mediocre wine and an amazing sunset.
My kids have no idea how lucky they are, hopefully we'll be able to convey that to them in some way. Now it's back to school time, but that's for another post.
Camela
The boys and I took Brad to the airport for his trip out west (where he'll be until hours before we pull out of the driveway early Friday morning for vacation. I swear I'm not too bitter about that, really, I'm not.) It's a picture perfect day; blue sky filled with cotton ball clouds, 80 degrees, no humidity. The kind of day I dreamed of when I bought the convertible. Teddy and Jackson were in the back seat, Teddy with his nose in his game boy and Jackson watching the clouds, finally Jack popped up with the following:
J: Mom, Does God live in a cloud?
M: mmm, I don't know. I think God is everywhere, so I'm not sure how to answer that.
J: huh.
Now quietly, no longer talking to me. Jackson's looking out at the passing scenery.
J: Hey God, how's it going?
He waves at the trees
J: Hi God.
We pass more trees
J: What's up God?
It was just too cute.
Camela
This is Teddy and Jackson on State Circle in Annapolis - doesn't Teddy look happy, and if you look closely you can see that Jackson has no teeth at least on top, I think maybe his bottom teeth had finally started coming in by that point.
