He Comes By It Honestly

I've been doing genealogy for almost 13 years now (!), and Eric is just barely starting to get vaguely interested in it. He's been learning more about some of his ancestors here and there, and it is fun to see him make connections to his forebears.

He read an account of an ancestor who got in a boat with two drunken Irishmen in St. Louis. The boat capsized, and the ancestor was saved by a friend who happened to be passing by. (The Irishmen drowned.) When I asked Eric what ever would have possessed this man to get in a boat with two drunk guys, he said, "Sometimes you just feel a strong need to be in a boat on a river."

We were at a mission farewell for an aunt and uncle, and his great-aunt was there. I chatted with her about how we are going to Europe this summer and Eric has a very full itinerary for us. She told me that his grandmother (who died in 1955) liked to have similarly full itineraries when she traveled.

Eric was talking about road tripping and our upcoming European trip with his grandma. He told her about all the time he spends with the online maps determining how far out of the way various detours might be. She told him that her father used to love maps.

There is something kind of magical about learning where your personality quirks may have come from.

And here are some recent pictures of Eric (with no glasses, because he got Lasik!), just for funsies:

Felicia: Ten Months

We still really love this baby.

This month she began getting into a sitting position on her own. (It's so sweet to go get her from bed and see her sitting up waiting for us.) She is starting to pull herself up onto her knees on her furniture, but not into a standing position yet. She loves to pull hair, and she loves all the food. She waves and claps, and she babbles a lot. I have even heard her twice make "ba ba" type sounds when somebody is telling her bye. She makes the sound while waving, so I don't think it's coincidental, but I'm not fully convinced that she's actually saying a word already. So put "bye bye" down as maybe her first word.

Felicia tumbled down the garage steps this month when a sibling left the door open. She got a little scrape on her nose, and it was very sad. We are all working on diligently reminding everyone in the family to shut the doors so the baby doesn't tumble down the stairs. And we are also working on opening doors slowly so the baby doesn't get slammed in the head by a door. Keeping babies safe is hard.

This baby loves walks. She is so happy in the stroller! She kicks her feet and babbles away. We have gone to the Ashton Gardens a few times in the last few weeks during the Tulip Festival, and other visitors have commented on how happy our baby is in the stroller. Trixie loves the opportunity to push too.

I know I've said it a million times, but Trixie really does love her baby sister. I am so eager to watch their relationship continue to blossom as they grow up.

This is probably my favorite baby dress ever. We got lots of uses out of it before Felicia outgrew it this past month. I need to take the time to pull all the photos of both girls in the same clothes so we can do side-by-side comparisons of how different the girls look.

My baby looks like me. I still can't get over how much she looks like my side of the family.