Audrey, smile! Smile for Mommy! Smile! Just a little smile. No? Okay. Fine. Just stare.

We think it's the anti-"red eye" feature on the camera that makes her do this. Or she is trying to bore a hole in your brain through her amazing powers of concentration. On of those.

Bumbo Office Hours

Bathing Beauty

All you parents know that it's dangerous to hold a baby like this, even for just a second to take a picture... I'm happy to say there were no, uh, off-camera disasters.

She's going to be really mad at us in a few years for posting these. But they're so adorable, I will risk incuring her pre-teen wrath.

Yes, I'll be taking all my calls here in the Bumbo seat, darling... a baby simply must have one these days.

Kate, Michael and Sam gave us the Bumbo. First couple of times we put her in it she couldn't hold herself up, but this morning, well... she's clearly in control of her neck muscles. Ah, they grow up so fast.

What can I say? The man adores me.

It's never easy to say goodbye to Audrey in the morning when we get ready to pile into the car for the office and daycare. Like most kids, she's not that keen on being put into a snowsuit and then strapped into her carseat, so we stall this moment as long as we can and give her extra smooches so she'll remember us at the end of the day.

Too tight?

Some of you may recall that when Kris was small, she had a big problem with socks that were "too tight." Now that Audrey wears socks (keeping warm during the New England winter) her fretful mother has to check, obsessively, sometimes several times a day, to make sure her child's socks do not appear to be too tight. It's also important to make sure that Audrey's hats are not too snug, because the only thing worse than tight socks is a hat that's squeezing your head too hard... And let's not even get started about wool-blend sweaters that might make her neck hot and itchy and uncomfortable...

Step in to my office, dad

The playmat is a stimulating learning environment for users age 3-months to 37 years.

Shirley, Jean and Joyce, you'll appreciate this one...

This onsie was a gift from a friend of Gramma Jean's. Before I layered her up in warmer clothes this morning (we're getting 10 inches of snow today in Boston!) I took this photo. It's more challenging than ever to get Audrey dressed, now that she likes to grab a hold of her feet and bring them toward her mouth. She'll probably spend years in yoga classes trying to regain this kind of flexibility.

Sarah and Audrey meet and eat.

Here, we hope, is the first of many meetings for Audrey and our dear friend Sarah who came to see us while she was in town for a few days. Sarah was one of the two Revs. who officiated at our wedding last October. Unfortunately, Audrey spent a good part of the evening with Sarah singing her favorite aria, "I can scream louder than anyone!" Sarah was very patient.

Before I decide on my entree, may I see the wine list? And tell the sommelier I'd like a word.

It looks like Audrey's ready to start eating since we've been putting bibs on her, but really it's just to absorb some of the rivers of drool. She gets the fronts of her shirts so wet I worry that she'll get cold, or she'll just show up at daycare looking like a slob. I took these pictures this morning, at 6:00 AM. She is in fine form first thing in the morning, very chatty and affable. Sometimes we try to convince her to stay in bed a little longer, but really her day starts at about 5:30.

Hey, if you were wearing a dress your mother had knitted for you, you'd be crying too...

I hoped that when I finally put this little pinafore on her, she'd smile and we'd have a lovely photo of Audrey in something knitted for her. But it was not to be. Instead, she started to cry and arch her back at the same time-- her way of saying that if I didn't get her out of that pinafore, I'd be sorry...

Boppy Love

Falling asleep while eating is a popular sporting event around here. This time, I managed to scoot Audrey and the boppy pillow off of me to the other side of the couch without waking her. Results: too cute for words.

Einstein at Play

She looks so much like Janna to me in this picture. I think it's the pixie hair-do.




Neko will learn soon enough that this is a really bad place to put your tail.

For a change of scenery, I put her on her stomach rather than on her back on the playmat. Results? Generally good, except for a little spitting up. She was able to grab a hold of the toys I put in front of her, and Neko T. Cat came over to take a look. Neko has regarded Audrey with very little interest for the most part-- she comes by to sniff and look disdainful every once in a while, but that's about it.

This one is just for Rene...

Look, it fits perfectly!

Hmmm.. four letters, starts with M and the clue is "Baby's favorite dairy product."

Our practice morning at daycare. A wild ride.

Yes, that's a picture from before Chickpea was around, taken during our honeymoon a little over a year ago now. I thought today would be a good day to post a picture of us in our carefree, pre-parent days because today we were reminded just how much the entire world has changed for us now that we have a child.

Today was "practice" morning at daycare, which was a big, big deal. Not for Audrey-- for us. We spent hours last night planning what to pack in her diaper bag, and this morning we were running around like it was a full-on fire drill. When we reached Esme's (Esme is the wonderful person who will be taking care of Audrey) it became clear that she suggests these practice days for the parents' sake, not the kids. She immediately told us how adorable our baby is, assured us that we'd packed everything right, and told us that Audrey would be fine and that we could call as soon as we got home, if we wanted to. (We didn't, but the temptation was powerful.) She had to sort of shoo us out the door because we just stood there, unable to leave. Another parent dropping off his baby looked at us and said, "First day?" Esme was already holding Audrey, who looked a bit bewildered, but fine. We drove away feeling like we'd left our hearts back at Esme's. Scott left to do some work, I went home. Somehow, I made it through the next three and a quarter hours, frantically cleaning and rearranging things in the house and talking to a friend on the phone to distract myself. I considered checking to see if my downstairs neighbor was at home so I could maybe hold her baby for a few minutes as a fix, but I figured she's busy too and didn't need me at her door trying to snatch her child from her. At last I hopped in the car to go pick up Audrey. Would she still remember me? I could hardly stand it a moment longer.

Then, as often happens when I drive places, I made a teensy navigational error and could not find Esme's street where I was sure it was. I drove down the street and looked again-- nada. In a panic I called Scott and shrieked, "I can't find the daycare! I've lost the daycare!" Scott told me which street I needed to turn onto, and then confessed that he was actually already there, waiting to meet us because he missed her so much. When we arrived, Esme and her helpers were serving lunch to an adorable bunch of toddlers all seated in a little circle of highchairs, and Audrey was fast alseep in her carseat, ready to be taken home. Esme reported that Audrey was very happy the whole morning, and the other kids enjoyed meeting her. I think I must have still had a wild look in my eyes because Esme very gently suggested that maybe we could do another practice day next week, no charge. "For mom," she said. I feel this woman knows me already.

With my Grapevine, Texas fanbase

Don't let these photos fool you-- I did plenty of screaming on this trip. Despite this, the Willcoxes say I can still enjoy a full membership in the family, with all benefits. Cousin Brianna (above) will teach me to speak with a proper Southern accent.

Uncle Rob says it would be best if I moved closer to Shreveport. We discuss the options.

Aunt Chris and I chill out together in a quiet corner of the family compound.

Mimi describes her top secret plan to hide me in an empty Cheerios box so that I can't return to Boston with my parents.

Cousin Hannah and I share a middle name, Katherine, for our great grandmother. We may be the youngest around here, but we command our fair share of attention.

Vintage Christmas Dress by Great Auntie Kris

This red velvet number, handmade by Audrey's Great Aunt Kris, was worn by by both Kris (jr.) and Janna on their first Christmases, and this year was modeled by Audrey at her grandparent's place in Grapevine. She is younger than the two previous wearers were, so instead of being seated in front of the Christmas tree she sort of lay in a velvet puddle, supported by pillows and/or one of us. The Willcox family papparazzi gathered around and several hundred pictures were taken. To our great relief, she did not spit up until the dress was safely back in its storage bag. In some way I think she understood the importance of the event and maintained a cool demeanor. (Kris, we'll send some prints!)