Getting Bigger...

The sun is set. The stars shine in the sky. The night air is tinged with anticipation. And it is time to meet...

The Continental.

We had more visitors this month - Auntie Kris came out for a Fancy Medical Conference and was put up at a Fancy Giant Hotel downtown, so we got to go swimming on a rooftop pool with a bunch of European tourists. This Giant Hotel was conveniently located about a block away from Bourbon & Branch, a very special bar that requires reservations, a password, and a willingness to wait a very long time for a drink called "Death in the Afternoon" that involves Absinthe, Champagne, and a fondness for Hemingway. We also went wine tasting in Napa, but left Brennan home with a sitter since it was about 100 degrees. Above is proof that if you build a giant chair, 2 idiots will sit in it for a photo.

Bren is a busy boy - in addition to the crawling and climbing he likes to fit into his day, he's pushing off and practicing standing. This is usually accompanied by a brief round of applause for himself. He also blew bubbles for the first time at swim class last week, but that may have been an accident.

Here is his 11 month photo - I realized I better hurry up and post it before his first birthday rolled around.

I'm not sure what he's going for here, but he sure looks smart. But just in case you were worried he's becoming too big, here's proof he's not too grown up to sleep on his mommy's shoulder.

Summer

It wouldn't be summer without corn on the cob, especially for Laika. The picture really doesn't do justice to his corn-eating skills, but in most of the photos he's blurry because he's eating so fast. Feel happy for him now, because you're going to feel sorry for him later.

Brennan is a busy guy these days. In addition to crawling and pulling up, he's starting to do a little hand-over-hand cruising along furniture and windowsills. Favorite activities include seeing how much toilet paper he can unroll before I notice, hiding behind the shower curtain to play peekaboo, and trying to eat dog food. Yesterday he performed an extensive rock tasting while I weeded the courtyard. He's clapping a little and will sometimes "high five" when asked. We're still swimming - we're trying Shrimp class at the YMCA for the summer. Grandma Lorna got to go along last week, and I think she had a good time, even though we made her get up pretty early.

We had a big Petersen family dinner at the Presidio Social Club - 6 adults and 2 babies. Brennan loved the bread, and Ian enjoyed stacking bread plates. We were going to put him to work bussing tables. It was a nice time - it's too bad we may never go back, as a certain little man had a bathroom disaster. (Presidio Social Club, so sorry if we dropped anything on the way to the bathroom. I had no idea how bad it was until I got his pants off. Sincerely, Anne)

Here is Grandpa helping with the bottle after dinner. Notice Bren is wearing a new outfit. Anyway - he had a lot of fun with his grandparents - they stole him for a few afternoons, and he did his best to wear them out, especially with the jumping up and down on the couch game.

So - back to the dog. I call this clip "Poor Laika":