No more black eye. Bug bites and scratches instead.

William, playing with his new Duplo airplane that's technically not even new. It's been packed up since before we left California, and David just unpacked it tonight.



















I don't know if you can tell by the photo above, but the black eye is pretty much gone. No, it didn't last. But in its place, William now has two scratches and a bug bite on his face. As one of the ladies in my church group sagely noted, it's a good thing that we don't have any family pictures scheduled anytime soon. No doubt!

It's funny how you never really think about these things until they happen to you. Like, it would never occur to me to worry if my child's going to be all banged up before a big professional photo. But until recently, my child didn't really do anything that would result in, say, a black eye. I mean, I used to worry about getting a huge zit on my own face, or my hair looking really huge and horrendous, but now I have to manage bug bites and black eyes, too? Geez. We may never get photos taken professionally again!

By the way--and this is totally unrelated to everything I just wrote--William is getting some more teeth! David spotted them today: the canines are just starting to poke through on top. Sadly, William still just has those little two teeth on bottom. Pretty soon, he'll have all his top teeth--and just his molars and the front two teeth on bottom. But what can you do? You don't get false teeth for a toddler. Besides, he can put away food, even tough food like apple skins, without much trouble. It'll just be his little quirk. Some people have one ear that's higher than another. My left eyelid droops more than my right. William will just be unique.

Healing up

William's black eye is slowly fading, you'll all be glad to know. It looked worse on Tuesday and even a little bit worse than that yesterday. But today, it looks better. It's not the first thing you'd probably notice about him anymore. Yep. There goes my son, with his band-aids from his skin infections and his black eye. Aren't I the poster child for Mom of the Year?

I felt compelled to explain at Gymboree class yesterday why my child had a black eye, so no one would whisper behind my back or anything. Or call child protective services. But like he's the first kid to ever have a black eye. Here's how I see it: he's a toddler. Toddlers fall down. They trip over their feet. They trip over their shoes. They trip over each other (which is what happened with William). Plus, half of William's genes are mine, which means he's 50 percent klutz, genetically speaking. They don't call my dad Tanglefoot for nothing!

Plus, William wasn't even the only black-eyed child in his four-child Kindermusik class on Tuesday. A girl named Kyla had a real beauty of a shiner that even included a cut down the side of her face. Her parents said she tumbled down the stairs at school. I remember doing the exact same thing at about her age, except that I fell down the steps at church. I'm sure my parents would love to relive that little childhood memory. Ah, good times.

William gets a black eye

So my kid has a black eye.
















Yeah. You think that's bad? You should see the other fellow.

Okay, William didn't really get into a bar fight with another toddler. He stayed in the church nursery this morning while I attended a meeting. He fell into a toy car or something and another toddler fell into him, and well, he got a little banged up. However, according to the nursery lady, he handled it like a champ. She said that she's never seen a child so cooperative when she had to put ice on them for an injury. And the redness faded pretty quickly, leaving just the small bruise right by his eye.

Also, the nursery lady was impressed that he put toys back on a shelf after taking them off. She didn't come right out and ask if that was normal behavior, pre-black eye, for my little guy, but I reassured her that he's in that putting-in-and-taking-out phase right now. (Put the coasters in the basket, take them out, put them in another basket, take them out, put them in the coffee table drawer, take them out, ad infinitum.) So no neurological damage was evident. Maybe a few OCD tendencies, but no damage.

They came and got me out of my meeting to let me know there had been a "small incident." They reassured me William was fine, that he was playing just like he had been before falling, but that they just wanted to let me know. I managed to stay in my meeting for another fifteen minutes before finally giving up and running downstairs to check on him. Sure enough, William was trotting merrily around the playground with a group of other small children. He was carrying a large paintbrush, which I can't exactly explain, but he looked like he was having a good time, and that's all that really matters. And in the car on the way home, he ate Wheat Thins like they were going out of style. So he really was just fine.

Here's another look at the battle wound. See, it's right there to the left of his left eye. No blood. Just a bruise.















And here is William again, catching up on some light reading:




















I feel reasonably sure the bruise'll be gone in a day or two. It might turn crazy colors first, though. I really should concoct a really good story to tell about it. Taking a tumble in the church nursery doesn't have nearly as much drama as it could, you know?

Mabry's here!

Whew. We've been very busy the last three or four days. Miller and her daughter Mabry arrived Wednesday, and Nathan arrived last night. How fun it is to have old friends visit! And even more fun to have their new baby girl to coo over, too.

Speaking of Mabry, since I know everyone wants to see her, because let's face it, we all love new babies (especially when we get to coo over them but don't have to get up in the middle of the night and feed them). And isn't she a doll?















Being a new mother has not slowed Miller down in the slightest. She still has more energy now, at eight weeks postpartum, than I think I've ever had! As evidenced by this picture of her giving William a ride around the house:





















Okay, maybe motherhood slows Miller down occasionally.
















But not for very long. You'd be amazed at all the stuff she's managed to fit into this one trip to Nashville. We've swum laps at the YMCA twice--that should be one clue. (And my God, am I out of shape. Do you know the last time I swam laps? Yeah, no, neither do I.)

But wow. I guess I'd forgotten just how tiny a new baby can be. I know William's not that small anymore, obviously, but it's amazing to hold a new baby and think, "My child used to be that size. Do I even remember those days?" And for me, the answer is, "Not that well!" I was so sleep deprived. I guess I can go back and reread this blog and find out what I was thinking. If I was thinking anything at all--anything other than "please please please let me get some sleep." Mabry is just darling and so calm and sweet. She never seems to cry. She just fusses the littlest bit, and it's so cute. So different from William, whose cries could break glass even in the earliest days. And it just seems impossible that William was ever that size. Miller says she weighs around nine pounds. William weighed 26 pounds and 12 ounces at the pediatrician's office on Wednesday. (For yet another MRSA-related visit. Sigh.)


Miller's mom and dad have been here, visiting and spending time with their new granddaughter. They took a bunch of us out to lunch at this place called Pucketts' Grocery out in Leiper's Fork. They're brave to embark on a meal in public with three babies, William being the oldest. The others were Mabry, of course, and Yago, the (almost) eleven-month-old son of Shab and Santi. Here's a photo of Shab, Yago, David, William, Miller and me. The boys don't look that happy in the picture, but they seemed to have a good time during lunch.














So right now, Mabry is off bonding with her grandparents and aunt Dorothy. Miller and Nathan are at the wedding they came to attend. William is in bed. David is watching the Red Sox game. And I'm finally, finally getting around to looking at all the pictures I've taken over the last few days. I'm glad I got a few good shots. Children change so much, so fast that I hate to miss the opportunity to capture the fleeting expressions.

Yesterday, I was holding Mabry and smelling her sweet soft little head, and I marveled that my own son was ever once like that, so small and helpless. I looked across the room and saw him gleefully tossing beanbags around the family room, and it just seemed like a very long time ago. Miller remarked that it must be nice to get feedback from my child, and I have to admit that it is. When I do something like make a funny face or read a book or even ask a question, William always responds. I remember, though, wondering if he'd ever do that. Isn't it amazing how much he has grown and changed in just these short months?

Isabel's birthday party

William and I hopped in the car on Saturday morning and made a trip to Jackson, TN to visit my dear friend Phuong. Phuong's elder daughter Isabel was celebrating her third birthday, and we were invited to the party. I was also delighted to see Phuong and Jessica, and Phuong and Eric's new baby Amelia.

William, of course, was delighted by any event that gave him the chance to drink juice boxes like the big kids and run around in the yard and make noises to his heart's content.






































And he got to play with Jessica.






































Then there was the bounce house. I confidentally said that I doubted William would want to get anywhere near the bounce house--that he'd be afraid of it.



















I mean, he's just now about to turn 17 months old. He's only been walking for a few months now. And those bounce houses are big! But while I was off chatting merrily away with some other adults, one of the older children gently coaxed William into the bounce house. And then Kate shooed some of the other kids away so he could give it a chance without being stepped on. And he wasn't scared at all!



















In fact, later one, he was willing to go back in the bounce house, while a couple of the other kids gently bounced the floor with their hands so he could feel the bouncing without having to stand up and do it himself.


















Amazing. A lady at church said to me on Sunday, "You know why children exist, don't you? To make liars out of their parents!" Sure enough. William was more than happy enough to try out the bounce house when I thought he'd be scared of it, and he also cried when I dropped him off at the church nursery when I had just bragged that he never even looked back at me when we arrived there each week.



















Anyway, the party was terrific. I was amazed that Phuong managed to pull off such a terrific party only a few weeks after giving birth. She managed to juggle countless friends, family members, her active three year old and her new baby. And still serve dinner. Now, I will tell you that she had a little help from Jessica and me: the three of us put up a tent in the yard. In case anyone ever asks, it takes three Rhodes graduates to put up a tent. Just so you know. And uh, it also takes a lot of trial and error and maybe a bit of mild swearing. But I'll have you know that that tent stayed up the entire party, with nary a shudder. See what you can do when you put together about 20 years of collective higher education?

William in his Angels shirt

William had a little naptime blowout while I was out running errands before dinner. David took care of it, and as he proudly announced when I got home, he even managed to dress William in an outfit that matched. Hee hee. The man graduates from medical school and completes years of grueling medical training, but he's all excited because he made his son look nice. Isn't he a good daddy?
















Notice, of course, that he chose a baseball outfit. But strangely, he didn't put the Red Sox shirt on William. Hmmm. I wonder if that shirt has gone AWOL. I need to find it before the playoffs get here. We don't normally dress our child in lots of sports-themed clothing, but we do make an exception for baseball. Plus, that shirt is William's Vladmir Guerrero shirt from the Angels game that we attended on his first birthday, so it has sentimental value.


















Next year, maybe we'll have to let William have his own team in our fantasy baseball league.

William's music box

When I was a freshman at Rhodes, I took an Old Testament class as part of our mandatory religion class requirement. Two of the guys in my class, Ravi and Bryan, were amused by all the Hebrew that we were learning, and somehow they came up with this word--either a Hebrew or a mock Hebrew word--"merrh!" and decided it meant "good value."

Here's how you might use it.

William's music box from his Pack n Play finally bit the dust about ten days ago. He had hurled it to the ground one too many times, and no amount of tinkering or fresh new batteries could coax life back into it. I found a replacement on the Graco Website, marked down to $9.99 from its regular full price of $19.99. Merrh! That is definitely an excellent value.

It's an especially good value, considering that David and I have often remarked that the price of the Pack n Play was worth it for the music box alone. The music box is just about the only thing that we've had since William was brand new that we were still consistently using. All the tiny 0-3 month clothes have long since been put away, and we've had to switch to bigger carseats and a different stroller, but the music box has remained. It has accompanied us on every single trip we've made since William was born. About the only place it hasn't been with us was in that hotel in Dallas in June--and that's only because it was stashed away in our checked luggage.

So the new music box arrived today--technically it's called a musical soother, I think--and I can't wait to put it on the crib railing tonight. I think William has missed it, if for no other reason than because he likes to fiddle with the little nightlight on it and then throw it to the floor.

The music has been such a part of our lives for so many months now that even just a snippet of one of the songs can instantly transport me back to those first few weeks when William was here, when he slept in the Pack N Play in our room. We turned on the music to quiet him down after changing him or putting him down to sleep. The songs are pretty standard, and yes, we could get tired of them after awhile, but I actually really liked one of them. David swore he remembered it from a music class at Princeton, and he managed to figure it out and buy a Mozart CD with the real sonata on it. It will forever remind me of my new baby son, of those breathless early nights when I could sink into a deep Navy SEAL sleep the instant my head hit my pillow and pop awake as William was inhaling to take his first breath upon starting to cry.

For the record, I emailed Graco to ask for the list of songs, and a very nice lady named Lynn emailed me the song titles so that we didn't tax our own knowledge of classical music too much more. Here they are: 1. Mozart - Eine Kliene Nacthmusik; 2. Brahms - Lullaby; 3. Chopin - Nocturne Opus 9 #2; 4. Mozart - Sonata in A major; 5. Claude DeBussy - Clair De Lune.

William doesn't really need the music to go to sleep now. He's been doing just fine with just his crib aquarium for the last week or so. But I think he likes the music box anyway. It's always been there for him. It's his, and he knows that.

And yay, now we have our music box back. Merrh, at any price.

The first day

I am so relieved. William did beautifully at his first day of school today.

It didn't start out so well, though.



















I like to chronicle all these Big Occasions, of course, so I thought I'd take William's picture with his backpack and lunchbox. And I had the bright idea of having him wear the backpack, like a big boy. Except, well, with all the stuff that I had to squeeze in the backpack, it was incredibly heavy....and well, William just about tipped over backward when I hung it from his shoulders. He was Not Amused. So that picture shows William fighting to stay upright and getting increasingly mad about it.

Here, he's happier in this shot:
















And finally, we loaded up the car and headed out to the church. William picked out a book to take to read in the car, and look how appropriate his choice turned out to be.



















He chose "Spot Goes to School." Pretty smart kid, eh?

Anyway, we arrived at the church a little early, amazingly enough. So I nervously made us wait in the car for a few minutes before I decided it would be okay to go on in. Miss Nora and Miss Theresa were there with one little boy who was even earlier than we were, and they warmly greeted both of us. William began to cry a little and clung to my legs for about five seconds, but then Miss Theresa led him off to look at some toys--toys we don't have at home--and that was it. He didn't even look back at me. I snapped a few photos for posterity, and I think this one should be titled, "Okay, Mom. You can go already."




















And I stayed to nervously chat with Miss Nora for a few minutes, making sure she understood that William needed Natty for his nap and that I had packed the nutritionally appropriate lunch. You know, I didn't want my child sent home from school the first day for not having the right lunch, of course. And I blathered on for a little while longer, just unsure if it was okay to leave and if William would be okay without me. But with Miss Nora's reassurance, I steeled myself. I signed the sign-in sheet with my name and cell phone number and walked out of the classroom.

I kept my cell phone with me the rest of the day, checking it every so often to make sure it was still working. But it stayed silent. Gradually I began to relax a bit. I finished up my bible study and my errands and headed back to the church around 2:20, again waiting nervously in the car for a few minutes beforehand. (I am such a dork.)

As I walked through the hallway, I caught sight of all the children's bags and empty lunchboxes, ready to go. I spotted William's. On top was a little report, noting everything he'd done all day. He'd eaten most of his lunch, the teachers wrote, took a nap, had three wet diapers, read a book about Zoey, colored a picture of the rain and watered the classroom plant. For some reason, I was teary-eyed while reading this sweet little report about my son's life when I wasn't with him. Until I saw the part about the classroom plant, that is. That just struck me as oddly hilarious. Then I sniffed again when I looked at the little half-sheet of paper with some blue scribbles on it. "Rain" was written at the top of the page in neat teacher handwriting, and "William" was printed at the bottom. I loved it. It was beautiful. My child did that! And he did it without me!

And you know what? I walked in the classroom door and joyously called out my son's name, and he looked up oh-so-briefly and continued playing! Apparently, there was much more to be done with the plastic pots and pans and bowls and plates in the toy kitchen. I walked over to him to kiss him and let him show me all the bowls and plates he was stacking up (he's very into stacking and sorting these days). The teachers told me about how he went right to sleep at naptime and didn't even want his binky (woohoo!) and how he loved it when they sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." And they were both so amused by how well he ate. That's my boy. It's when he doesn't eat, I told them, that it's time to worry. I got to meet the aforementioned classroom plant. Then we picked up his stuff, said "bye bye" to everyone else, and we both walked out to the car.

As soon as we got home, I hung the picture of "rain" on the refrigerator. And I gave my child a piece of cheese as a reward for being such a good boy all day long.

William's first day of school

William's first day of school is tomorrow!

Okay, it's just a church playschool, which is politically correct code for "Mother's Day Out," and it's just one day a week from 9 to 2:30. But still! He starts school tomorrow!

We attended the open house about two weeks ago, checked out the classroom, met his teacher and received our copy of the rules...er, the handbook. It looks like a great place, and William immediately took to all the toys. David met the executive director and told her the story of the time he and his little friend freaked everyone out in nursery school at that very same church by arranging their own after-school playdate without telling anyone's mom. David's mom showed up to pick up her son, and he wasn't there, and I'm reasonably sure that she completely freaked out because that is precisely what I would have done, except that I probably would have also passed out from a massive bout of hyperventilating. Obviously everything turned out okay, and David had just tagged along with his friend's carpool and was safely at his home. So I think Diane went to the little friend's house and retrieved her son. (Man, I wonder if Diane ever wondered if it would be ridiculous to ground a four year old?)

But anyway, back to William. I've been working on all the stuff that I have to send with him ever since the open house. And it was quite a list, surprisingly. I have to send...deep breath...a bag with a crib sheet, a blanket, a change of clothes, four diapers, a container of wipes, a lovey (which for William, is Natty, the soft green frog toy that I bought in Natchez last summer), a binky for naptime, two sippy cups and a lunch. The playschool has pretty rigid rules about what parents must send in their children's lunchbox, too. I have to provide a dairy, two veggies and/or fruits, a protein and a bread product. Dessert is optional, naturally. I have to make sure the lunchbox has coldpacks to keep everything cool until lunchtime, too. And everything has to be labeled. So I acquired a new crib sheet, blanket, lunchbox and a back-up lovey to send to school with my son. (William does not realize that the Natty he will have at school is not the original Natty, but I couldn't take the chance of sending the original to school and having him get lost. Natty is very important to our night-night routine, and no way was I going to jeopardize that.) I hunched over the list provided in the handbook and packed the bag this evening. Then I put as much of the lunch together as I could. Now I just need to finish packing the lunchbox tomorrow morning with all the cold stuff and then...and this is the tricky part...remember to put it all in the car with us before we leave for school.

For the record, William's first official school lunch will include the following: blueberry Yobaby yogurt, whole-wheat Ritz crackers, a cup of diced peaches and a small container of cooked carrots. And milk.

I was telling William in Target on Friday that in just a few years, we'll be shopping for real school supplies. We'll be shopping for a big sturdy backpack. We'll be stocking up on crayons, colored pencils, erasers, glue sticks, wide-ruled notebooks and No. 2 pencils. We'll be talking about homework and worksheets and sitting quietly and raising your hand in class. But I don't like to think too much about that, because that makes me sort of weepy. I'm not ready to think about my little guy being ready for real school. I'm already sort of skittish about sending him off to playschool tomorrow! But I think he'll have a good time. It'll be a good experience for him, and it'll give me time to attend my study group at church and run a few errands afterward. That's what I'm telling myself.

But I'm glad we're living in an era of cellphones. So they can call me if William has trouble at school. Not that I expect him to, but y'all know me: I'm a worrier. Best to be prepared for the worst.

To parent or not to parent

I've been reading this collection of essays titled "Maybe Baby" this week. The essays are divided into three sections: the writers who chose to not have children, those who have or are wavering, and those who decided to take the plunge. It's been a good read so far.

The essays written by the parents are the ones that resonate the most with me now, but perhaps not for the most obvious reason. Some of the writers chose to have children but worried a lot about it. Would they be good parents, would they make mistakes, would they love their children? I knew that I wanted to have William, absolutely, but I can't lie and say that I didn't worry about what kind of a parent I'd be to him. I figured that I'd have to learn along the way, which is more or less what I've been doing for the past sixteen months. But as I've said before, I wasn't one of those women who had their future children's names picked out for decades and were just waiting on the prospective father to come along. I wasn't convinced that I'd be the perfect instinctive mama. So it was very nice to read the essays by people who really considered why they wanted to become parents--and ultimately why they did take the leap of faith. And why they have never regretted it.

But I was also struck by some of the essays in the "no, thanks" category. I would never ever presume that everyone wants to have children or should have them. Nor would I ever tell someone without children that they'll change their mind someday. Everyone has to make their own path, certainly. And I really do believe that some people aren't destined to be parents because they just don't want to BE parents. All they need to say, honestly, is "I just didn't want to have children," and I'm perfectly okay with that. They should be, too. One writer wrote that she didn't want to pass along her genes because her family has a history of mental illness that she didn't want to pass along. That's fine, too.

But at least two of the writers used a version of this as one of their reasons: "I don't like ugly primary-colored plastic toys, and I don't want them spread all over my living room for years on end." I feel like that's just disingenuous. You don't want to be a mother or father. Just say it. Don't blame Fisher Price for your decision. That would be like someone saying "Well, I would get married, but you know, I hate bridesmaid dresses/altar flowers/monogrammed napkins so I'm just not going to bother." Besides, you don't have to sacrifice your living room to shape sorters/plastic blocks/toys that moo or quack. You can corral them in your child's room if you truly hate the sight of them. Or stack them in neat wooden baskets that coordinate with the furniture(which is what we've tried to do in our new living room). Or you can choose to only purchase handcrafted wooden toys. Or, when he's old enough, you can teach your child to clean up the toys and put them away.

OR you know what? You can say "I love my child. My child loves this toy. I'm not going to get all worked over the fact that it's in my living room. He's eventually going to outgrow it anyway, and it will get shunted off to the basement or Goodwill. Is it really worth expending major angst over the fact that it's occasionally lying in front of the coffee table?" It's okay to not want to have children. It's okay to want to have them. But I think people should be honest about those reasons, at least to themselves.

And yeah, I sometimes grumble when I pick up the little rubbery animals from the Noah's Ark toy for the four millionth time. Sure, it'd be nice to have a beautifully appointed house that looks like a Pottery Barn catalogue at all times. But I think that it's more than fair for what I get back in return: a giggly little boy who adores me and his daddy and who can't get enough of us. Who smells like Johnson & Johnson baby wash after his bath. Who pulls up his shirt from his round little belly and points to his bellybutton and crows "Bel bo!" Who nestles his head up against me and says, "Ma ma ma."

But maybe society does expect people to have a long list of reasons for why they chose to remain childless (and I've only been referring to people for whom it's a deliberate choice). Maybe people do feel pressured to defend a list of reasons, like a dissertation. I hope I've never producted that reaction in anyone. I hope I never turn into a mommy evangelist. But my gosh, I'm glad that I have my son. I'm glad glad glad.

(Even if he does insist on throwing food off his high chair tray.)

William's second big boy haircut

As you may have noticed from recent photos, William was starting to look a little shaggy. Even though I realize this would mean he'd be in style these days, I don't think it's important for 16-month-old babies to be particularly stylish. So I took William to the nearby SuperCuts to get his second official Big Boy Haircut yesterday. Sadly, I have to report that it didn't go nearly as well as his first Big Boy Haircut at the beauty salon on the base in Twentynine Palms. No Miss Nancy. No horsey to sit on.

I should have known that it wasn't going to be a very good experience when we showed up at the salon and no one talked to us for about five minutes. We just stood there awkwardly, waiting for the lone haircutter to notice us. William squirmed, so I put him down and he enthusiastically banged on the glass door, which I'm sure endeared us even more to the SuperCuts folks. Finally, the woman said she'd be "right with you" and then took William's name. He ran back and forth between the aisles of beauty products, but I was vigilant about making sure he didn't touch anything or knock anything over. Luckily we had Cheerios and some board books with us, although as it turned out, running and banging on the glass were more fun.

Fast forward through the 20-odd minutes that he waited (a LONG time with a toddler in tow) to the actual haircut. The lady asked if William wanted to sit on my lap or the booster, and I figured, he'd be fine on the booster. Wrong-o. For some reason, the booster seat freaked William right out, and he turned and buried his face in my legs and clung to my knees and began sobbing. I tried to perch him on top of the booster, but oh no no no. I gave up and sat him on my lap. And William still was suspicious. After the first few violent head wags and some tears, I dug a dusty binky out from the depths of my first and asked him not to tell his daddy that I was going to let him have it for a little while. He settled down a little. The trimming began.

The woman didn't even bother to give either of us a little cape, so we wound up covered in hair. A few times William began to be upset, and would snuggle up against my chest. I'd convince him to sit back up. A couple of times, he even began to smile, and I started to relax, thinking, "Okay, this is going to be okay." He offered me his binky and giggled when he managed to pop it into my mouth (yuck).

But then, the haircutter made a critical strategic error. She didn't remember that small children can get freaked out by the smallest thing if it makes loud noises and they don't know what it does. She came after him with the electric clippers. Tears. Sobbing. Tears and sobbing. Clinging. Much clinging. She tried to show him that the clippers don't hurt, and she held them up to her arm, then mine. Didn't work. William was not placated. She gave up and finished snipping around the edges with the scissors. I asked her to even out a few pieces. Done. Thank God. There has been way too much drama associated with hair in our family.

We got home and William, wrung out from the drama, was ready for his nap an hour ahead of schedule. I brushed off as much of the little curlicues of damp blonde hair as I could and gently lowered him into his crib.

Later, I took a few photos. It's not the best haircut, but I guess it could have been a lot worse. And William is still pretty cute. And doesn't he look grown up?


















And here is William reading one of his new Richard Scarry books:



















And here's a funny shot:

Labor Day

Aaron and Diane took William and me to the Franklin Jazz Festival for Labor Day. We staked out a place on the steps of the old courthouse where there was a nice breeze and hung out to listen to the live jazz music.
















The other good thing about our little spot was there was plenty of room for William to run around. And dance. And run around. And dance.




















And we all did our fair share of chasing William around--and helping him go up and down the courthouse stairs.




































William had a pretty good time, we all agreed. He didn't have to sit in his stroller the whole time (anathema for the busy toddler), and he liked the music. He clapped every time the rest of the audience clapped, too. And sometimes he was just moved by the music and clapped anyway.



















And after the whole thing was over, we came home and ate barbecue with David and Mark. Not a bad ending for a nice day!