HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KNUCKLE SHANNON!

Connor just loves birthdays. Any excuse to sing "Happy Birthday" or to eat birthday cake (or, in this case, birthday cupcakes) and he's all over it. Anyway, Shannon-- enjoy the last year of your life-- I mean, of your twenties.

Football

Sorry we've really sucked at updating this thing lately. Connor doesn't pose for pictures well these days- he either gives us the fake "CHEESE" or he just tries to grab the camera. We'll have to do better!

First football story: Connor watched an episode of Dora where she plays soccer, and now he's all about it. We have walked across the street to the soccer fields a couple of times so he could watch people play- he was thrilled, cheering and laughing. It is fun. Of course, he won't kick his soccer ball the normal way. He has to bounce it first and kick it off the bounce (kind of like he does with the baseball). And let's just say he's not open to coaching yet.

Second football story: Connor's favorite book right now is his NFL counting book (one football! two trophies! three Super Bowl heroes!), I guess because it's football season. During week one when he cheered at the TV he said, "Yay heroes!" (I know- we need to have a serious talk about his priorities. :)) Also in the book are a bunch of helmets, and he and Chip always go over which helmet is for which team. Yesterday we got a subscription offer for SI in the mail, and it came with a bunch of stickers with NFL helmets on them, and Connor sat down and said, "There's the Broncos! And the Cowboys! And the Rams!" I didn't realize the amount of time he and Daddy had been putting into this book lately, so I was pretty impressed. I sure have those boys well trained! And I sure am glad I bought Connor that book. . .

Potty Progress

I tried to take a picture of Connor in his tightie-whities, but I ended up with pictures like this and a crotch shot that I decided was not appropriate for publication. We are halfway through week three of potty training, and he's doing pretty well. On the plus side, he can usually hold his water until we lead him to the toilet. On the down side, he doesn't say, "I have to pee," or anything that convenient, so we're still putting him on there a lot. And if for some reason we wait too long (especially after lunch) we end up with a buttload of poop to clean up. We have seen marked improvement in the last 10 days or so, and I'm pretty happy about it. Considering he's got until March to get potty trained, I think we're on a pretty good schedule!

Bats left, throws right

Now that it's finally under 100 degrees, Connor is obsessed with going outside to play with "the bats and the balls." He still isn't interested in hitting the ball off the tee we bought him. He hits it off the ground, like he's playing golf. If you throw it at him, he'll try to hit it off the bounce, but mostly lets it come to rest on the ground before hitting it. To him that still counts as hitting a pitched ball, I think. When we play with his "inside" bat (pictured) he will hit the ball in the air, since it's bigger than the bats we play with outside.

I'm so glad it's under 100 degrees on a regular basis now! Outside, I've missed you!

And for anyone who cares, I quit taking all the medicine the doctor gave me for my morning sickness, etc., and now I'm feeling much better!

The Big Easy

Even though everybody's probably sick of New Orleans news by now, I just feel the need to say something about it.

Is this really America we're talking about here? Not Rwanda, not Bosnia, but America? It seems so abstract when we hear stories about people's lives being ripped from them in those places. But New Orleans? It's just down the road!

I'm really glad Steph and I took a nice trip there this May, because it'll be a long time before we'll be able to go again. Such a fun city, and so unique. Other than Memphis and Nashville, it's the city I know best and visit most often. For the foreseeable future, I guess we'll have to find another "adult playground." Nothing can quite replace the Big Easy, though.

If you haven't heard it yet, you should listen to this interview with Mayor Nagin here. The man tells it straight. I don't know that I've ever heard a politician speak with so much candor. I'd vote for him in a second.