Anne of Fridays: The look-alike game

Left: Anne, age 6 mo (pictured in stroller under dangling zebra... but her Pretty Girl Smile is surprisingly hard to capture)
Right:  Pap Seago, age 6 mo (pictured in strange sailor suit)

Is there a little similarity there??  Ohhh... I think there is!

Six Month Anne-iversary: Sitting Pretty

The stats:  I weigh 17.5 lbs, according to the scale at my Great Grandma's house.  No official weight yet, since back-to-school physicals have made my 6 month checkup a few weeks behind schedule.  But, things are looking up.  My grandma's have started saying I look "less chunky."  I'm not going to hold my breath.

Best friends: Don't get me wrong, I love my dad, mom, and brother.  I light up whenever I see them.  But much to my dad's chagrin, I am also fascinated with Jack, the dog.  I want to watch his every movement, even if that means arching my back like a crazy girl or wiggling out of my dad's arms to get a better look at him.  I also want to grab his fur, maybe even shove some of it into my mouth.  He looks so very interesting.  And tasty.

Enemies:  Hmmm.... none.  Well, maybe teething.

Favorite place:  Hmmm... everywhere?  I'm really pretty happy most of the time.

Things I like: Sitting up!  It's awesome!  Now I can see everything so much better, and there are so many more toys to play with.  I can even sit up in the bathtub now, which means I can splash with wild abandon.  It's awesome. 

Things I don't like: I'm not too crazy about eating in my high chair.  It's not like I cry or protest or anything--no need to be such a bother--I just keep my mounth wide open and let all the food drool out.  For a kid who shoves everything into her mouth, mom and dad marvel that I don't much care to put FOOD in there.

Major accomplishments:  I sit up, eat lots of different types of mashed-up food, made a 15 hour road trip to South Carolina without really crying in the car at all.  I have two teeth (both on bottom).  I have also effectively grown out of my baby car seat (I did a seat switch with my brother!), my Bumbo seat (chunky legs get stuck!), Baby Bjorn (we upgraded to a Hefty Baby model that shifts weight to mom's hips), and the baby tub.  Mom and dad can't wait to put some of that stuff on eBay!

Quotation Mark Mondays: I feel the need for speed.

"Dad, I am built for speed."
- Mark Hanley, prior to his first race

Mark competed in his first race last week, a 100-meter-dash in Geneva. It took him more than three minutes to run a relatively short distance. But there's actually a pretty good reason.
Prior to the race, Matt tried to explain to Mark how it might work. Matt gave him the basics: you'll all line up, the man will say go and then you run all the way to the finish line.
Matt added in that he might have to run in a certain lane and he should be careful to stay in the lane so he doesn't crash into other runners. Mark had some questions about this lane issue (mainly, 'What is a lane?') and then seemed ready to run.
Mark was super excited for the race. He lined up in the second row and stared down at the finish line.
Matt saw the start of the race (pictured below) where Mark took off with his super speed and a look of grim determination. There was about 40 kids in the race, all heading to a big red arch, that covered about half the finish line. Matt lost track of Mark near the end but he seemed to be doing pretty well. Matt headed to the finish line, but Mark was nowhere to be found. There were dozens of kids and Matt searched everywhere. Matt started to feel that panic of a missing a child. Did he wander off? Was he hurt?
Nope, nope.
Mark wasn't lost.
He was still on the track, running.
Sort of.
Because the finish line arch didn't cover all the lanes, the organizers had placed cones in the other four lanes to funnel the kids toward the arch. So when Mark was about 87 meters through the race, he came up to the cone.
And then he stopped.
To be fair, his legs and arms kept moving, like a video game character that has hit a wall, but continues to run. Mark just ran in place, right in front of this cone.
Why? Well, he later explained that his dad told him to stay in his lane. But this cone was in his way. So he just stayed in his lane, awaiting further instruction. Once, Lynne and Matt found him, they pointed Mark to the finish line and he ran through.
He's a great kid.

Mark of Fridays: At the home of Benjamin Harrison

Well, Matt insisted that the family make an important stop on the way to South Carolina: at the home of Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the United States. A perfect place for kids. Here's Mark thinking about how lucky he is to have a dad with such great taste in pit stops.

Not every kid gets to visit Benjamin Harrison and Rutherford B. Hayes' house in one year!

Quotation Mark Monday: Little known Presidential facts

"Dad, did you know that William Henry Harrison couldn't smell? He didn't have a nose. He only had eyes and a tongue. He had to lick everything."

Quotation Mark Mondays: Requiem for the large Kentucky Orange Bears

“Dad, did you know there are no more orange bears? There are no more Kentucky Orange Bears. They all died. They got hurt and they all died. You can't see them any more. There are no more Kentucky Orange Bears and they are all gone. You can’t see them anymore because they all died.”

“Oh no!”

“They all died, dad. The Kentucky Orange Bears. The big ones. The big Kentucky Orange Bears are all gone but you can still see the medium Kentucky Orange Bears and the Little Kentucky Orange Bears. You can still see them all over the place, but mostly at zoos. Mostly at the Orange Zoo. There are medium sized Kentucky Orange Bears and there are small sized Kentucky Orange Bears at zoos now. They didn’t die. The large Kentucky Orange Bears all died. But you can see the other Kentucky Bears at the Orange Zoo. The Orange Zoo is closer than the Brookfield Zoo. It IS closer than the Brookfield Zoo. Closer to us. You can see the Kentucky Orange Bears there at the Orange Zoo – but only the medium sized Kentucky Orange Bears and the little Kentucky Orange Bears. The big Kentucky Orange Bears all have died.”

“Really?”

“Yep. They have Kentucky Orange Bears at the Orange Zoo. You go a little bit down 59. Fifty nine. You go a little bit down 59, you turn this way. It’s even closer than Brookfield. They have Kentucky Orange Bears there. There are orange giraffes. There are orange elephants. There are orange flamingos. There are no orange skinned kimodo dragons. There are orange skinned tigers and lions and beavers. And that’s all there is there. And there are orange parks there, too. There are five little orange parks. And you can feed Anne there. And they also have the Kentucky Orange Bears. But only the medium sized ones and the little ones. Because all big Kentucky Orange Bears died. And next will be purple, okay? Actually, those are bears, too. There are no moose.”

Anne of Fridays: Anne Loves Dad

Annie loves her dad.  She just lights up whenever he's around.

She'd be crazy not to.  He calls her Beautiful all the time.