Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with Craig and Christy Brown, Heather and Joel Maiarono, and Casey Rackaway, some of our favorite people in Hays, who we know from our church, St. Michael's Episcopal. The three little boys there--Michael (3), Craig (4), and Timothy (2)--kept Sophie enthralled throughout the afternoon, and remarkably, she took her nap during the meal, so Carl and I were able to eat in peace.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a good group shot, but since this blog is about all things Sophie all the time, here she is in her very cute Thanksgiving cap!


Hope you feasted as long and well as we did! Cheers.

Snowy Small Town Idles

There's much I miss living in Hays, America: sushi, family, and a professional theatre community, to name a few, but every now and then a day comes along that makes living in a cultural desert just fine by me. The day before Thanksgiving it snowed for the first time this year. I wrapped Sophie up in layer upon layer of baby sweaters, blankets, and hats, and we strolled over to the local bakery just four blocks from our house. When Carl joined us, we walked up Main Street to an antique store that had just acquired an extensive book collection. We spent a good hour or two browsing the books, finding first editions of C.S. Lewis (Carl) and Robert Penn Warren (Catherine), then ate lunch at the soda shop across the street. After a quick stop at the public library, we all fell into a big bundle on the bed and took a long nap.

Sophie's first snow.

At Augustine's Bakery.

I have to admit, however, one glitch in our perfect day: upon returning home and looking up the two books on the internet, we discovered that our local antique store had grossly overpriced them! Luckily, we hadn't bought them yet, wanting to mull over the prospect of spending our weekly grocery money on books!

Same Dog, New Tricks

Progress Report:

Sitting? Check.

Teething? Check.

Object holding? Check.

Castle Rock

Thousands of years ago, the Kansas prairie was under water; minnows instead of flies, starfish instead of grasshoppers. And while underwater, these chalky castles formed, now limestone bluffs that loom over the grassland like medieval fortresses. Castle Rock is about an hour drive from Hays, West down I-70 and then fifteen miles down rocky, dirt roads that seem to go nowhere until suddenly you hit this majestic rock formation amid the silence.

Happy Halloween!

The Year of the Baby

2007 was a big year for babies in my world. Not only was Sophie born on April 19, but so many of my friends and family also had little ones. There's Sophie's cousin Lulu in Georgia; Eli in neighboring Alabama; Leo recently uprooted from Brooklyn and planted in lovely Chapel Hill; Barnaby and Auggie struttin' their stuff in Queens; two Harpers!--one in Atlanta another in Manhattan (New York not Kansas, and yes, only in Kansas does that distinction need to be made). Sophie hasn't even met most of these kids yet, but it's nice to know she has instant friends all up and down the East Coast.

There's an extra special place in my heart for the latest addition to the list: Felix Day Hatton was born in Buffalo, New York on October 21, son of David and Erin, brother to Rex and Leo. I'm claiming him as my nephew though there are no blood ties so to speak. Erin and I have been best friends since eighth grade and attended pre-school together before that. If dear Felix Day possesses even half of his Mommy's strength, discipline, and beauty and his Daddy's kind nature and smarts, then he is a blessed baby indeed!

We love you Felix Day and can't wait to meet you!

To Eli and Barnaby

Thanks for the tips, fellas!