Rock Out

Truman's spring break coincided with South by Southwest, Austin's annual film, music, and interactive festival. Thousands of visitors descend on the city, and it's usually a lot of fun. This year Paul's band, Militant Babies, had a day show at a local bar. We decided to take Truman, which seemed like a good idea at first. Once we got downtown, though, I started to panic as the music got louder and the crowds grew larger. Truman wore his Junior headphones, which attracted a lot of attention. Many people wanted to take his picture, and some went ahead and snapped him without asking. I said yes to only two people: Summer, a Dallas photographer, sent me this photo. Truman summoned the perfect rock sneer for the occasion.

In the end, the band sounded great, Truman (and his ears) survived, and despite my worst fears, I wasn't arrested for being the worst mom on the planet for taking her baby to a loud rock show AND feeding him a bottle while sitting on the curb. And Truman enjoyed checking out some bicycles chained to a nearby sign, but we're still not sure he even recognized his dad on stage. Oh well.

The Walker, Part II

Truman must have some big Spring Break plans that we don't know about. It seems as if daycare closed for the break on Friday, and then he started practicing his walking in earnest. He's been quite industrious over the last two days. Maybe he thinks we're going to Sea World? Or the beach? Or Mexico? At this rate, he'll be toting his own roll-along suitcase onto the plane to New Jersey. I hope he remembers to pack his bottles.

The Walker

Truman took his first steps a few weeks ago, so we decided to help things along by giving him this Tonka 3-in-1 truck (push, pull, ride). He's a super-fast crawler, though, so he still prefers to get around on his hands and knees. Maybe he'll be walking by the end of the month when we head up to NJ? People tell us, "Be careful what you wish for...."

Central Park

Grandmommy and Granddad came to town to celebrate Paul's birthday on Feb. 20. We took them to Central Market, where recently we discovered Truman could be entertained with a free balloon AND a post-lunch trip to Central Park, the outdoor playground. Here, Truman explores the movable blocks on the side of the playscape.


Crawling out of the tunnel....



....and toward the slide.


Hanging out with Granddad.


Reading the Sunday papers.



Eating a mid-morning snack. And not particularly pleased with all the paparazzi lurking around.

(A big thank you to Grandmommy for remembering her camera!)

Valentine

Valentine's Day came early to our house this year. Truman gave us this art-ifact on Friday, which he made at daycare. Is it just us, or do his feet look especially big?



Later Friday afternoon, a small package came through the mail slot. Our friend and former neighbor, Sukey, dropped off this adorable "tattoo" shirt and a wonderful card (couldn't get a photo to do it justice). Even better, we ran into her later that day on a walk with our good friend Wilson. As much as we love our current house, it sure did make us miss our old 'hood and neighbors.


Truman's first Valentine's Day got off to a great start—two cards, each with an Abe Lincoln! Thanks, Grand Judy and Pop George and Great Aunt Ellen and Uncle Bill! (Those Lehmann girls, they sure think alike. Nana trained them well!)


Truman's day got even better because he had his first taste of refined sugar, which he seemed to like. A lot. We let him have half a cookie on Friday and the rest on Saturday. (We're living on the edge, aren't we?) No action shots, sadly, because we were too busy supervising. Who knew sprinkles could be a choking hazard?



Speaking of great gifts, here's T modeling one of his V-Day presents from the Groupps. Doesn't he look "street" in his graffiti-inspired jacket?



And here he is, showing off his Valentine from cousin Phoebe. (We don't always open the mail in the bathroom. Just sometimes.)


And finally, Truman smiles at a great photo of Phoebe, which came with the card. Thanks, Groupps! Can't wait to see you in March.

Hangin' with the Big Boys

Truman and Paul joined friends John and Beaty and their sons, Tiernan and Fletcher, for their weekly Saturday boys-only outing. This week they went to the observation deck (i.e., the field above) at the Austin airport to watch the planes land. Truman was a little more interested in the older boys: Fletcher is about to turn two, and Tiernan is about 18 months old.



John and Tiernan watch a plane land as Truman (see sliver of head, above right) watches from afar.



A surprise gift arrived the same day from Grand Judy and Pop George! New shoes! Here's Truman breaking them in. (Note our rather primitive child-proofing of the kitchen drawers in the background.)



And, after a bit of a struggle, modeling one shoe. Aren't they spiffy?

Retro Chic

Check out Truman's new cardigan!* It's a nod to the Eighties with its colorful space invaders icon repeated Andy Warhol-style. For some inexplicable reason, it was on clearance at Old Navy. I snapped it up immediately, and then at the register, they took an extra 50% off! I was bummed to discover it JUST fit, so I'm hoping to go back to snag a larger size. Much to Paul's chagrin.



A close-up for all you video game lovers out there. (At least we THINK it's the space invaders icon. At daycare, Truman's teachers thought they were skulls.)


*I know it's not the best photo of T, but we had to catch him early before he went to daycare and put the sweater through its paces on the playground.