Mmmmelon

Why go for the little pieces when there's a perfectly good big hunk?

A walk in the park

It won't be long before she doesn't need Dad. 

Thank you OLCC.....

.... for keeping the Brewfest a kid-friendly venue!

Not just for spitwads anymore.

Remember when you were a kid and you scraped your arm or knee, your first instinct was to spit on it, rub it in a bit to "wash" it off? It seemed to make it feel better, right?  Turns out you were smarter than you realized. (True nerds click here)

Tag!

There's something I was supposed to remember.... what was it? Oh yeah, feed Erin!

Cookie Disaster

Those of you who know Ms. A know she likes to bake.  Especially during times of business and stress.  Being without kitchen for nearly 2 months now has seriously put a cramp in her style, and the urge to bake became nearly overwhelming.  Time to experiment... 

...with chocolate chip cookies in the electric skillet...

... with disappointing yet delicious results.  Ms. A sincerely hopes the kitchen is completed soon.

I'm Chalking It Up To Parenthood

Tonight, on our nightly walk, we passed by a house party with a really good cover band playing in the backyard. Ms. A, my formerly butt-rockin' wife, sings along with a song being played as we pass by:

Ms. A: "Mental wounds still screeeea-ming...! Driving me insaaane...! I'm going off the rails on a gravy traiii-n!!!"

Brian: (Alarmed pause)

Brian: "Did... did you just... um, hmm... You know it's 'crazy train', right?"

Ms. A: "Yeah... of course, I... I... my brain and my mouth just didn't connect."

Young love

Life at the Condo thoughtfully summarized a bacon-themed barbeque held at Casa De McMiller yesterday... so here is another story of yesterday, told from a shorter perspective. 

It all started with a couple of drinks.

Then, sensing the time was right, Henry made his move.

Erin responded by checking out Henry's biceps. He gave Erin two tickets to the gun show.

But then the day turned to evening.  It came time for Henry to go.  Erin voicefully protested. 

.... to be continued

Movie Night! Reading a Book / Eating the Camera

Here we are reading Erin's current favorite book, Galoshes.  She learned how to turn the pages herself about two weeks ago.  Normally we read it about three times in a row.  However, Erin loves the camera.

Movie Night! Playing Catch

Erin is a huge fan of playing catch with this giant plastic ball we have.

Please note the plastic bins we're currently using for dirty dishes.  Classy.

OMG!

Observed on Hawthorne:

Two girls, perhaps late teens/early 20s, see a third, squeal loudly, run with wildly waving, outstretched arms.

"EEEEEEEEEEE MICHEEEEEELLEEEEEE!"

.... animated hugging, giggling, more high pitched noises....

as we walk past:

"... and I'm sober alot these days, y'know, 'cause I, like, work most days... so I'm, like, sober a lot."

Good to know. 

Booty Pinch!

9 months old!

Erin Beatrix is 9 months old today. She weighs 21 lbs (70th percentile), is 28 inches high (80th percentile) and her head circumference is 46.5 cm (97th percentile, although the nurse re-measured because at first she thought she measured too big... this is the smaller value).

She has many friends.  Here is her friend Anneke. Erin is quite sociable and loves to be with lots of people.  

Erin loves water.  Swimming always brings laughs, and if she were in university now she would be majoring in splashing. She also loves to be outside.  If she's ever in a bad mood her smiles return as soon as she steps outside.

Erin eats food very well on her own, her favorites being peaches, avocado, mozzarella cheese and oatmeal. She is always willing to try whatever is on our plate.  She drinks fairly well from a cup but most of it goes down her shirt. 

Erin loves cats.  Here is her cat Dixie.  Since she has learned to crawl the cats are not so sure about her.  They will be more concerned, no doubt, when she gets faster at crawling.  She can pull herself to her feet and command her body in any direction she chooses.  She babbles constantly, sings, has many favorite books that she reads along with, and gives wonderful hugs and kisses.  She continues to amaze us every day. 

Tilden Campout

We spent the 4th of July in Tilden Park, Berkeley, CA with Brian's side of the family, celebrating his pop's birthday. With delicious food, excellent planning, wonderful weather, and great company the weekend was a big success. There was also a small working farm, train rides, lake hikes, campfire songs, and poison oak. This concluded the traveling portion of the McMiller Summer 2008, but visitors certainly welcome. 

Code Brown

So Ms. A is upstairs putting Erin to bed.  I'm downstairs cleaning up, baby monitor at my belt.  I hear some vague unrest from Erin, starting quietly and then getting louder.  Then, silence and a little rustling.  

Ms. A, the funniest and most beautiful woman in the universe, bends close to the monitor's base station, and, simply for her own amusement, in her best broadcaster's voice, calmly and pleasantly intones the following: "Code Brown, we have a Code Brown."

Much in the same voice you might hear someone say over the P.A. at a department store: "Women's Wear, call holding on Line One.  Women's Wear, Line One."

Early Bird Special

The McMiller family went out to dinner last night. Yes, this is such an infrequent occurrence it deserves a blog post. We went to the recently opened Portland extension of the Deschutes Brewery. "Night" must be taken figuratively as we ate at 4:45 pm.

The decor was quite stumptown - cement floor, exposed hewn beams and wood-carved arches. Being a warm afternoon the bay doors were open permitting a lovely breeze to aerate the building. Service was exceptional - our waitress was speedy, attentive, and adaptable to having a 9 month old there. Obviously we weren't the only ones there for the early shift - many other families were enjoying a meal. We split an elk burger with sweet potato fries and spicy mac'n cheese with house salad. Erin nearly ate her weight in sweet potato fries, noodles, and a few pieces of meat. The noise levels and distractions (TVs, other patrons) were plentiful but at an appropriate level to keep a minimally-napped baby entertained for 45 min. Everyone enjoyed the meal and McMiller, Inc. officially recommends this place. Did I mention the beer was delicious too?

Kitchen Update

We're currently scheduled to finish mid-August. Walls were painted last week by the wonderfully handsome Matt Dec. Cabinets started going in today.

From the dining room:


From the back porch:


Booyeah.

More Annapolis & D.C

Erin, Uncle Heath, Grammy at the National Gallery.

Erin, Grandpa, Uncle Garreth splish splashing in the pool.

McMiller family paying their *ahem* respect to G.W.

...when you're pipetting late at night

Who says science can't be groovin' too? I wanna work in a lab like that!

(thanks to Aunt D for pointing this out.)

June Wedding Take 3 by Erin

Last weekend we went to Annapolis, MD. to see my first-cousin-once-removed Sean get married. I got to stay up reeeeaaaly late and fly all night to get there. Here he is with his new wife Sarah. Don't they look happy?
I didn't go to the wedding this time. I got to spend all night with a sitter. At first we had a great time. Then I missed Mom and Dad. I sure let the sitter know I missed them. I almost made her cry. But finally Mom and Dad came back.