home again, home again, jiggedy jig

I will spare you all the details of my whirlwind trip to Vegas. Suffice it to say, I had a perfectly lovely time. I was worried that my niece, Michelle, might be a bit reticent to hang with me. (She is eleven months old and we had not yet met.) However, when she arrived at my mother's house Saturday, I said, "Hi, Michelle. I'm your auntie Katharine." She kind of looked at me a bit intently for a moment, considering. Then, she reached for me, wrapped her tiny arms around my neck, put her head on my shoulder, and we were pals. She is pretty quiet, and beautiful, and eats more than any baby I have ever met. (Yet, she really is teeny. Her clothes are all for 6-9 months babies.)

Her brother, Jonathon, has had a grip on my heart since I first met him. He was seven weeks old then and we went and got his first library card and read Chicka Chicka ABC a gazillion times. Now he is 3-1/2 and we read Tacky the Penguin over and over. He was not a crocodile this weekend, rather, a pirate. On Saturday, he wore a bandana on his head, used an old noisemaker as a microphone, and announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen! I give you..." (dramatic pause included here) "... The Pirate Show!" He then danced about, singing, "The pirate show! The pirate show! The pirate show!" It's my new favorite song.

I could probably regale you all with thirty more stories like that, but I know they would be of little interest, so I will spare you. (I'll probably post a picture of my sweeties when I get my pictures back, though.)