toothless grins

look ma! no teeth (yet)!

...in a few short days, my little cadence will reach her 7 month birthday...i really can't believe how fast time is flying by us...and despite all the drooling and knawing, she's still got that charming toothless grin...but she's already looking more and more like a little girl and not so much the little baby whom i could cradle so easily in my arms...

...i used to know what it's like to be the apple of my daddy's eye, and now i know how it feels to be on the other side...now i know what it meant to my dad, those days that i spent by his side in the hospital as his life slipped away...now i understand a little bit the overwhelming power of emotion he must have felt in the last moments as i held him and he breathed his last...it is a potent force, this love for a tiny little someone who will always be a part of me...

...it's the latter half of april, and this is a time of the year when i tend to reflect on life and death all that's in between...in a couple weeks, it'll have been 3 years since my dad passed away, an event that has left indellible marks of sorrow and tenderness on my heart...so much has happened in those 3 years...i had no idea then that i would come to know a joy that is so powerfully beautiful as is my little cadence joy...oh, how i wish my dad could see us now...and whether you think me silly or not, i have to say that i think he does see us, and that even he is not immune to the joy that emmanates from this little being, my little cadence joy...

lost post

...i wrote a really long post last night about the bob dylan show and some other stuff going on, and, well, blogger deleted it...then i wrote a really short post about how blogger deleted that post and how i'm too tired and busy to rewrite it, and, well, blogger deleted it again...you'd think i would've learned my lesson by now and copied anything i'd typed into Word before i tried to publish the post and relinquished it into the blackhole that is blogger...so the really short story is that i wish i'd gone to see bill mallonee instead of bob dylan and that next time i'll keep my money and listen to bob at home on my stereo instead of paying an arm and a leg to hear him barely carry a melody...those were nice seats though...box seats are nice...anyways, teddy and dave's friend harmesh is visiting from the UK and since i wasn't allowed to take a camera in the the bob dylan show, here's a picture of the boys...harmesh helped dave babysit cadence while we were at the show...i'd heard lots of great things about him so it was nice to meet him in person finally...

...tonight teddy is playing at depaul univ's talent show at the harold washington library w/ his coworker and his coworker's roommate who's a student there...they're playing uncle tupelo's 'new madrid' and wilco's 'theologians' and the allman bros' 'sweet melissa'...i love the first two songs, so it ought to be fun...plus i get to take cadence, so she'll get to see her daddy perform on stage for the first time...now let's see if this damn thing will post...

i've got some good news and i've got some bad news...

...the good news is that i am fulfilling one of my dreams tonight to see bob dylan in concert @ the auditorium theater downtown…i got me and teddy the best seats in the house (i think we have our own private box according to the seating chart), and so i finally get to see the man up close and personal…sort of…auditorium theatre ain’t uncommon ground or even schubas for that matter intimacy-wise, but it sure beats the allstate arena…

the bad news is that i won’t be able to see bill mallonee in concert tonight at schubas…goodness gracious, i think it’s been almost an entire year since i’ve seen him live! and he probably won’t be coming back around thisaways until summertime…*sigh*…we won’t even get to swing by the venue to say hi like we did in november when we had dinner with him @ the abbey pub…i think i’m gonna have to go out to the cornfields this summer when he plays cornerstone so cadence can see him live too…if i’d known back in february that bill was playing tonight, i would’ve bought dylan tickets for one of the other 5 nights that he’s playing in chicago…oh well…

and then of course, there's REAL bad news like the pope dying and peter jennings having lung cancer plus all the other stuff out there in the world...

but then there's REAL good news too, like all my friends who are looking forward to becoming mommies in the coming year and...well...other stuff out there in the world...

finally...SPRING!!!

just chillin'

...well, it looks like spring has finally hit the windy city...teddy & his bro dave were cooped up in the apt for HOURS brewing their latest batch of beer, but it was absolutely gorgeous outside, so i took cadence for a nice long stroll...we broke in the lightweight stroller which she is finally old enough for...it is SO much easier to carry this thingamajig down the stairs than her heavy-duty all-wheel drive stroller...

...the birds were chirping, the sun was shining, the breeze was inviting…it was just one of those days when you feel absolutely grand and glad that you have a little one to share it with, to whom everything is new…i pointed out the crocuses and daffodils and scilla that were blooming in our neighborhood and the robin hopping across the lawn and the koi swimming in their urban pond…cadence didn’t seem all that interested, but she sure did look cute in her sunglasses and nifty littly cap...

…all our walks usually end up at laurie’s planet of sound, and today was no different…i have to say, this little stroller is SO much easier to maneuver around those cramped aisles than her SUV stroller…people were actually able to walk around us this time…

...i don’t actually buy as much music as i used to…back in the days of my weekly browses through reckless records in wicker park, i thought nothing of walking out of the store with half a dozen new albums…now, most of my music money is going into buying new baby clothes and paying the bills and rent so as to afford the luxury of a mostly stay-at-home dad (that would be teddy, of course)…oh well…there’s always emusic.com and the new legal napster…and wluw…today, i settled on 3 new cds--the decemberists' picaresque, which i had to have for their track called the mariner's revenge (i am a sucker for songs that include the accordian, mandolin AND tuba), an older album by the mountain goats (one of the bands i plan on completing my collection of during my lifetime), and a best of album by the blind boys of alabama (just because)...

easter buddies

the littlest cousins--perry, mackenzie & cadence

...cadence had a very special first easter...we went to church out in oak park w/ nanette and john & jon & beth & elizabeth & uncle dave, and then us danyluks headed out to barrington hills for easter dinner with the family...easter is a big deal for teddy's family, with lots of great food and gifts for the kiddies and easter eggs and chocolate and cookies and the whole shabang...this easter was extra special because there were two new babies added to the family, our little cadence and teddy's cousin connie's new baby boy perry, who is a couple months younger than cadence...most of teddy's extended family hadn't seen cadence since new years or christmas, and she's changed so much since then, so they were pleasantly surprised at how playful she had become...

...she was great the whole time, although she did make her mama wear the lovely mushroom soup grandma had made for the first course...that was totally my fault...i gots short arms, and it's hard to eat when you've got on your lap a baby like cadence who likes grabbing anything and everything within reach of her...she's already becoming so much more independent, and spent a good deal of time playing on the floor with her new toys...

my mom & my brother joined us too, so it was great having everybody together...i just know my dad was looking down on us and beaming with joy...man, he must totally love my little cadence...i'm sure she reminds him of me! i have to say, as she gets older and her personality continues to blossom, i see a brightness and sparkle in her disposition that's irresistible...maybe it's because i'm her mama, but i choose to believe that all those who come in contact with her can see it too...teddy & i are so, so, SO blessed...