Best Shot(s) Monday--The Easter Edition

Every Easter since Cadence was born (actually, since Ted and I have been together), we go to Ted's parents' house for Easter dinner. Cadence seems to have developed a little tradition of her own.

Here she is playing Grandma & Grandpa's piano on her very first Easter. Does she not look like a natural?

Here she is at last year's Easter dinner tickling the ivories again. A little more hair this year--enough to warrant a barrette (barely).

And here she is at this year's Easter dinner, getting ready to carry on her yearly Easter performance. This year, she has enough hair for PIGTAILS, not juste a barrette.

She's also able to climb onto the piano bench all by herself now. Not to mention, she looks HUGE compared to the previous two years.

Just take a look at those dangling legs! She looks like she's big enough for piano lessons (not gonna happen). Well, if she keeps practicing her little Schoenhut, maybe she'll have a big piano someday. But probably not one as big as the one at Grandma & Grandpas. Unless she plans on sleeping underneath it every night. Excuse the fragments please.

Well, being big enough to get on the piano bench by herself also means she doesn't have to stay on there helpless while her mama takes endless photos of her. Oh well.

Go see other folks' Best Shot Monday here.

48 hours of summer

...it's monday and you know what that means...here are a few of my favorite photos from the past week. the one above is from potbelly's in lincoln square. cadence and i are usually home carless on saturdays because ted works. i've decided to take more frequent advantage of the extensive public transportation options in our fair city with cadence, so we took 2 buses to lincoln square on saturday afternoon. we were originally going to get ice cream, but i was starving so we stopped into potbelly's and got some soup and shake instead. cadence didn't know what was in the cup, but once she took a sip, she declared, 'it's good!' i would have to most heartily agree.

...well, summer decided to stop by for a short visit this week, and it was in the mid-to-upper 70s on sunday. ted had planned an extensive list of chores that needed to be done in preparation for painting our living room, but i decided cadence and i REALLY needed to get outside.

...unfortunately, cadence's sandals from last year were too small and were pinching her poor feet, so we had to run out to the mall and buy another pair of sandals before going to the park. i was hoping she would pick out something a bit less, uhm, PINK, but that wasn't about to happen. we left the store with these sandals and a pair of pink and brown sneakers.

it's in the 70s again today, but i have to work. ted, on the other hand, is off to the North Park Village Nature Center with cadence today. they're meeting up w/ our friend amy and her sons rudden (cadence's beau) and 7-month old jack. i'm so totally jealous...

another monday, another photo...

...well, it looks like if it weren't for tracey's Best Shot Mondays, i wouldn't ever get around to posting anything any more. anyhoo, this one's one of my faves from the past week.

...winter seems like it can't make up its mind about chicago--'should i stay or should i go now?' seems to be the theme song lately. we had a couple warm days last week, which we took advantage of. then it was back down to the 30s. and maybe today it will get back into the 50s. you really have to check the weather forecast if you don't want to be caught freezing your ass off or sweating like a pig.

...i have to say that i'm really digging the fact that cadence's hair is long enough to put in ponytails pigtails. for the longest time, she resisted having anything done to her hair, even though she looked like she was going for a cousin itt look. now that she'll tolerate her hair being pulled back in a barette and ponytails pigtails, i think she realizes how much more comfortable it is to not have stray strands poking her in the eye all the time.

...now that she's not so bald any more, she's looking more like a kid and less and less like a baby or even a toddler. she amazes me all the time by her capacity to learn new things. she's like this big adorable sponge right now, and i feel like i'm short of breath trying to keep up with her...

best shot(s) monday--yay! warm weather!

...this is my pick for My Best Shot Monday for Picture This. as you can see, chicago was graced over the weekend with a respite from the bitter winter we've been having.

...luckily, ted took saturday off to extend his birthday celebration, so we got to enjoy the beautiful weather as a family. since we weren't expecting it to be so warm, we had originally planned saturday morning to take cadence to an indoor playroom near goose island, where we were going to go for lunch. fortunately, the playroom was closed for a private birthday party, so we were forced outdoors!

...we were near our old neighborhood on the wicker park/bucktown border, so we headed to walsh park on ashland just north of wabansia. the playlot is fully exposed to the sun, so even though it had rained cats and dogs the night before, everything was pretty dry, and we just had to watch out for the mud in the grassy areas.

...as you can see here, ted and i enjoyed being out in the warm weather as much as cadence did. it's been such a dreary winter here in the midwest that we really needed a break.

...i believe the last time i got to take photos of cadence at a park was during thanksgiving weekend, over 3 months ago. i think it's safe to say that we've all been suffering from major cabin fever around here. i hear we're gonna have a gorgeous couple of days and then it's back to the reality that is a chicago winter...

...oh, well. at least we got a little reminder of how lovely chicago can be when the weather isn't giving us a thrashing. hopefully, spring will choose to show up in MARCH, when it's supposed to, and not in MAY, as is typical in chicago...

best shot(s) monday

...the lovely tracey clarke over at Picture This posts her best/favorite photo of the week every monday, and her readers post links to their best shots of the week as well. grab your cameras and join in on the fun if you'd like.

...i took these photos at julius meinl coffeehouse on saturday after we picked up ted from work. they have really good coffee, but not as good as metropolis if you like a more robust flavor. still, it was a much needed coffeebreak for all of us. well, except for cadence. for her, it was a much needed GUGELHUPF break. their cakes and pastries are pretty much to die for.