getting my summer outdoor music festival groove on...

this weekend is the first ever intonation music festival, curated by the lovely and tarty folks of pitchfork media, at union park west of the loop here in chicago...the lineup ranges from local faves such as the m's to national tourists like the wrens and the decemberists...there will also be DJ appearances by the lovely elvish rob lowe--not the actor, the frontman for 90 day men--the bonny prince himself a.k.a. will oldham, and james of yo la tengo...you can consider this the poor folk's lollapalooza ($15/day for intonation vs $60/day for lollapalooza) or the too-snobby-for-lollapalooza-palooza...whatever you wanna call it, i gots my tickets for both days! cadence and i will be soloing saturday's fest since ted's working, but it will be a family affair on sunday...kinda like what we did for the folk and roots festival last weekend, except in addition to the 90 degree weather, add an extra 60% in humidity...this week, though, i'm much more prepared--i bought a waterproof picnic blanket that's as big as our bed, and i'm bringing our earplugs so we can get closer to the stage this time...i will get there early both days and set up camp in the choicest shady spot i can find...then we can just take a nap until the fun starts...

i'm looking forward to seeing the m's, a.c. newman (of the new pornographers), rob lowe, magnolia electric company, andrew bird, the wrens, the decemberists and the yo la tengo dude...our friends (satellite booking)derek and linda becker will also be there, so it'll be nice to see them...hopefully we'll run into some other folks, but if not, we'll have a good time...the children's museum is supposed to have a booth there too so maybe we'll see some little kiddies...cadence would dig that for sure...

it takes a village...or at least an uncle...

...here’s an interesting observation i made recently…cadence’s favorite person in the whole wide world besides her mommy and daddy (i’m ASSUMING we’re her top peeps) must be her uncle dave, ted’s oldest brother…whenever he comes over and she sees him, she squeals and giggles and wiggles her little body in the most adorable way…she doesn’t react this way to anybody else except for my friend john’s kitty katmandu…so dave gets to come over for a few hours, bask in our daughter’s earnest and innocent adoration, make her giggle and flap her arms the way only delighted babies do, and then he gets to go home… no dirty diapers, no tears, no whining, no chewed up nipples, no sleep lost…just the warm and fuzzy good stuff…

don’t get me wrong, i’m not jealous or anything…well, maybe just a little…actually, i’m glad cadence has someone she feels safe and at home with because one of these days, ted and i are going out on a date without her…not because we don’t like having her around, but because we’ll probably wanna catch a rock ‘n’ roll show or a movie and maybe even smoke a few cigs…that’s when having uncle dave around will pay off…if it takes a village to raise a child, well, i guess having uncle dave living a block away is a start; it may not be an entire village but it's at least a cul-de-sac…

cheerios and hand claps

...what a busy weekend...cadence and i went to the old town school of folk music's folk and roots festival on saturday AND sunday...it was just the two of us on saturday but we had a blast taking in all the music and kids and babies and families...it was pretty darn sunny, and even though i slathered on the sunscreen, cadence's legs got red...we were both tired as the evening progressed, but we made it till the headlining act, which was alejandro escovedo, whom i haven't seen perform live in like 3 years...the entire field, which is pretty huge, was covered with bodies by the time alejandro went on...it was a great show, and i'm glad we went even though it's hard juggling a baby when you're alone...fortunately, i've figured out a couple of different carries on my ellaroo pretty good, so i can carry cadence on my back now, rucksack style, and wearing her was so much easier than trying to maneuver a stroller through the crowd...on sunday ted and uncle dave joined us at the festival...we also ran into chris kralik, the bassist for watchers, ted's former band, and some of the boys from lying in states...chris is always so sweet when he sees cadence...anywho, the music was great again on sunday, but it was still sunny and HOT...it was easier though with two other adults to help out with cadence...

...so a couple of recent milestones for cadence...#1--she can eat cheerios now! those were a life saver during the festival, as she thinks it's quite amusing to chomp on those things...thanks to my friend and former coworker allison who gave cadence her first cheerio two weeks ago at a wedding for one of my colleagues...it took a couple of weeks, but cadence finally learned how to chew and swallow those little rings of oats! it's also made it easier to feed her other solids, like the green beans that ted's mom pureed for cadence over a month ago that have been sitting in the freezer in little cubes...not that i'm hurrying to get the little bugger on solids...she's still mostly on breastmilk, but i have to say that now that her top front teeth are coming in, it's getting more and more painful for me to nurse...i'm hoping i'll get used to it...

milestone #2--she can stand on her own!!! just yesterday, at the folk & roots festival, we were sitting on the dried out lawn...cadence was balancing herself on uncle dave's knee when she decided she wanted to clap, so she let go of the knee and started clapping while she was still standing!! it only lasted a few seconds, but she did it several times, and she had this look on her face like she knew she was moving on to new territory...it was cute how she'd stick her little butt out or would flap her little arms to maintain balance on her own two feet..good god, she's not even 10 months yet...i wonder how long it will be before she's actually taking steps? she may be walking by the time we get to seattle in september to visit uncle charles and auntie ali!

*sigh*...

backyards and old friends

...last night, i went to a reunion of old friends i knew back at my old church, the evanston vineyard...we met in eric and candy fehrenbacher's back yard...the reunion was in honor of a visit from lizel and her daughter evie, who used to live around these parts but moved a couple years ago to guam, where liz is working as a nurse...it was so good to see old faces and some new ones, esp. all the new kids! i really have to get cadence into a playgroup...she really loves seeing other little kids (as long as her mommy and daddy aren't holding them)!

strawberry suicide

("strawberry suicide" photo by my cousin ike)

... this photo was taken by my cousin ike...ain't it awesome?!! ike's the one who lives in austin,tx and who introduced me to indie music and digital photography...go see his flickr photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ikerhee/