21

oh, chica.
you're 21.

its old, yes. legal, yes.
but it cannot make you deny your mother when she says things like...

"its hat day"

(welcome to stroesslerland, hillary!)

or, "throw out those boots, they're heinous"

or, "here, shove this warm apple-y dessert in your face"

or, "every girl/lady/woman wants a little blue box"
(though, who's denying that??)

to be fair...at least you weren't the one in the tutu!

classic.

couch antics

the pink-striped couch is legendary in the chicago-based stroesslerland. its one of the things i'm always telling gigi i'm looking forward to --
"i can't wait to hang out on the pink-striped couch."
as ridiculous as it sounds, i'm completely serious. i love this couch.

we've fought over who gets to sleep there, thrown the delightfully countless pillows off in fits of glee or frustration, and cuddled up for many a viewing of The Grinch on christmas eve. its comfy, consistent; i can't get enough.

and now, neither can shua.
so long as he has his hansy and his fast car shoes, the couch will live on.

you may also want to note the serious lack of camera-shyness in this kid. as soon as he realizes i'm filming, you better believe he's ready to roll.

the road home

we just spent a long weekend in chicago celebrating chicapalooza.
(happy birthday, chica!
we had a blast palooza-ing you!)
there are pictures & stories coming soon,
but we had to post this first.

on our way home,
somewhere in northern indiana,
joshua made me laugh so hard i choked.
it made him laugh so hard he choked.

we started singing,
laughing and choking,
& out came the video camera.

the cuz meet seal

everyone's favorite babysitter

snack time

so, yeah, guys. he's pretty sweet.

oh, that giggle

decisions, decisions

there comes a time in every young man's life when he has to start making his own decisions.

particularly when his seal is no longer interesting and he just knows that there is something better in the backyard. parents remain welcome but apparently unnecessary.

minor league

sunday night, we checked out the new team in town, the Lake Erie Crushers. the park is brand new, beautiful, cheap and very little-man-friendly. shu's aunt mo, uncle spud and dzaidzi ("jaji," for you non-polish) joined us for the fun.


as is normally the case, shua mostly came for the food:

banana,
nachos,
hot dog.

and yes, i am nauseous just typing that.

the time had come

its simple. he needed a haircut.

the first attempt was only slightly less than traumatic. aunt maggie (or 'bagdhi,' if you're shua) came along with me to try and distract our antsy little man with books, toys, lollipop, etc. we tried it all, but he was not to be swayed.

i thanked the woman for not bringing her scissors close to my nutty kid's flailing head and we skedaddled. the sweet boy actually said "thank you" to the people as we walked out :) recovery time in the car was pretty quick with his baboo (pacifier) and makeshift blankies.


round two, immediately after nap, was only attempted because maggie and i now had the persuasive power of cousins on our side. miss m and the bean were happy to help distract shu. we had videos of doggies, a steering wheel attached to the chair and the same lollipop. just enough to get him to stop flailing.

God bless that woman. i wish i could remember her name...we'll see her again, though. in another 6-8 weeks.

the result:

lions and tigers and dinos

the cleveland zoo has a summer exhibit of robotic dinosaurs.
it has entertained and traumatized many, many of our family members over the last few years, so i wasn't sure what to expect out of the little man on his first trip through.

they aren't lifesize, but they are certainly big enough. their eyes blink, arms & legs move, mouths full of teeth or fake food open and close with loud roaring. not to mention, they have the dinos all hidden up into a hilly, tree-filled area surrounding a pond on the zoo's property.

its pretty sweet.

turns out, shu loved the "nigh-nos" so much we went back through a second time after getting to feed the seals cold, hard, creepy little fish. what a mother won't do...or touch.