384 months

Somehow that doesn't sound as old as 32 years. I didn't make a little sign and pose next to it in a cute outfit. Sorry. Sooo, milestones. All my teeth are in, and my own, no cavities ever. That's pretty good. I'm rolling over pretty well now thanks to my recent graduation from a round of physical therapy for my back (2 protruding discs that I'm reeaally hoping not to have surgery on). I think my biggest accomplishment, though, is sleeping though the night on my own; much of the credit for that goes to Charlie and Ellie. I'll have to post more on that later.

My birthday was a really fun day. One of my requests was that someone take some pictures of me with the kids. I hardly have any. I am always behind the camera, so I am very present for documenting their childhood, just not so they might recognize it. My sister Mindy was in town to visit and is a much better photographer than I am anyway. So she followed us around as our personal photographer. Here is a sampling of her work (sorry to post so many pictures).

We started the day visiting the farmers' market.
With so much to see, Ellie was in and out of the new double stroller (an early birthday present). It's one of those with the seat in the front and the step on the back for Ellie to stand on and ride, so it's perfect for her to hop in and out of.
 
Notice the reflection in Ellie's sunglasses? That's the kind of detail Mindy catches.

We spotted a stand selling peanuts and peanut butter. Ellie has a book of poems with one called "Peanut Peg and Peanut Pete" who sell peanuts on a hot street, so we had to sample them.
Mindy thought we looked rather covert, so titled this one "stealing peanuts." One of our first mother-daughter capers.
 
If we let Ellie eat only peanuts all day every day, she would. Thankfully no allergies, although she has a couple cousins with them. They don't seem to be allergic to Ellie, though.
 
One of Ellie's favorite sights is always Charlie, who spent some good quality time with Grandpa (while Daddy checked out some veggies for our pizza toppings that night).

But Charlie got pretty tired in all that heat, so didn't last too long before needing a nap.

 
We all enjoyed some of the sweeter fare from the market.
And Ellie enjoyed the view from Daddy's shoulders
 
It was easy to follow her bright little shirt perched up there around the market.

Definitely the highlight was playing in the fountain.





Ready to dive in. 

 
 
And Charlie slept through the whole thing.

After that we headed off for a delicious brunch, then home for some rest and pizza prep. We had a big family pizza party catered by Brady (which is something everyone should experience at least once), followed by strawberry shortcake.

I think the day was a big success.

 
Charlie seemed happier to have it over and have a good night's sleep under his belt. I guess we have different definitions of "party" right now. But, then, I'm not the one teething now, either.