The Claverie's Visit 1235D!

My sister Courtney, brother-in-law Tracey, and Godson-Nephew (God-Neph) Donovan came to visit in early August. We had a wonderful visit with the two youngest cousins getting familiar with one another... Here DJ eyes his older cousin's shirt...."Hmmm, so He's the Cookie Monster!"
Tracey is a true baseball fanatic so we took in a Nationals game with our cousin Ervin and his children. Here you see Dono and Benjamin chatting it up.
Dono was asking for Maddie from day 1 of their visit..he finally got the chance to cuddle with his one girl cousin! My little one enjoyed the baseball excitement...

Maddie finally got her chance to hold the baby... Having my sister around was a great help, as usual, I invited them all to put down roots in DC...California is so far!
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Donovan is thinking, "I'm going to bridge this height gap sooner or later!"

On the last full day of their trip, we went to the National Arboreteum and enjoyed a "private tour" of the bonsai and herb gardens...



A good time was had by all. Unfortunately, Barry's work schedule prevented him from "playing" most days...

DJ's First Swim - Sunday August 13, 2006

As soon as my friend and collegue Jessica told me that her complex has a pool - I asked for an invitation. DJ seemed to enjoy bath-time so much, I knew he would enjoy the pool as well. Jessica (a charter member of the Doyle Johnson,II fan club) was happy to oblige us. Not only was Jess a wonderful hostess, she was also a great photographer as well...enjoy the photos!

The Book Club

On August 5th my dear friend Esther hosted the second meeting of our "official" book club...it's just the kind of book club that I would join: we meet once every 5-6 months; eat fabulous food lovingly prepared by Esther - who's house rules state that noone brings food and noone helps! - served on exquisite china, drinking from the best crystal goblets; we catch up on the lives of all participants, single, married, divorced, remarried...everyone has something to share, a new perspective to ponder; then we discuss the book (Hunger, by Rod Stanford started us out!). It is a wonderful gathering of people and ideas and I love the experience...Barry worked through the last meeting but DJ joined us and has been officially accepted as our youngest member.

Here is the hostess, properly adorned with her festive B-Day hat in celebration of Camille's 29th (again?!) birthday.
Here Ms. Roxane holds court...regaling us all with another of her stories!

Rod and John provided the male insights that we girls are always looking for. So wonderful to have well read brothers who are able to share their thoughts and feelings on a wide variety of subjects...

Master Doyle worked hard getting his "Auntie Es's" attention...

Group photos with the birthday girl! DJ got a little tired toward the end...book discussions can be taxing to a tiny tike!

Rice Cereal

At our last visit, our doctor said it was time to start DJ on rice cereal. I'll admit, my first thought was, "But, he's just a baby!" Yes, I know he will be a whole 7 months on the 12 of August but because of his early arrival, he looks and behaves like a baby who will be 4 months. Thus, my timetable for certain milestones, like his dietary progression, was to this "adjusted" age. I wondered how he would take to cereal. I shouldn't have wondered at all. He has always had his mothers appetite and we've noticed him watching as we ate lately - he was ready to try out the eating thing himself! Granted, he got as much food on his face, under his multiple chins, on me, on his legs, on the table... you get the picture! ... as he did in his mouth!






Now, part of the issue for the mess during these first few attempts may well have been less DJ's inexperience in eating and more our venue for the eating activity. I wasn't expecting to go beyond nursing and the bottle for a while so I didn't have a high chair ready. Being inexperienced, it didn't occur to me to do what Ericca, the seasoned nanny did, use the bouncy!



I have since adopted this method as well! Soon enough we'll invest in a high chair, but for now, this works.