May, Thus Far

We'll be on our way to New York in the morning, and since that might overshadow any of the exciting things we've done so far this month, we thought we'd share some of our charming family moments with you before we head off for the big city.



Apparently you aren't allowed to take photos inside the local art museum. I found out after I took this shot. Eight security guards wrestled Ira and me to the ground and grabbed our camera. Not really. They just asked me not to take any more pictures.



You can take pictures in the Country Music Hall of Fame so we did. We went to see a guy named Conductor Jack sing songs by Hank Williams and Jimmy Rodgers about trains. But Ira decided he liked the fountain in the lobby better so we spent a lot of time out there.

Making Wishes at the Country Music Hall of Fame from Jesse Morros on Vimeo.

Ira loved throwing pennies into the fountain, although, I don't think he understood the concept of making wishes so we basically wasted a bunch of money and didn't get any wishes out of it.





Ira helped me wrap presents for Mother's Day, but he didn't do a very good job. I had to go back and redo everything myself. He also insisted on wrapping gifts without clothes on. He's kind of crazy like that.



I did convince him to put some clothes on when we gave Kirsten her gifts. He even helped her unwrap them.



We went to the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro and a giant stuffed frog tried to eat Ira.



There were a few different rock tables at the center. Ira loves rocks . . .



. . . almost as much as he loves trains.



Ira also got to ride a donkey at a fundraiser for his school. Ira did not really love the donkey.



Apparently the fundraiser involved wearing gigantic t-shirts.



It also involved copious amounts of bouncing.

Well, that's enough about donkeys and illegal art museum photographs, I've got some packing to do. We'll post some pictures of NYC as soon as we get back or at least as soon as we get around to it.

This April . . .

. . . the Holleys came to town . . .



. . . and we all went to the park . . .



. . . and played on the playground . . .



. . . and went downtown . . .





. . . and took a carriage ride.



For Easter, we dyed some eggs . . .



. . . and then found some eggs in the backyard.



One day we had a picnic.



We spent a lot of time in the backyard . . .



. . . and even frolicked in the buff.



And then we went to a baseball game.





April was pretty great.

This morning we took Ira to the Belcourt Theatre to see Farmer Jason, our local children's entertainment celebrity. Ira's default emotional state at these sort of events is a blend of fear and fascination, and this was no different. Eventually, though he came out of his shell and started to dance.



Farmer Jason on stage.



Ira and Mommy clap during "The Doggy Dance."



Farmer Jason, Ira, and Mommy. By the end of the show (as you can see from his face) Ira was a little worn out. For some reason, though, Ira didn't nap. He caught a second wind and played rough and tumble all afternoon. Which brings us to this video we took at dinner (at 4:30 in the afternoon). We noticed Ira starting to fall asleep, and, award winning parents that we are, we grabbed the camera rather than scooping him up and carrying him off to bed.



Ira falls asleep while eating from Jesse Morros on Vimeo.

Maybe we should quit listening to NPR during dinner.

Charleston, SC

We took a short trip to Charleston last weekend to see my mom and all of our family there. It was a bit a of a whirlwind, but it's always great to be in Charleston and with Mom and Poppops and everyone else. Ira was super cute playing with his great-aunts Beth and Lisa, great-uncle Tommy, Pat, and especially Penny the little wiener dog.



Ira and Aunt Beth had a tickle party.



Apparently the bubble bath made Ira a little tipsy.



Ira and Poppops.



Uncle Tommy taught Ira that it's funny to lick things. Thanks, Uncle Tommy.



Ira and Uncle Tommy by the lake. Ira demanded to sit by the water all weekend long.



Ira and Big G (my mom). You can see little Penny, just behind Ira.



One of the highlights of the weekend, the South Carolina Aquarium.



Big G and Ira check out a giant snake.



Ira and Mommy and some fish.



Shark attack!



Outside of the aquarium. That's the Cooper River Bridge in the background.



Family picture: Big G, Uncle Tommy, Aunt Lisa, Aunt Beth, Ira, Me (Jesse), Poppops, Penny (the dog), and Pat



Kirsten and Pat traded places for a second family picture.


Don't forget: there's a diaper load of pictures at Picasa, including more aquarium and Charleston pics, naked cowboy pics, and last snow pics.

Videos

Two posts tonight. After the videos there's a post with pictures so don't overlook 'em.



Tantrum! from Jesse Morros on Vimeo.

Ira was channeling Sean Penn and Kanye West for a minute. I guess he didn't want his picture taken.


Ira reading a book from Jesse Morros on Vimeo.

The little baby in the book Ira's looking at wears a red cowboy hat on one page, which is why Ira is wearing his cowboy hat. I don't know why Ira's hat is sideways.


Making faces from Jesse Morros on Vimeo.

In this video, Kirsten makes weird faces at Ira.


Ira painting from Jesse Morros on Vimeo.

This is a long video of Ira painting with a rock. There's a little back story to this in the post below. The video is really long, but if you stick with you'll see just how much Ira is talking.


Ira playing with trains from Jesse Morros on Vimeo.

We went to the Adventure Science Center where they have a train table. Ira loves trains and was in heaven. These are squeals of delight you're hearing.

Don't forget to keep scrolling down for pictures.

February Highlights

Here's a quick highlight reel of our February thus far:



Happy Valentine's Day



Ira delivering card at his school Valentine's party




Checking out the view from the top of the Adventure Science Center.





Science!



Helping Mommy cook dinner



Riffs



We've been trying to teach Ira to smile for pictures. This is the face he makes, and I love it.



Ira and I went on a walk and he came back with a rock. I tried to get him to paint the rock, but he decided to paint with the rock. He made a mess.






Post-rock painting bath time.


I've been adding pictures to Picasa, even when I haven't been blogging. You can check those out here.