Two milestones of sorts

Because I have to renew my State Department medical clearance and Owen needs his initial one, we had doctor's appointmenst Friday and today.
The significant news Friday was that he now weighs 10 pounds, 10 ounces.
I guess he's gaining some of the weight I'm losing, as I found out today I've lost 31.5 pounds post-baby.

There are times in life you need a camera phone

But I don't have one, so you'll have to use your imagination.
We took a trip to Trader Joe's -- my favorite grocery store -- this afternoon. I bought a bouquet of flowers, which isn't unusual. Laura wanted to hold the flowers when we got in the car. Still normal.
As I was putting the other things into the car, she started screaming something about a cockroach and to get the flowers away from her. So I did.
OK, so it was a sizable roach. But it was DEAD. And now it's in the parking lot of the Bailey's Crossroads Trader Joe's.
She should be happy I didn't save it to take a photo of later.

My babies

Great game (and it even involves math -- sort of)

Laura's friend Arielle gave her Rat-a-Tat Cat as a going-away present when we left Trinidad. It's all about having the cards with the lowest numbers in the end. Well, that and cats and rats in outrageous costumes on each card. Laura still is struggling a bit with the actual strategy of the game, but it's great fun.

Funny things movers do

The State Department's summer transfer season has arrived, and that means the parking lot of our apartment complex is full of moving trucks every day. Yesterday when I was back and forth between floors doing laundry, I saw some boxes being packed out of an apartment upstairs from us.
Everyone who moves a lot, regardless of whether they're in the Foreign Service, has stories to tell. Whoever's boxes those were will be able to tell about the time the movers packed their handbags and pool toys together. Yeah, those things just beg to go into the same box. I hope the pool toys were dry. And that the bike helmets and knick knacks in another box together made sense to someone.

I have no desire to be French, but ...

that might be why I liked this book.
I'll Never Be French (No Matter What I Do) was written by Mark Greenside. Unlike Peter Mayle or Frances Mayes or most of the other people who have written books about buying houses in France or Italy, he doesn't even want to visit, much less become a sort-of resident. And once he sort of decides to, he has to borrow money from his elderly mother. That in itself makes his story more legitimate to me.
A lot of the book focuses on the differences between the French and Americans. But even more interesting are the author's observations about the differences between the people we think of as French -- Parisians -- and the inhabitants of his village in Brittany.
My interpretation of the moral of the story: Frenchmen are every bit as diverse as Americans.

Foreign Service Youth Foundation art contest

At the end of April, Laura entered the Foreign Sevice Youth Foundation's annual art contest. I felt bad because I forgot to take a photo of her entry before I mailed it. But now everyone gets to see it because she won her age group, and there's a video of the winners on YouTube. You can see it here.

A couple of more photos of Owen

From Sunday (3 days old):

And yesterday (5 days old):