The top of the tree

The paterfamilias of the Zalinger family dropped in and held the very bottom rung of the family tree. And we were honoured.

she can relate to that

Schuyler's time in Vermont was a whirlwind of family and a great leap forward in that she figured out that she can break fragile items nearby with deliberate hand movements.

A bunch of Aunts.

Kate showing off her multi-tasking skills.

The real "Tummy Time".

Cameron and Maeve

Big Men, Little Cars

While on tour in Vermont, Schuyler accepted an invitation to take in some of the local culture in the form of the Shriner's parade. This parade seemed to serve several purposes: raise awareness of the good work the Shriners do for sick kids; celebrate the VT vs. NH high school football match (in which Uncle Chris played as a senior); and careen past small children in hopped up little cars to the delight and endangerment of the crowd. Cousin Quinn added "I thought you said there would be candy?"

cousins

there's nothing like spending a long weekend with six children under the age of four to make you rethink expanding your family, however, when you see the next rung in the generational ladder all playing (and crying) together, it makes you feel that ineffable and transcendent connection to family old and new and awakens you to the sunny side of kinship.
Here are the cousins at work, play and otherwise being.

hair and eyes

in tonight's post we look into the future. Using cutting edge technology, we simulate what it would look like if Schuyler suddenly grew hair. We also have a reference post to capture her eye colour for posterity so we can compare it later.

gimme

Schuyler has really figured out that she has hands and that they are hers and that she can control them (well, somewhat). That must be so cool to slowly realise you can control this body. Today though she figured out that she can make other objects move with these cool hands of hers. Specifically, she can reach for the toy she wants. She was beating the tar out of the little toy with relentless attention. I wonder if this will be on her college entrance exam.

lake morey baby

Well, Schuyler's going to have a hard time readjusting to Bermuda and the constant neglect she receives from her parents there. Here at Lake Morey, she's been learning to dance with Gramps and is getting plenty of playtime with Nan. She's a lucky little girl.

tallwood

There's not much to say here. Schuyler likes Gramps. Gramps likes Schuyler.

de plane! de plane!

We have become those people. The people with the baby. The people who other passengers pray won't sit next to them. And when we did, our neighbours subtly shook their heads, plugged themselves into iPods and prayed again for small mercies.

I tried to reach out to these people and told them that she will probably be good but to feel free to curse at me the way i always wanted to do when someone's baby was screaming through the whole flight. Nobody took me up on it. I think they were now more afraid of me that Schuyler's impending lung power.

Fortunately, Schuyler was nonplussed by the airborne experience and scarcely offered anything above a "coo". So now we are in Vermont for Schuyler's first trip to the green mountain state to meet her maternal grandparents. We arrived at Annie and Flip's house and then Schuyler unleashed all the pent up lung power she'd be restraining from both flights in an almighty screaming session for a half hour or so despite Neville Chamberlain sized attempts at appeasement on our part. She calmed and played with a new toy Flip and Annie got her ("it has a light show!") for the rest of the evening. We blame the jet lag. An hour time difference is seven in dog years. And she is about the size of a small dog. Anyway, she slept through the night and we're all ready for vacation.

glee club

Richard Simmons has nothing on Schuyler's natural aerobic tendencies. Here she is rocking out. Another thing, Mr. Simmons and she has in common is a need for protective undergarments.