Mrs Sherpa

As a parent, you absorb strange vocabulary: bumbo, mobi, pack'n'play, butt cream, and what not. A recent addition is the sherpani. It's a backpack for carrying a child. We spent a few hours at REI testing the various brands (Deuter was the most luxurious, Kelty was the most affordable, Sherpani was the lightest). And finally we went to Edwards Park today and lugged Vivian around on our backs for a test drive. She was mildly amused and Jo and I were quite pleased with the results. Watch out, Pinnacle Trail - here we come.

Swimming

Have I mentioned that Vivian likes the pool? With cousins and Grandma and Dadu to entertain her - what's not to like. Here's a shot of Grandma teaching Vivian to swim. Vivian got her arms and legs moving in an somewhat crawl/freestyle type of stroke. And she's very excited about it.



And here she is chilling with Dadu.

Saturday Morning Meditation

We joined the Shahs and Shaku's Saturday Morning Walk for a stroll around Town Lake. Later, everyone met at Whole Foods for breakfast. Jagruti took a great picture of Vivian meditating by the little creek. Aummm...

Shoe Fetish

Them Clark kids - with Kai it's feet - he drools (literally) at the prospect of Ms. Soto (his kindergarten teacher) in flip flops. And Vivian slips on any shoe she can get a hold of. Even my smelly soccer cleats. Sometimes a couple of different shoes on the same foot at the same time. Here she is clomping around in my dress shoes. She's already stepped into Daddy's shoes.

NYT

I read the NYT on my Mac. My dad does the paper version - for a couple of hours on the dining table before and after breakfast. Now we have a third enthusiast in the family. The Sunday Times magazine is her favorite, but she'll make do with any section in a crunch.

Watermelons

Nothing says summer like watermelons by the pool.

Still Sucking After 150 Years

Vivian - in a few years, it is possible that you won't be able to comprehend this without historical context. But not probable.

July 1 is the 150th anniversary of Darwin getting up the courage to publicly present evolution to the world.

Switching gears. It isn't unusual to hear the US and the Middle East mentioned together. About saving the free and the brave from those religious fanatics. Improving their lot with democracy. Or, as a lesson how not to fuck up big time. So it is refreshing to see a story where we were on the same side.

Back to Darwin. This, from a Reuters new story from London today:

"His theories are still rejected by some,
notably creationists in the United States,
and are less than welcome in the Middle East."

Full disclosure - yes Vivian - being part Indian, you are ethnically related to the largest collection of superstitious people in the whole world.