Everybody Do the Penguin Dance

Today Nana, Charlie, Ruth and I (Dave) headed to the Shedd to check out the new children's area. It is amazing. To give you a sense of how good it is, we ran into our friends Brian and Robert who also have a three year old, Jack, and a newborn, Hank. They were there for their fourth visit since it opened this spring. The highlight for Charlie was riding the ice slide in the penguin costume. As you can see, it was not the highlight for Ruth. She liked some of the fish and enjoyed touching a starfish, but she needs a few more months before she can really appreciate the aquarium. She did, however, enjoy parts of the sea lion, whale and dolphin show. You can see her watching intently as Nana and Charlie are amazed by, I think, a dolphin jumping high into the air. I suspect Ruth's favorite part of the day, however, was nabbing a bag full of cherries from the guy next to us at the show. Fortunately, he did not see to notice and we were able to replace them and run before having to fess up to Ruth's cherry caper.

Splish, Splash, Dance

Grandpa Bob sent these dancing and singing stuffed animals for Easter. Both kids love them. But Ruth is nuts about the duck and loves to dance with it:

Hockey Men

For $25, your kid can join the Tommy Hawk Kids Club. Not only does Tommy send you a card on your birthday, he also invites you (and your mommy, and your mommy's friends) to really awesome free events. The other weekend Charlie, Ruth and I suited up in our Blackhawks gear and met Karen at the Hawks' practice facility in Bensonville to watch a practice skate. How cool is that.

My Ruthie

My little baby bunny, dressed up for church in pink gingham and ruffles.

70 and Sunny at the Lincoln Park Zoo!

I played hookey earlier this week -- it was 70 and sunny, and Nana was speeding down to St. Louis to see Auntie Sadie, who went into labor the day before (more to follow on that happy news!) Charlie, Ruthie and I spent the morning at the Lincoln Park Zoo with our good friends Tommy and GiGi and Miss Kathy -- we had a great time. This was Baby's first legitimate trip to the zoo -- she is finally old enough to walk around and look at the animals (and toddle up to kindly old ladies and shout "hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!") Everyone had a great time, in no small part due to Miss Kathy's awesome treat horde (that girl is always prepared!)

Bunny House + Chocolate Frosting = Happy Little Boy

The other day, as I was loading my shopping cart with Easter candy (it has been a stressful few months...) a Bunny Hutch somehow found its way into my cart. What a sucker I am. You might think that someone has been feeling a little guilty for being gone so much. Anyway, this impulse buy was a big hit. Charlie had a great time decorating the Bunnie Hutch, which looked nothing like the picture on the box.

Welcome Home From Marshall...

My darling little baby girl has a bit of a temper. I had heard that her demeanor had not exactly improved during the week and a half that I was in Texas... This is what I came home to. In fairness to Ruth, she can also be a giggly little angel (as evidenced by the final shot). She has grown so much in the past few weeks. Before I left for Texas (puking in a cab, but that's another story...) Ruthie had just started to walk in earnest, and she was pretty wobbly. She is now racing around the house. Oh, and she has a lot more hair. I love that baby girl.

Skating with T. Hawk

Mom is on trial, which means lots of hockey time and horseplay at the Donoghue house. Saturday Charlie & I skated at the United Center with Tommy Hawk (thanks to Nana's gracious offer to care for Ruth who is not quite old enough to appreciate ice skating or mascots, although she would have loved the pretzels). Tommy did his signature head bite on Charlie twice, which was the highlight of the day until Charlie had a flaming puck painted on his cheek. The other highlight for Charlie was some time in the sin bin, which he is fascinated with. He also made the pennant he is holding. A great day all around. Stay tuned for some shots of today's dinner plate hockey game, with Ruth stealing drinks and keeping the stats.

Tommy Hawk

Charlie turned three this weekend, and none of us can believe it. Charlie, daddy, mommy, and Grandpa Bob celebrated Charlie's third birthday with a trip to the UC to see the Hawks defeat the Kings. Midway through the second period, Charlie had a very special guest. Tommy Hawk -- the Hawks' impish, lovable mascot -- came bounding up the stairs into the nosebleeds to wish Charlie a happy birthday. Before the game, we had extensive discussions about Tommy's visit and the scope of Tommy's antics. Charlie was okay with Tommy "biting" daddy's head, but thought it prudent for Tommy to refrain from biting Charlie unless he was wearing his hockey helmet for safety.

Snow Day

Last weekend we bundled up and went to the park, where we slid down the slide, rolled down the hill, and enjoyed being together.

Big Bath

With Mom traveling for a few weeks, Ruth got to leave the infant tub and venture into the bathtub. She took to it like a fish, and Charlie and Ruth love splashing each other.

Don't Worry Momma, Everything is Fine

Laura's plane left for a two week business trip about an hour ago. These sorts of things would never happen with Mom on duty. Ruth and I are already having clothing incidents and pushing her eating boundaries. We all miss you Mom and cannot wait to have you home.

Happy 2009

Auntie Sadie and Uncle Dave rang in the new year with us in Chicago. Charlie had a great time playing hockey with Uncle Dave, and he enjoyed lots of hugs from Auntie Sadie. (And cookies from Nana's cookie jar).

Mommy's Little Panther Paw

Charlie joined the Panther Paws hockey team this winter. Charlie loves hockey, and he loves hockey practice. About two weeks ago he learned how to ice skate without a chair. He had been reluctant to give up the chair because he can skate much faster with it than without it. His coach threw down the gauntlet: "Charlie, how you gonna hold a hockey stick with that chair?" That fixed it. No more chair.

The strip of masking tape on his helmet cracks me up. Dave tells me that all helmet sports for little kids involve masking tape, to enable coaches to shout instructions without having to distinguish one little kid from the next.