Even though she has a history of undercooking (by 10 weeks) Jenn got in on the act and Grammie, Papa and I added a touch of dark humor to Grace’s award-winning costume, at my office Halloween party.
Lincoln also pulled in a win as the world’s grouchiest lobster at the local pet supply store with Grace as an accessory.
This delicious lobster weighed in today and has reached record size! We don’t know if there is enough butter in the house to enjoy her but we will try.
I got to see Grace this morning (China time) via video Skype. She looks at least 10 days bigger and is grabbing stuff and pulling hair as one might expect from her mother’s daughter. I cannot wait to get home, see my girls and have a hamburger. Happy 7 months, Gracie!
While I have to go to the Great Wall of China or the Emporer’s Summer Palace to distract myself from missing Grace (and her mom, of course), she only needs some molded plastic, flashing lights and beeping noises to forget about me. Of course her distractions come from China too.
As if watching Grace scream, sleep and make messes wasn’t enough, we’ve managed to make more work for ourselves, each in our own special ways…
Mama’s Candy
Jenn got herself some press yesterday with a big shout-out on the seasonal wedding post for Daily Candy. She scrambled to get her website online in time (about a month earlier than planned) and it looks great! The publicity and the website are almost enough to make her forget she misses me.
Papa’s got a brand new blog
I keep getting requests for more writing. Since not everything I write is appropriate for Grace’s eyes, much less her baby book, I made a new space for myself. “F” as in “Frank”, “F” as in “Frank” is a long title for my sure-to-be-long-winded posts about things that interest me. As soon as Jenn finds some time in her newly-packed schedule for me, we will design something nice for it.
Pictured here with her manager/fight promoter, Grace “Babyface” Topliff may look innocent but now that she is rising in the weight classes, she is the favorite in every crib match on her schedule.
Pterodactyl impersonations and periodic Bronx cheers have now given way to unapologetic screams of entertainment when Grace lays in her Rainforest environment. I am told by her weekday care coordinator (aka Mommy) that the same screams can be heard from her normal lair (aka the crib). We are hoping that she can maintain this level of enthusiasm through the period that she learns some words so we can figure out what she finds so exciting. Maybe she is excited that she is the first explorer ever to spot a normally savanna-dwelling giraffe (lower left) living in a rainforest.
IMG_1031.JPG, originally uploaded by Lincoln Topliff.
Fortunately, we have a roof over our heads, pizza delivered regularly (enough) and no end to television to numb the fear caused by the banks and Republicans elections, so the shirt is still funny to us.
Blog posts have been slow coming as we have been very wrapped up in life lately. In the past two weeks, we put on my 20-year high school reunion, Jenn ramped up her new website (launching in a few days) in anticipation of coverage in a soon-to-be-released Daily Candy wedding season feature, she started several new/big work projects at once and I have been preparing for a 10-day work trip to Beijing (starting next week). All the while we have been entertaining and entertained by a happy, fast-growing, solid-food-eating, raspberry-blowing little Grace.
I have also been working on a new blog where I can write about things that occupy my mind but don’t belong in what I have started thinking of as – and may become – Grace’s baby book. Be on the lookout for more daily iPhone pictures too (right, Mommy?!) as I will need all the fixes I can get while I am 6,000 miles away and so far west, they call it the far East.
After professing a total lack of skill in this area (on the basis that he lacked the skill 30-some years ago), Poppy was put to the ultimate test of eye/hand coordination. Granddaughters apparently are somehow easier or more interesting than his own children. After 10 minutes or so, he learned how to duck when she blew a prune/apple filled raspberry at him and made several passable imitations of a spoon-shaped train. Thankfully, we can now rest assured that Grace will not starve, should Nana ever step out to get a manicure or something.
It has been a looooong few days as Jenn and I organized and spent the weekend hosting my 20-year High School Reunion, so I have been a little lax in my posting. While Mommy was putting on a party and Daddy was getting older, Grace got to spend a couple days with Grammie with a special visit from cousins Ryan, Evan and Jack. It is clear that Grace loves them as much as they love her.
