Item #2 in our artist showcase (click to embiggen) . This is a picture Ruby drew for me -- on the back it says TODADDDYFROMRUBY. It's a happy jaguar frolicking through the flowers under a clear summer sky, and I have it hanging at my desk at work. When there is no French Vanilla creamer left in the break room and I am forced to use powdered creamer, I close my eyes, count to 10, and imagine myself jumping through the flowers with the happy jaguar.
Charles E. Fromage
Here's a picture from our latest Chuck E. Cheese outing. Click to embiggen.
Snow (Hey Oh)
Thursday we had a "snow day" here in Cary, North Carolina. Our snow days are a lot less complicated than they are up north. In Ohio, for instance, scientists employ advanced algorithms and projections to determine how many school children are likely to walk to school without losing an appendage to frostbite; as that number approaches N, the likelihood of a snow day increases.
In NC, snow days occur when there is snow. Or "wintry mix." Or TV weathermen who wave their arms a lot. SNOW DAY!!
But hey, I ain't complaining! As you can see below, we enjoyed our day to the fullest. I have the blessing/curse of a job that allows me to telecommute, which means that there's no such thing as a freebie day off from work; but I did sneak some time out to build a snowman with Ruby, and Alex and I...uh...well, he really just sat in a plastic box and smiled. (As usual, click photos to embiggen.)
First snowball of the year!
Our friend, Ol' Pinecone McScratchy. He led a full life, but a short one -- he succumbed to the fabled "Rain of 11:38 AM."
Alex observed the festivities from his "box seat." Ha! Ha!
Schweitzers à la mode.
Schweitzers à l'amour.
Might as well jump!
Just in time for Thanksgiving, it's...
...Halloween pictures!
First, we begin with a visit to the Ganyard Hill Farm, where April, Ruby and Alex picked out some choice pumpkins.
Mr. Pumpkin Head himself had a grand old time:
We debuted as the Cowfamily at the Chandler's Halloween party. Brokeback jokes by Rafael were ignored.
Assistant deputy Alex:
Wait, did I say assistant deputy? That looks like a sheriff's badge. My apologies.
Warning: Cowchildren® are not intended for use in live cattle-ropin' operations.
Samantha and Christopher of the Mouse faction joined us for the treat-begging portion of the evening. (Astute readers will recognize this photo as an homage to "The Cactus Kid" Disney animation short featuring Mickey and friends, released in 1930.)
Bravely, cautiously, they approach the door.
Christopher put forth a valiant effort, but eventually he just ran out of steam.
Coy smile? Or continued efforts to extricate emulsified corn syrup from incisors?
More photos from our Halloween festivities available here and here.
Happy Guy
This is a picture April took of our little guy yesterday. He's just Mr. Jolly all the time. Four months old now, if you haven't been keeping track.
I'm not sure who he looks like. He used to look a whole lot like Ruby did at the same age, but not so much now. Doesn't look so much like Wilford Brimley anymore, either.
Photos of the Wee Folk
We took Ruby and Alex to Portrait Innovations for some pictures back on August 29. You can see the results here.
This shot is one of my favorites:
(Click to embiggen.)
Something to Look at
Two more links added to the Photo Galleries list on the right -- More Alexander and July 4th Parade. The former has photos of the little guy from about June 9 up to July 13 (for those maintaining strict measurements and dates) and the latter has photos from our 2nd annual appearance in "Uncle Sam's Parade of Wheels" at the local July 4 festivities.
One of my favorite recent photos, courtesy of April:
It's been an eventful month. More later. Time for me to get to bed.
The Little Guy is in the House
Back on Wednesday, May 31, April called me at work to announce that her water had broken. Two hours later, we were at the hospital getting checked in. About six hours after that, we welcomed a brand new little guy into our family.
We'd had about half a dozen names we were considering, and I was hoping that a face-to-face meeting with the little guy would result in a light bulb realization -- "His name shall be..." Unfortunately, the only names that came to mind when I looked at him were Archie Bunker and Wilford Brimley.
After some consideration, we finally settled on Alexander James Schweitzer. Here he is:
Good looking guy, eh?
There are an assortment of pictures from Alexander's first week of life posted here. Truth be told, his life isn't nearly as exciting as those pictures indicate. He spends more time sleeping than a fifteen-year-old cat on Ambien. I mean, this kid can sleep! I guess that's part of being a non-first child, though; you learn early on to deal with the racket created by your older siblings.
Speaking of older siblings: Ruby is the best big sister a kid could ask for. She just adores her little brother. She likes to gaze at him while he's sleeping, gently pat his head, lay on the floor next 
to him and hold one-sided conversations. In the morning, she runs into our bedroom so she can watch him in the bassinet. When I first talked to Ruby after Alexander was born, I asked her what names she liked for the little guy. She declared, "He will be Azzezander the good one." Better than being known as the great one, in my book.
Nearly everything about this last week has been easier than our first week with Ruby. Part of this is due, I think, to Alexander's easy disposition and aforementioned sleepiness. The other part is that we now know what the heck we're doing, at least a little bit. When Ruby was born, I felt like I was in a bit of a daze as we determined how to proceed with this new life-changing addition in our midst. With Alexander, it's still life changing, but there's more a sense of carrying on with our lives and integrating Alexander into the rhythm of Schweitzer family shenanigans.
When I say things have been easier, that includes the whole labor and delivery process. I don't want to get into too much detail (it's a little unbecoming for a guy to declare how easy it was for his wife to do all the hard work), but the ordeal was a lot quicker than with Ruby, and April came out looking as fresh as a batch of dew-glistened daisies in the end (as opposed to the first go around, when she looked like she'd gone a few rounds with Evander Holyfield). It went so quickly that Alexander had a bit of facial bruising caused by "rapid descent," which is doctor speak for "like a cork out of a champagne bottle."
I probably won't have too many Alexander anecdotes to share for a while, but I've got one: Yesterday evening, I was holding him in my arms, walking around the dining room and talking to him. He was, of course, asleep. But then he pulled one of those adorable little slumber smiles that babies do, and then he smiled again -- and then he chuckled. An honest-to-goodness chuckle. For the life of me, I can't imagine what makes a week-old baby chuckle in his sleep, but I'm sure it's a riot.
I guess I should post the vitals. Here they are:
Date of birth: 5/31/06
Time of birth: 11:28 PM
Weight: 7 lbs. 12 ozs.
Length: 20 1/2"
Appearance: red and cheesy
Disposition: briefly screamy, then calm and sleepy
A Tragedy in Three Acts
This afternoon:
Aside from two skinned knees and some soaked clothes, she's recuperating nicely.
