Here we are at the airport, waiting for our flight to Kansas City. Graham downloaded an iPhone app that lets me blog on the go and we're trying it out. How does the photo look?

Maggie re-enacted a Downy commercial. (With black solo cup in hand.)

Here she is with her two favorites: her walker and red solo cup. The walker was my mom's idea and after seeing how much she loved Nana's, we got one for our own house. She flies in it. She is constantly running over my feet, careening into walls, and lunging for the cats at full speed. I must admit that I'm loving it, too. It's nice to have a break from the soldier crawling where she heads straight to the power cords for a good taste.

Wow. Jason just posted a Flickr set and his photos are amazing. These are just a few of my favorites.

We're home and our long weekend at the beach house was wonderful. We feel so lucky to know so many good, kind people and this weekend we added two more to the list (hi Jessica and Marni).

I was pretty lax with the picture-taking but I expect some photo galleries to be popping up soon.

I should add that while the bulk of the weekend was fantastic, we did experience our first parenting trauma. On Saturday night Maggie woke up in hysterics and was entirely inconsolable. It wasn't at all the usual wimper but unbearable, horrible sobbing. We knew something was wrong but it took one full hour of crying to finally figure that the poor girl's tummy must hurt after not having a b.m. for two days. Not knowing how to help, I called my mom and dad who offered the most terrifying advice: a "soap stick". (Yikes!) Without getting too graphic it involved a bar of Ivory Soap from Eric, Ryan's pocket knife, some whittling from Jason, and Graham and I at the helm. I know it sounds crazy but in the middle of the night your options are a bit limited and this certainly was not going to take care of itself. I also must say that as unpleasant as it was, it did produce the desired result. It still took a good bit of time for Maggie to settle but the soap stick combined with a warm bath and lots of tlc finally brought the little girl (and everyone else) some peace.

The whole ordeal was rather dramatic but our friends complimented us for being so "amazingly calm". What they don't know is that after the dust settled and Maggie and I laid down to sleep, I finally let out my own little tears.

Maggie loses it (plus a mood swing at the end).

This blog will be quiet for a bit. We're off to the beach house with friends for four long days. See you next week!

Grandma Susie is in town again and today we went to the National Gallery. Maggie was her characteristic "quiet observer" and stared contentedly at everything that passed her by (paintings, people, whatever... ). My favorite today was the Matisse room with big colorful cutouts.

And, of course, it wouldn't be the fourth without crab feast.

Weekend highlights: a birthday party (where Maggie and Svetlana were perfectly color coordinated), fireworks (where she fell asleep), and time with family at the beach house.