kara

For months I’ve been looking forward to taking Sophie to a pumpkin patch. I wanted a quiet farm, away from busy roads, without lines, and rich with good-looking, perfect-for-carving pumpkins. Impossible? I thought so. But then I discovered Neltner’s Farm & Greenhouses, just 20 minutes south of our house.

We rode a red wagon pulled by two big, beautiful horses to the pumpkin patch.

After kissing and picture posing with Grandma and Grandpa Uhl, and Kyle and Christina,

we picked our pumpkins,

admired the gourds and

rode the red wagon back.

We were outside, so I know Sophie enjoyed it.

“I’ve learned there are three things you don’t discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin.” —Linus in “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”

Last week Sophie, Nini and I visited both of Sophie’s great grandmas.

Here’s Sophie with my grandma Mangan.

And a very happy Sophie with Nini.

She got to do her favorite thing …

… look up at trees.

And visit with her great grandma Gebhart, too.

“If nothing is going well, call your grandmother.” —Italian Proverb

Sunday we went to the Cincinnati Zoo.

We saw bears smashing pumpkins.

We didn’t realize it was HallZOOween so Sophie wasn’t in a costume like the other kids. However she was wearing a beautiful dress her Great Aunt Susan made for her (if you look closely you can see her initials—SOU—embroidered in the dress).

Sophie thought the flamingos and the rhino were funny.

In fact, she noticed and watched all the animals much more so than we thought she would.

Except when she was sleeping.

Unfortunately the dress had to come off after a spit up incident but that was OK as Sophie got to wear her “Fun at the Zoo” onesie she received as a shower present before she was born.

This one’s for you, Dad. 🙂

“I love acting, but it’s much more fun taking the kids to the zoo.” —Nicole Kidman

I love watching Dad stack up my blocks and then knocking them over.

Look how well I’m sitting up! (Thanks to Brittany for suggesting to Mom that she put the Boppy behind me for support.)

But sometimes I fall down—just like the blocks!

“One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks.” —Jack Penn

At one of Sophie’s baby showers my mom gave me two pairs of shoes—one blue and one pink—both of which she bought in Italy. I mean, every baby’s first pair of shoes should be Italian, don’t you think?

“The one thing children wear out faster than shoes is parents.” —John J. Plomp

Last week Sophie and I visited Erin and Ben. We took a walk around their neighborhood and Erin told me all about Practice the Flow and her new role as a meditation instructor. Then Sophie and I had lunch with Nini. It was a good day.

“Meditation is acceptance. It is the acceptance of life within us, without us and all around us. Acceptance of life is the beginning of human satisfaction. Transformation of life is the culmination of divine satisfaction.” —Sri Chinmoy

Last week Mom took me to my first political rally. She said we were going to see a great man, Barack Obama, speak! But first we had to wait in a really, really long line at Lunken Airport for a bus to take us to Ault Park.

While in line Mom bought me a button for my front pack!

After almost three hours of waiting, we finally got on a school bus and I took my first bus ride. It was pretty bumpy.

By the time we got to Ault Park, Barack Obama was already speaking. We could hear him, but we couldn’t see him. There were so many people! So Mom found a shady spot, got out her nursing cover and nursed me while Obama talked. (By this time I was really hungry.) At first she was a little nervous about this but then remembered where she was—and noticed several other women proudly nursing their babies, sans cover.

I wore my “peace” onesie.

After Barack Obama finished talking we got back in line to wait for the buses again. Mom was really worried about the sun. She made me wear my bonnet and she kept putting sunscreen on me.

We had to wait for the buses for a long, long time again, and eventually I fell asleep. But despite the sun and the noise and the hours of waiting, Mom said I did really well. Still, I think she was happy to finally get home.

“Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.” —Barack Obama

Thursday Mom took me to my first yoga class at yogahOMe in Oakley. I laughed when she did downward-facing dog over me and I was so happy she didn’t drop me during tree pose. I can’t wait to go back this week!

“For me, yoga is not just a workout—it’s about working on yourself.” —Mary Glover

So apparently I can’t count and Tagging requires some editing.

10 years ago I was:
1. idealistic
2. a freshman sophomore at Ohio University
3. pursuing an environmental pre-law degree a magazine journalism degree
4. thinking that environmental pre-law requires way too many math courses how nice it is to worry about words, not numbers
5. deciding to cut off all my enjoying short hair

“My life needs editing.” —Mort Sahl

Last Sunday we met my parents at the Hyde Park Square Art Show. It’s similar to Summerfair but smaller—and free admission!

Sophie started out in the front pack.

But after a leaky diaper incident, ended up being carried.

We ate lunch outside at Indigo.

I ate a hamburger. Sophie ate her foot.

We didn’t take home any art purchases this time—just a sleepy baby.

“Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.” —Pablo Picasso