SXSW

Robin and I didn't make it to many South by Southwest events, but we did venture out to South Congress Saturday evening. I felt the need to document what happens to our town during sxsw. As you'll see, hipstamatic was definitely the best medium for documentation.

Crowd outside home slice. Note the bikes.


Art fair on south congress.



Sidewalk drum circle.


Black Angels play at gueros.


-- Post From My iPhone

Rocking Out

Among the awesome birthday gifts that Lydia received was a sparkly blue guitar (ukulele) from the Luthers. We brought it over for Sunday dinner, and this is what ensued.

This Needs to be Documented

A regular part of Lydia's eating process. Checking for more!

She's So Hip

Last week, South by Southwest hit the city of Austin. Thousands of people swarmed downtown for live music, film, and technical showcases, panels, and general hipster frivolity. The city was packed.

Robin and I have always found SXSW overwhelming, but this year when my cousin Andrew texted us to say that The Strokes would be playing a free show on Thursday night, we decided to go for it. We put Lydia in the backpack, drove downtown, and got into the show. (Our entry is a bit of a story, but we will save that for another time.)

Lydia LOVED walking across the bridge to Auditorium Shores, where the show was taking place. She kept saying, "Wow! Wow! Wow!" She was so excited! She was a bit more apprehensive at the show itself, though she did whip out her air guitar skills a couple times and clapped at the end of each song while cheering, "Yay!!!"

I'm not sure we'll be taking her to another live show any time soon, but it felt good to be spontaneous and push our boundaries a bit. Plus, when Lydia is old, she can say that she saw The Strokes live at the tender age of two.

Lydia's Baby

For her birthday, Lydia received a gift certificate to Toys 'r' Us from my aunt Judy. On Sunday, after week of visits from Britt and Mike, as well as Uncle Markus, Robin and I headed to Toys 'r' Us to get Lydia whatever her heart desired--as long as it was within the appropriate age range, not too loud, or misogynist.

Lydia has fallen in love with baby dolls, so we had a feeling that this trip would lead us in that direction. Sure enough, Lydia got very excited when we walked into the baby doll aisle and immediately went for two different dolls. One was a baby with a pacifier (Pa-bee!) and the other was a baby with diapers. After much deliberation from the Lyds, she settled on the diaper baby.

Now, this doll (a little boy according to the package and it's blue diaper) didn't only come with diapers. It also came with a bottle. Robin and I, new to the baby doll world, did not read the packaging carefully other than noting that the doll was also anatomically correct. We felt quite progressive as we checked out with our anatomically correct baby doll for our daughter and headed to the car.

In the car, I examined the box. I learned that the bottle actually was meant to feed the baby water and upon "drinking" the water, the baby wet its diaper. Then, sensors placed on the baby's "correct" anatomy told the baby that it needed a diaper change, making the baby cry. (Note: The baby also coos and says "Mama" when you squeeze its hand.)

Sucker that I am, I ignored the voice in my head that said, "Don't let Lydia know the bottle actually functions and the baby drinks water. She will never know!" Instead, we got home, I broke the baby free from its box and filled its bottle with water. We fed the baby some water. Lydia was very excited as the baby made sucking sounds (seriously.) And then the magic happened.

The baby wet its diaper. And by "wet its diaper," I mean water started gushing out of the holes in the baby's correct anatomy and all over my jeans and the floor. In all of their efforts to make a realistic baby, turns out the company forgot realistic diapers. No leak protection there!

Lydia looked confused, I looked horrified, and Robin promptly figured out a way to plug the bottle so no water comes out.

Crisis averted.

Two

Somehow, in the midst of life happening, our little girl turned two. Unlike her first birthday, we were not counting the weeks and days leading up to this milestone, since there weren't any impending major changes. Last year at this time, Lydia's birthday meant the end of breastfeeding, a carseat switch (that has since been deemed unsafe--oops!), and the end of a year of firsts. This birthday, we found ourselves about two weeks prior realizing that there had been no invitations ordered, no party plans made, and we were generally a mess.

Fortunately, Robin and I thrive on last minute, frantic preparations (we all remember Lydia's birth where we showed up at the hospital and were told to push), so invites were quickly put together and sent out and party planning began. Cupcakes were made, cocktails were mixed, and appetizers were spread. Lydia requested "mee-nut," so peanut butter and chocolate it was, along with strawberry-balsamic vinegar, and carrot cake cupcakes.




























We spent Lydia's birthday surrounded by friends and family, and Lydia loved every minute.
































We frosted some cookies,












ate some cake,












opened amazing presents,








and celebrated our two-year-old.

Lyds on the Silver Screen

Or Youtube, at least. Here's some footage I've been meaning to get online!

Lydia serving us some coffee. If you enjoy toilet humor, listen carefully when she squats down at the beginning. There is an audible fart from the Lyds.


Note how polite she is when asking whether we're done.


With her birthday rapidly approaching, Lydia has taken strongly to the "Happy Birthday" song. Not lacking self-esteen, she sings it to herself. Here she is before school this morning. "Happy-Doeday, Eeeee--aaaaahhhh!!!!"


Here is Lydia being silly with Robin.


But better yet, here is her laughing at herself in the very video posted above. Clearly, she thinks she is hilarious. I love that she gets her own humor when watching it on a screen.


Finally, here is Lydia in a crazy mood; fortunately, she's not this wired very often. This was tonight, after she was done with dinner but while Robin and I were still sitting at the table.