What does a LION say?

Let's face it: Halloween was made (stolen, actually) for children. The few adults to enjoy Halloween on the same level are either extremely confident and silly, or they are parents watching each other's kids bonk around and run into each other in their cute little costumes. Hopefully, my recent induction into this second realm won't negate me from my membership of the first. But for now, this was Soren's Halloween.

As you may remember, he had a wildly successful stint last year as Senator John McCain. However, this year found him in a wonderfully wily Lion costume. You see that fringe? You see that body suit? Where do you think it came from, hmm? Target? The Spotted Goose? WRONG!

My friends, I am proud to say that this is the first ever full sewing endeavor by Lisa Dexter Fairfield, budding seamstress and overambitious mom extraordinaire. Not only was the costume extremely cute, but it also fit well, and (miracles abound) Soren even left it through the entire evening!

Also amazing-- you know that routine of getting candy from doors and putting it in a bag you brought along with you? It turns out that this is human instinct. Without any prompting or hints from either of us, Soren marched up to the first house he came to, looked at the inhabitants with huge brown eyes, accepted his bounty, and promptly placed it into his candy tote.

Coincidence? I think not.

Soren's second Halloween may have been a bit more melancholy than his first. I think he was catching on to the changing seasons, the bittersweetness of the leaves falling. He's an interesting kid-- very brave, and very thoughtful too.

He looks so much like a Maruice Sendak character. So huge and wooly and stompy.

And who taught him how to enjoy candy so much? Even bad chocolate! We need to cultivate his sweet tooth so that he weeds out waxy "chocolate" and goes straight for the real thing: Scharffenberger.

Here is the official donning of the costume! Though he doesn't generally like being dressed, he loves being the center of attention. It was a compromise.

I Love You.

Countless groggy mornings after nearly sleepless nights. Little hope of ever having a tidy house again. Insurmountable piles of laundry. Dried cheese and cheerios smashed into the floor and on the bottom of the majority of my socks.

All small prices to pay, indeed, for the joy that we felt yesterday when Soren signed back "I love you" for the first time. Or for the tenderness of his first real little kisses, which covered my face today as I laid down with him for his nap.

What a sweet boy.

Pictures coming soon.

Wow...!

Soren's newest ability is being honed to a fine science. (Which will, we are certain, translate into a career in science). He can now locate any light switch in the house from a distance of fifteen feet or more. Leading the way with outstretched hand, he can flip the switch from On to Off with 25% accuracy at least.

This video was taken about a week ago. At this point, he can rapidly flip each switch, and his wowing is a bit more hushed and reverent.

Pachabel, You GENIUS!

Observe, if you will, a young man already pining for his wedding day.
Talk about social conditioning!! Can't a young boy just be a boy and not have to dream about his wedding day?
So much pressure...

Short Summer in the Park

Well, the summer is coming to a close; or it's over, depending on who you ask.

I'm the type who is champing at the bit to get to Fall, but this year feels different. We've had the coldest summer here on record, and our Winter is threatening to be long and cold. I'm already prepared to get really sad and worn out.

So maybe it's best to bid sayoonara to the summer with some of my favorite pictures from a great playdate with my little baby.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Wedding in Kentucky

Well, we did it.

Apologies for our lapse in communication, but we've been a bit preoccupied. I have been told that our wedding was actually easy compared to most. However, it was still quite an ordeal to execute: handmade invitations, marriage counseling, couple counseling, flowers, dress shopping, coordinating "catering" from the Church body, entertaining family and friends, caring for a one-year old baby, finishing up classes and one degree, planning around 5 job schedules, and the usual wedding details... it looks like a lot on paper, but when all is said and done, it really didn't feel as if that much happened.

As far as I'm concerned, we really couldn't have asked for a better experience. We had just what we wanted: a "shared elopement in a church." We had a massive thunderstorm beforehand, and I'll be darned (as my Grandpa would say) if we didn't even get a prolonged rumble of thunder during our wedding kiss. We want to thank friends and family for flying out, for supporting us from afar, for keeping our family in your prayers, thoughts, ideas, vibes, choose-your-own-adventures, or whatever it is that people do these days. We feel loved, and are grateful for it.

We have literally thousands of pictures to weed through. We've gone through our 800 official wedding ones, and here are some of my favorites (that i sent to the Fairfield family). We will try to post more, or just put them up on a photo sharing site.

Love you all!
The Fairfields

All Mavericks Grow Old

Before we begin our first post in 6 weeks, we'd like to say goodbye to a lovely outfit that Soren has now outgrown: The Maverick Suit. The first pictures are of Soren on Halloween of 2008; the second were taken last night. We had to stuff him with extra shirts to make it fit six months ago-- now, he's like Fred Astaire in his slim-fitting dancing outfit!


Onward ho!

Wow, our first post in 6 weeks! What happens in a six week period of time? Well, good question, faithful reader. Let us fill you in.

~ Lisa finished her course work for her Doctorate in Musical Arts (DMA) in Piano Performance (with a Minor in Pedagogy) and is nearly done! She has to ONLY perform one recital, take 2 written tests, one oral test, and write a 100 page document! Easy as pie!

(How excited is Lisa to be done with classes? Well, let's put it this way:
Q: Of nearly 29 years of Lisa's life, how many have not been spent in school?
A: Seven. Or, about 23% of her life has been spent outside of school.)

~ Leif received his MFA in Printmaking and Drawing! Though it qualifies him for a good slap on the back, it may actually make him LESS employable to some jobs. However, it qualifies him to teach at a university level, which is exactly what he'll be doing in the Fall! Freshman, beware!

~ Soren is pushing on his new Wheelie Bug and balancing with one hand! He is a stone's throw away from walking.

~ Lisa is playing a concert with two wonderful flutists in July. Besides accompaniment, she'll be performing solo for the first time in a year! Last recital, she had a big bun in the oven!

~ Leif managed to put an obsolete trade to use by designing and printing their wedding invitations on a neglected Vandercook press in a neighbor's garage, using handset metal type and hand carved woodblocks!

~ Soren is loving life-- first swimming trip, first Kentucky BBQ, is hard at work at grabbing things off of tabletops (look out!), is mastering his piano skills (he can reach the keys with one hand now, and has mastered the minor second interval), is developing a lovely singing voice (he might be a crooner), and is almost sometimes sleeping through the night! Almost.

It's certainly been a little bit hectic, and we're glad for the change of pace... a nice and almost leisurely summer. The garden is growing, the weather is mild (for Cincinnati), and the Summer days are long and lovely. If we can find a way to transplant an ocean and a small mountain range, we'll be very happy.

Love to all,
Leif and Lisa (and Soren)