When you're not with me, I'm blue.

Oh crazy boys, I love you!

At the "Pesacheake Beach" (as Tenny calls it)

Exploring the Allium forest

Fortune Cookies

I eat out a lot.  I probably eat in more restaurants each month now than I did in my first 21 years combined.  Luckily DC has a lot of good options.  The Chinese restaurants aren't my favorite -- I find that Chinese food is consistently mediocre -- but I do like the fortune cookies.  It's nice to get a good chuckle and a semi-sweet treat at the end of a meal.  Here are some of the fortunes I've opened recently:

1. Do not give up, the beginning is always the hardest.  [Not buying it; in the beginning I was a kid.]
2. Someone is speaking well of you.  [Someone is wrong.]
3. You will be showered with good luck.  [I got this one twice.  Anyone who knows me should be laughing hysterically.]
4. You will never need to worry about a steady income.  [Suzanne rejoices.]
5. You will step on the soil of many countries.  [Yes, to get from the airport to the conference room.]
6. You will be singled out for a promotion.  [Since my firm has lockstep compensation, this must be talking about moving up from bathroom duty to kitchen duty at home.]
7. You are broad minded and socially active.  [Stop laughing.]
8. You and your wife will be happy in your life together.  [So true, though this is just stating the obvious considering I'm married to Suzy.]

Our Flag Was Still There

Fort McHenry, Baltimore

Tennyson StewART

When he's not outside, Tennyson really enjoys drawing, and the boy can manufacture two to three masterpieces per minute (he believes in combining quality and quantity).  Here are some recent favorites, starting with...

Tennyson's Father's Day Card For Daddy

Tennyson included a lot of his favorite artistic elements -- stars, rainbow, heart, sea creatures, etc. -- into this one piece to convey more clearly the message that his dad is the best in the world.  To cap it off, he added the element that says "I Love You" better than anything else:  googly eyes.

Ye Stewart Clan Portrait

That's right, he even does portraiture.  And notice that he accurately portrayed Tait as standing upright -- Taiters is officially a walking human being, which makes Ye Stewart Clan four for four on walking.

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (complete with row houses)

Tennyson's Self Portrait - First Day Of Preschool

Tennyson's Self-Portrait - Last Day Of Preschool

(Here's a bonus picture of T-Man on his last day of school with his outstanding pre-school teacher, Ms. Jennifer.)

And lest you think that Tenny's artistic abilities are limited to the paper medium, here's an interview with the artist himself after painting a different canvas:

Tennyson Paints His Face from Jeremy Stewart on Vimeo.

Sunrise at the Dock of Deep Bay

More on Deep Bay here and here.

Tennyson the Flirt

As many of you know, Tennyson has a girlfriend.  Her name is Alexa, and they've been inseparable pretty much since birth.  In fact, we attended birth classes with Alexa's parents, the two were born two weeks apart, and they've been running around together ever since.  Alexa's talking about marriage and growing a garden and raising pet bunnies, but Tennyson is having commitment issues (typical male).  It's not that he doesn't love her (he does), it's just that he still thinks he's going to marry his mommy (typical male).

Anyway, we were recently going through the video files on our Flip camera and happened upon this video, which Tennyson shot during a play date with Alexa while mommy was upstairs taking care of Tait.

Tennyson Flirts from Jeremy Stewart on Vimeo.

Instant classic.

Boys in the Zoo

Tenny's class had a field trip at the zoo that coincided perfectly with Tait's birthday, so Suzy decided to make a party out of it.  Tenny got to see a "ferocious Komodo Dragon," Taiters scored a few helium balloons (his favorite toy), and Suzy captured this great shot (with her iPod) of the boys enjoying the beautiful morning.  Other than Jeremy being stuck in St. Louis and not being able to attend, it was the perfect morning.  (And yes, in our family we cheer for the underdogs.)

Also, a funny Tenny story:  when the boys woke up yesterday, Suzy told Tenny, "It's Tait's birthday.  He's turning one today."  Tennyson replied, "Wow.  That didn't take long."  No, it didn't.  About a year.

Tait is #1

Our little Taiters is one!  He's had a busy year of smiling, laughing, eating, growing, playing with his big brother, comforting his mommy, and being tickled by his dad.  As of now, he's pushing his first tooth . . .

. . . and he's standing on his own two legs (does it still count as two legs if you have four ankles and six thighs?).

In one short year our little man has grown from this . . .

. . . and this . . .

. . . to this.

 This is one awesome kid, and we're so glad he's part of our family.  Happy first birthday, Taiters.  We love you!