Future Musical Theater Star

As I've written about before, Cooper seems to love to sing. Here is a short performance captured at the park over the holiday weekend. You can see he knew I was recording him as he yells "Mama, stop!" at the end. He's standing on this cool bouncy thing, if you are wondering.

The Garden Is In

We're hoping for a plentiful harvest all summer long. We're growing peas, zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkins, tomatoes, green onions, basil, cilantro, parsley, and an assortment of greens and lettuces. We've already harvested some spinach and romaine. Delicious! It is truly amazing how much more flavor is in each bite of home grown lettuce.

The Raised Bed built by Erik and I

Greens and Cilantro in pots

Peas

Pumpkins to the left, Zucchini to the right

Tiny Green Onions

I love the spotted lettuce

Meet Blue

Cooper got his very first pet a couple weeks ago, a beautiful blue and green Beta fish we helped Cooper name Blue. Cooper received the fish bowl as a 2nd birthday gift from his Great-Aunt Joan. He is proving to be a loving pet owner, greeting Blue every morning, often with a hug (and if you are wondering how to hug a fish, you just hug the bowl).

mom

Cooper has started calling me mom. He still calls me mama, which has been the staple, but mom is gaining strength in his limited vocabulary.

Somehow hearing his voice calling "mom" makes me feel like I have a miniature teenager in the house. This is accentuated by the fact that he is typically yelling "mom" across the house.

We are the Nation's Sootiest City

"Pittsburgh overtook Los Angeles in the category that measures short-term particle pollution or soot."

Very disappointing news. I never would have thought that Pittsburgh would top the list as the "sootiest city" in the U.S. these days. Guess we Pittsburghers need to think seriously about our air quality and work to clean it up.