The Great-Grand Ladies!

Sorry Jasper, you are not in this one as a fellow great-grandchild, but this picture was too cute to pass up.  You are in the Picasa Gallery, though, not to worry...This is Zoe holding Colby very responsibly.  I mean, how cute are these ladies.  And Zoe is such a smart little lady--kudos to Ariel and Jake for excellent parenting, this kid is a gem, truly.  So Colby had a great time in South Dakota with her Auntie and Uncle Cousins and Fantastic Aunts and Uncles (we don't use Grand--it makes people sound old!).

The Collicki Gallery

Check 'em out! Updated fairly regularly!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Joseph.C.Sawicki

Colby--the Super Trooper

So my grandmother turned 90 yesterday and to celebrate the whole Locken Clan convened in South Dakota last weekend to celebrate such an accomplishment.  Colby made it through 2 flights, one to Chicago and one to Sioux Falls and then a 3+ hour car ride AND BACK.  Kid is a champion.  She then proceeded to be handled by over 40 people throughout the weekend without losing it or not being adorable.  She is the best.  She also slept like a beast every night and gave her mom and dad a big break.  And a special shout out goes to my mom, Grammy, for letting us go out drinking, shooting clay pigeons (not in conjunction with the drinking) and watching the demolition derby at the fair, all while having our child be in safe hands.  I was NOT going to be the jackhole with the baby at the demolition derby cooking in the sun while pounding $3 beers. Not my parenting style....So far!

"Ga!"

Yes, today was Colby's official first word.  We were gliding in the glider and her head was on my shoulder when she leaned her head back, looked me in the eye and shouted, "Ga!" And then she just stared back as if waiting for a response.  It was so clear and purposeful, that I decided that it was her first word :)  My baby, the genius!

Got some new photos up

Grandma Nene is here right now, so there isn't much time to talk.  But what I can tell you is that while Grandma Nene played with Colby, Mommy Laura has had plenty of naptime and can finally run around the house and do stuff that she couldn't do when she was pregnant! That pretty much is everything...And while Grandma Nene was here, we were treated to her DELICIOUS meatloaf.  Amazing.  We were so glad to have her here with us and to meet Colby.  Look at those blonde cuties hanging out in the recliner.  Adorable.

Just one of those nights

You know those nights where your baby cries and won't fall asleep? Well we had one of those lastnight. Colby was being a bit of a jerk from like 7pm to about 10pm just crying and crying and we couldn't figure out why. She was fed, burped, and changed. She had to be tired from all the crying but just wouldn't quit. So I sat up with her until she fell asleep. Well actually it was until I feel asleep. I calmed her down so she wasn't crying but she wouldn't fall asleep. After holding her for over an hour I put her in the Boppy chair auntie Minola got her. She was content but awake in there until about 1:30am. I was lying on the couch watching her and trying not to fall asleep. Colby out lasted her dad. I felt myself dose for a few seconds before I woke up in a panic. She finally fell asleep and made her parents worry again by sleeping for 5 straight hours. We tried to wake her twice to feed her, but she wasn't interested. Getting up for work this morning was a challange. The day went by sooo sloooow. So hopefully it is off to bed early tonight. I'm going to try to get up and continue my morning run around the neighborhood tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Happy Birthday to Laura

Friday, August 1st was Laura's 28th birthday. To celebrate her friends brought her out to lunch while Grandma watched Colby. When I got home from work, Grandma, Auntie Carrie and Jen, and Laura were all hanging out with the little lady. Laura had told me that she wanted to have Ethiopian for her birthday dinner. So I looked online and found a place in Baltimore called Dukem. The reviews on the food were great, all though the service was said to be terrible. I have come to expect that with many ethnic restaurants but it is always worth it for the delicious food. We actually love Ethiopian food. My favorite part is that it comes out on this spongy pancake like bread called injera. Then you get more injera to eat with. No utensils necessary, actually you get to eat your utensils and plate. 

We arrived at the restaurant and the decor was really nice. Dark wood, a full bar and small tables downstairs. Sounded like there was a party in the upstairs dining room. We sat down and the waitress asked us right away if we wanted a drink. We asked about the ethiopian beers because I love beers. They had two available; Harar and Meta. 

Laura got the Harar, which I had tried before at an Ethopian restaurant in Boston, and I got Meta. They were both pretty good but I won't go into that here, I want to start a beer blog soon. 

The food is what we came to talk about and man was it good. The waitress recommended a combo plate that we could share that would give us a good idea of a lot of the foods that they had to offer.

DUKEM COMBO (6) Reg. tibs beef, lamb wot, doro wot, minchet Abesh, 5Veg.and home made cottages cheese........$30.50

The meat stuff was spicy and delicious and there was a spicy chickpea thing that was amazing. Almost everything had chunks of jalapenos in it. We like it spicy, so this wasn't a bad thing. I would recommend the restaurant to anyone in the area. We thought the service was great, there were no complaints here.

After dinner we walked 2 blocks to The Brewers Art for an after dinner drink. Here they have about 5 beers they brew on site and a host of beers in a bottle. I had the Okocim Stout, which was a little rich for my tastes but good. 

After the beer we started getting tired. We are two young parents after all and it was time to get home to the babysitter. It was nice to have a dinner out like we used to. We are so lucky to be close to family that is more than willing to help us out so we can have a normal birthday dinner out together. The only difference is we were home by 9:30 and ready for bed. In the end we had a wonderful dinner and a great birthday celebration.