alden and i just arrived home on the train yesterday from a week away with my family in virginia. we took the fancy and perfectly-timed-for-baby-naps acela express (business class!) and enjoyed a ride into dc, where grandpa soles picked us up and drove us to casa del soles to meet up with nona and uncles brendan, nick and dog uncle, geoffrey. alden was met with much fanfare and some presents for his...birthday (!!!) and the next day, we drove him down to smith mountain lake to meet great grandpa debiase and his great aunts maggie and kathy. and second dog cousin, scout, who probably showered him with more affection than anyone.

naturally, since we were away from home and papa, alden took some steps all by himself, said "no" (alas) and "dog" and ate like the locusts were coming. bbq chicken (organic! free range! with organic sauce!), berries, cucumbers in vinegar, and avocados were some major faves. alden also discovered that when he laughs, everyone else laughs and so, fake laughing! it's hilarious and adorable and a little disturbing. he also began signing "water" but sort of indiscriminately and stopped signing "more." insofar as he used "more" to indicate all needs and wants before, he now uses "water." eh! we're working on it. oh! and he peed in the toilet. twice. so we're thinking about maybe getting a little potty soon*.

all in all, it was an excellent trip. we came home completely wiped out and full of yummy foods and adventures, covered in dog kisses, and feeling quite loved. papa picked us up at penn station and alden gave him literally the biggest smile his little face could manage. i just about burst into tears.

*wow. this poor child has no privacy! and on that note, we've uploaded a few photos from the trip to the flickr page, but most of them are labeled "family only" so family members who don't have a flickr account will either need to get one and let me know so that i can add you as family, or have other family members download the photos and send them along. we didn't feel comfortable sharing ollie's nekkid pool pics with the whole internet and have been thinking that maybe we should put fewer photos out there in general. but, we don't want to take away from you grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, so make yourselves free flickr accounts and we can hook them up, ok?