Chicago Seidlers

James’ cousin Sue and her husband Kevin are moving into a new place, so Lori took on double-baby duty last week, watching Eamonn and Mathias for a day so the parents could cart stuff over without worrying about the little guy.

With the Baby Bjorn and stroller, they were all able to make it to Jewel for some snacks and the park for a ride on the baby swings. Here are some photos of the two hanging around our place (click the photo to see a slideshow).

Of course, they can’t all be good times. This one starts with some fussing but is saved by Old McDonald. Whew!

Inspired by the week’s relatively tropical weather Lori brought Mathias by today to see my officemates, both of the maned and non-maned variety. He was indifferent to the animals, but he did enjoy watching the other people work their way through zoo grounds.

Everyone at work said he was very cute. I’ve always said they’re a very perceptive bunch.

James’ dad came in last Saturday for a visit, bringing with him a bottle of wine, a starter kit for homemade focaccia, and plenty of other goodies. We had a great afternoon of bread, wine, and music–click the photo the see a slideshow.

A bunch of snow was dumped on Chicago yesterday, and as a result, James didn’t have to go to work today! So we bundled and walked around the neighborhood. Click the album to see the full album of skiers and snowdrifts.

One of the benefits of living two blocks from the park is that Mathias can get plenty of swing time (which he loves!). Here are some photos from back in October when he first started to experience life as a pendulum.

This is his first trip on the swing on October 12. The Baby Bjorn is behind him for padding.

Here’s one from 10 days later. The winter weather has given him some padding of his own.

On Sunday, we joined our friends the DeVirgilios to watch the Bears lose to the Packers. Mathias was geared up for the game, but even his styling duds (courtesy of Uncle Nathan) couldn’t help Caleb Hanie pull out the win.

It was great seeing friends, though, and Mathias had a lot of fun playing with some new toys.

They pulled out all the toys. At one, Cara is already a superb sharer.

The outfit is fitting, as family have told us that Mathias' celebrity double is Brian Urlacher.

They were more interested in the toys than each other, but they did pose together nicely.

Here’s a video of the great baby meet-up:

The week before Christmas, we were off to California, flying to Los Angeles to visit some old friends and cheer on Lori’s brother Dave as he graduated from the Art Center College of Design.

Here are some highlights from the trip. You can see the full album here.

At Venice Beach, with Malibu in the background.

While at Venice, we had to hit the Sidewalk Cafe for a veggie burger.

Reunion dinner with all the MPW folks at El Coyote!

After three days, Mathias was ready for a bath.

The reason we came--Dave marches down toward his Art Center graduation.

The Sichtermanns celebrate.

Last night Mathias decided to play with his food a bit.

It’s great having family in the city: Mathias continues to get together with his cousin Eamonn pretty regularly. The parents find plenty of excuses to play euchre and meet for lunch (well, the moms are more successful at that one).

Mathias is a bit bigger than Eamonn, but E has M beat in the hair department. (If the dude doesn’t start sprouting a cowlick soon, we’re going to have to invoke the mercy rule.)

Here are a couple photos of the two sharing a chair at Starbucks back in October.

Eamonn has even more hair now! And Mathias, uh, more belly.

No paparazzi please.

The animal hoods were cute, but Eamonn must have been scared by his.

Ah, the things you can do to your children… (Thanks to Lori’s mom for the outfit!)

With Lester

Reaching for the Forbidden Fruit