visitors from the east

Julia and Kenny check out the scene in Glenview

So, as I might have casually mentioned a little while back, the other weekend we had a great visit from Overboard's childhood friend, Beth and her daughter Julia, who is only a few weeks younger than Kenny.


Kenny knows that the guys with the cool cars get all of the hot chicks.

It was fascinating watching the two toddlers interact, and we couldn't help compare and contrasts some of their various developmental similarities and differences. Whereas Kenny is all gross motor skills, as he barrels around the joint at top speeds with dubious control, Julia is very verbal and nimble. In addition to her excited cries of, "Doggie!" whenever presented with a cold, wet Sadie nose, she also amazed me with her deductive reasoning.

Kenny has a small, plastic block bucket with a lid that contains several holes in specific shapes (square, triangle, circle, star and plus). Whereas Mr. K likes to ram the shapes around, and is generally satisfied with merely flinging them across the room, Julia took a different tack.

Plopping down in front of the set, Julia held up the circle, studied it, then dropped it in the appropriate slot. She then proceeded to do the same for all of the remaining shapes. I looked at her, looked at her mom, then exclaimed, "She's a genius! But can she throw a toy train across a crowded room?"


This girl has just been admitted to MIT (very early decision).

"Mommy, why does the funny man keep testing me? I told him, the shape on the page looks like a ducky!"

We had a lot of fun going to the pool, out to eat, and coordinating two sets of nap times. There was also some discussion of a joint family vacation at some point in the near future (which would also include Beth's husband Derrek and their son, Jacob).


Beth and Julia soak up some suburban sun.

"What do you think, Kenny? Should we keep her? You think her folks would mind?"

Evenkeel tries to buff up by doing some "Kenny Presses"

Kenny models the hat that Beth and family got for him. He calls this modeling face, "Blue Steel."

Since our camera has gone mental, the pictures were graciously provided by Beth. Thank you, Beth!