You can come with us to the San Diego Brazil Day parade, baby girl, but I'm going to say you're still too young for Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

She actually has six teeth now, but I'm still not used to her having any. Come to it, I guess I'm still not completely used to having her at all. But this is how time plays tricks on us all. One day your daughter is being born, the next day she has six teeth. I'm sure tomorrow she'll have kids of her own.

You would think that being engaged in working on a photo series about things left behind would make me a little more aware and less likely to forget to clean up, myself, but it doesn't seem to have worked out that way.

Somewhat tangentially (though relevant to the photograph, I suppose) we've been redecorating lately and have hung a number of canvases of my images in our living room and kitchen. I'm not quite sure how I feel about having my own work on my walls, but for the time being, anyway, I can't really afford anyone else's.

As much as my younger brother and I are friends now, the main memory I have of our interactions growing up is of us fighting. Often with words, sometimes with fists--occasionally, even in song. So when Juliette and I started talking about having a second child, I had a little apprehension about how Jason would deal with it.

But as it turns out, they really do seem to love each other so far. They have their squabbles, sure, but Jason is mostly caring and conscientious toward his sister. And as far as Eva goes, you can see from the picture that she adores her big brother.

That smile--the one she gives him when he plays with her--it wasn't something I was expecting, but it's one of the best things in my life.

Lately we've been feeling like Eva has been looking bigger. Older and more grown up, yes, but actually physically larger, too. It makes sense, considering how much she eats--her meals are often larger than Jason's, and she eats just about anything.

It came as a bit of a surprise, then, to be reminded just how small she really is, when at Jason's party she was by far the smallest baby there. And that despite being one of the oldest.

I guess Juliette and I just make little babies. They seem to be turning out well otherwise, though, so we're fine with that. And I suppose it's nice that there's less strain on the arms this way.

Eva loves being in water. She loves taking a bath, she loves the kiddie pool, and she loves the real pool. She hasn't been in the ocean yet, not really, but I'm sure she'll love that, too.

On Sunday we hauled the kiddie pool out of the garage for the first time this summer. It was also Eva's first time in there, so of course we both felt the need to document the occasion. Eva, of course, loved it, even though she wasn't such a fan of having sunscreen in her hair.

Eva wanted very much to get in on the game of Candyland that Jason and I were playing this morning. I would have gladly given her my spot, too, but it says very clearly on the box: "Ages 3+."

Having been through this once before, it's no surprise to me that Eva puts everything into her mouth. It's a little surprising, though, how good she is at it. Fingers? Yep. Jason's toys? Check. Tonight she helped herself to about half of Juliette's dinner, and where Jason would have had it all over his face, chest, hands, and hair at that age, Eva managed to get the bulk of it into her mouth. With finger dexterity like that, maybe it's time to start looking into some early violin programs. They take 9-month-olds, right?

Look at her. She's just fallen on her face, trying to crawl but unable to coordinate her limbs properly, but she's not upset or frustrated. She's calm and interested, nothing more. It looks as though she just decided to take a quick break right there, and as soon as she's ready she'll be back at it. Which is, in fact, just what happened.

She's not always an angel, but she's so often so good-natured that I can't help but wonder where she gets it from. Not from me, certainly.

This photo was taken less than three weeks ago. She not only crawls well now, she's even started pulling herself up on the furniture. Still calm, interested, and happy, but I'm going to have to move a lot quicker now.