Nik's First Birthday!!

We had a great time at Nik's birthday. This is Cash sneaking a quick ride on Nik's new Radio Flyer
The irrepressible Miss Kamn Shaver. I think she's reacting to another of my mother's dirty jokes.

These are our neighbors the Cranes. Their daughter Catherine is one of Minidhingra's most popular subjects.

Another of our favorites, Miss Josephine Rose. Scientists estimate that she is 98% cheeks.
And the birthday boy. The croquet wickets turned out to be a fantastic steadying source for his newest talent, walking.

Catherine gave him some help with the pinata. Which was filled with....


.. hand puppets and candy.


Our resident landscaper extrordinaire was imparting some advice on how to properly operate a toy lawnmower.

" I love this party!"


Cousin Emma made the trip down from Maine for the party.

And with cakes like this, who could blame her.

" Ok, I'm not so sure about this anymore."

Once he started in on the cake, his mood changed considerably.

100% Dhingra.

This is Nik and I playing a song called "I got Six strings and no pants"


I'm never buying him another toy. From here on out, it's just gonna be balloons.

"What? Is it someone's birthday or something? "

See you guys later!

So we went on vacation....

...and that's why we haven't posted anything in a while. But we're back to the grind and it's time for our first ever "super-post". Grab a snack.


Nik LOVED the beach. So much so, that he claimed this little patch of sand as his. We made it out to Chatham one day and he got to get in a great workout in the sand.
We headed down to the water to get a better look at the waves hitting the beach.
Nik and his new boat. The aptly named SS Squirt.
Nik and Catherine at Rock Harbor Beach in Orleans. Luckily this place was walking distance from the place we rented.

And if you look closely here, you can see his top two teef coming in. They've been a great source of amusement for him. It's made eating Cheerios a rich new experience.

The Bingham gals made it to Fenway to see Neil Diamond. His sequins temporarily blinded them midway through the 2nd set.

Josie and Nik made it the playground for some time on the swings. This probably looks as uncomfortable as it is.


Grampy got to give both the grandkids a push on the swing...

...before they adjourned to the dome climber.

As you may have noticed, Nik's hair was getting a little bit long. Something had to be done.

Has a kid ever look more unsure of anything?

Still very skeptical......

Utter resignation.

"What does ' it'll grow out ' mean? Should I be worried? "

Well that's it from us for now. We'll be back with a new post in a few weeks. Promise.

Man of leisure

Cousin Emma came back down to Wakefield for a visit.

And Catherine's friend Sam rolled through town as well. If you look in the corner, Gil seems to be forcing himself into the camera shot. Glory hound.

Double click on this picture, to get the full "cheese on nose" effect.

Nik's friend Josie dropped by recently as well. Josie is about to hit the big 6! 6 months.

We decided to stop sitting around the house waiting for visitors and headed up to Maine for some rest and leisure activities. As you can see, Nik had a great time on the boat.



So much so, he went out and got his own boat. Right now it's Mommy powered, but he's working out the financing on a used Boston Whaler.

Keepin' the faith. Go Sox!

Grandma Connie, this video is for you.

Summertime Rolls

We've had a busy beginning to the summer. Hence the lack of posting, but we're back with a fury!

Nik's hair has really started to come in. He's the envy of bald infants everywhere.

With the rash of summer thunderstorms, the foul weather gear he scored last Christmas has come in handy.
He was the first one down to grab the paper the day after the Celtics won their latest championship.
Here he is keeping his friend Logan entertained.

This photo kills me. When he was first learning to crawl, he kept going backwards but invariably ended up under the couch. Look, if he wants to cover himself in dog hair, he can be my guest!
Look Ma! No pants!

We went to the July 4th parade in Wakefield. Which was an overall success.....

Nik really enjoyed seeing everything there, it was the "hearing" of the BLARING sirens that caused him to cry uncontrollably for about 5 minues. This is the only rescue vehicle that escaped his crying jag.

We recently headed out to Baker's Island

with some friends and Nik was free to crawl around to his heart's content. Or to sit and work on some angelic poses.

Finally, here is the documented evidence of Nik's mobility. Please excuse my silly falsetto. I swear that's the only way he'll crawl towards me.