Our Weekend In Athens...

... should really be titled, "It's All About Cyrus." Since we hadn't seen him for many weeks my camera only pointed toward him. I was hoping to have my videos uploaded to go along with this post but all but a couple could not be uploaded, not sure why, so I'll put them up on the blog whenever I can.

Cyrus is now sitting at the kitchen table on a stool. At first glance it makes you worry that he'll fall off, but his physical development has advanced so much that he's a pro at it.

He also can feed himself anything that is in pieces.

Here he is offering me some of his breakfast 'sausage.'

This hangs on the wall by the kitchen table. Since one of Cyrus' most frequently said words is "doggie" he turned around during breakfast about 20 times to point to it and say, "doggie."

After Shirin came back from the hosital she was in big demand. Cyrus is going through a very strong 'mommy' phase right now, and no one but she could read him books once she came through the door.

This is a close up of the above picture. Look at the concentration lines on his forehead... just like his Grandpa's.

Cyrus hands his mom the next book before she even finishes the first!

We went to the Athens Farmer's Market. It's very similar to the one we go to in Matthews but somewhat bigger. Here Shirin is buying Cyrus an empanada.

Apparently Cyrus normally runs around the market, picking up "balls" (farmer's tomatoes and apples) so Shirin wrapped him in her moby wrap. Poor guy couldn't cause any trouble!

The day was absolutely beautiful if you were in the shade. Here Cyrus eats the empanada at a picnic table outside the market fence.

I seem to take lots of pictures of Cyrus eating. Now we're back from the market (and the empanada eating) and he's eating lunch. I think he runs around so much Shirin has to feed him almost as much as you would feed an adult. Just wait till he's a teenager.

On our way to the park the neighbor's kitty came out to greet Cyrus. He knew to crouch down in a non-threatening posture, but then they're old friends.

Off to the park. This is a different park from where we went last time. Again, a Geogia Bulldog statue uniquely painted. Cyrus got to ride on the "doggie."

What kid doesn't like to sit in a tunnel?

Cyrus can now slide down by himself.

Smart kid. Why walk up all those stairs if your Grandma can walk you back up the slide? (No I don't have a tumor on my left hip; my camera case is in my left pocket.) I got four compliments that day on my T-shirt which said, "Jon Stewart- President '08".

This is Cyrus' Paul Bunyan stance.

Shirin and her little Bubsy.

Cyrus had to stop playing to talk to one of his peeps.

I don't know if you can tell how tired Shirin is. Her rotations and motherhood and housewifehood have kept her so busy that she is very sleep deprived. After I saw that exhausted look on her face she went to lie down on a park bench...

... and Cyrus and I went off on our own. A few yards away grew some fantastic bushes that attracted beautiful butterflies.

Here's a close up. I was amazed at how content Cyrus was to sit in my arms as I pointed out every butterfly that flew by.

Gorgeous.

I haven't seen a monarch butterfly in years. I'm glad they're not totally extinct.

The bumblebees were everywhere too.

This flexible rubber bridge held Cyrus' fascination for a long time. It wasn't the bridge itself, but the hole in it through which he and I played 'grab the finger.'

He also knows that we don't want him to put things in his mouth. So here he is pretending to put a piece of wood in his mouth so I'll scream. He loved it. You'll see in the video (whenever I can get it to upload) how he does it about ten times!

I'm teasing my Grandma.

What a little imp.

I kept taking pictures because one shot...

...was cuter than the next!

Eventually Shirin got up from her park bench to rejoin us. Behind her you see a covered picnic area. Someone was having a birthday party there and Cyrus kept wanting to go over and get one of their "balls" (balloons.)

Back home he 'reads' his book and finds a ball to point at.

All cleaned up and ready to go to dinner. While waiting for his Grandma and Grandpa to get ready Cyrus played with cookie monster.

I would have kept this video going longer but my camera chip ran out of memory. I had to delete some pictures so that I could take the rest you see below.


We went to Jason's Deli which had a great salad bar. Usually we avoid places with the word "deli" in the title, but I really like this place.

Cyrus is wearing the cute shirt his Khaleh Tita sent him.

The next day we had lunch at Panera Bread. They didn't have booster seats so Shirin tried to feed him first in a high chair, then on her lap...

... and when Cyrus felt too much like a big boy for that, slid down...

... and opted for an adult chair. He did quite well in it!

Cyrus LOVED being King Cup.

King Cup got a kiss from his fair maiden mommy.

Cyrus is just too darn cute, but next time I'll try to remember to take pictures of all of the rest of us too. It's just that none of us are as interesting, I mean, how many of the adults are willing to pretend to eat wood and wear cups on their heads?