My first Major League Eating contest!

Last weekend Mom and Dad took me to my first Major League Eating event - the La Costena "Feel the Heat" jalapeno eating contest. I got to meet all of the starts of competitive eating including the great Patrick Bertoletti - the #2 ranked competitive eater in the world and one of the most exciting athletes in all of sports. I got so nervous for our photo, that I started to cry...

Later, I settled down. Here I am going over some last minute strategy with Patrick...

I also got the meet the legendary Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas. She is the greatest female eater of all time and currently ranked #6 in the world.Here's Dad and I with George Shea, the founder of the International Federation of Competitive Eating. He was busy setting up, but stopped to spend a moment with one of the MLE's youngest fans. He even went and grabbed his trademark hat for our photo!
Our new family portrait! The LeMaistre family posing in front of the stage right before the action started...
What?!?! Here I am reacting to the news that there was a tie in regulation and we would be witnessing a 1 minute overtime eat-off!

At the end of it all, Sonya Thomas upset our hometown hero Patrick Bertoletti. Still, it was an exciting afternoon and one I won't soon forget.

My first haircut!

I had my very first haircut on Sunday...not scary at all!

I sat very still and I didn't cry once.
I got to drive this fancy red car while Miss Anastasia cut my hair.

Carlos got to drive a car too. His was a police car, so we called him Officer Carlos!

I was so good, that I got to have my very first lollipop too! Delicious.

Carlos the Bunny meets Bun E. Carlos

As many of you may know, I have a stuffed bunny that I sleep with. His name is Carlos. My Dad named him after Bun E. Carlos, the legendary drummer in Cheap Trick. Today we went to the Taste of Randolph Street Festival and I got to meet Bun E. Carlos! Here we all are...from right to left...Me, Carlos the Bunny, Dad and Bun E. Carlos.

I also got to see The Posies perform their album "Frosting on the Beater" in it's entirety and a little bit of Urge Overkill. It was quite the power-pop day for me!

First Santa Claus, Then The Easter Bunny, Now Chris Mills

I went to Schubas last week with Mom, Dad and Uncle Jay to see Chris Mills. Chris is one of our very favorite songwriters. His songs "I Wish I Was A Bomb" and "Chris Mills Is Living The Dream" are two of my favorite lullabies that Dad sings for me. The show was too late for me, but Chris was nice enough to invite me to soundcheck. Here, Chris plays guitar while I do some dancing...

We had a great time, until it was time for me to get my picture taken with Chris...

It was Santa Claus and The Easter Bunny all over again. Chris was a really great sport about it and really, he's in some pretty great company now.

Where did it all go wrong? Later, when the cameras were put away, I did some more dancing and even got to play Chris' guitar with him.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everybody! I went to visit the Easter Bunny yesterday. I liked him a little better than Santa, but I still didn't want to get too close. Mommy agreed to sit with us for the picture and I was okay with that.We had our own "photo shoot" at home and Mom and Dad tried to dress ME as the Easter Bunny! This photo was taken a second before I ripped off those silly ears for the hundredth time.

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks...

Last night we had a snow storm, and today it's baseball season. Luckily, the Cubs were on the road in Houston. Dad and I suited up in our Cubbie blue to take in the game. Cubs win! Cubs 4, Astros 2 - I know it's only one game, but I think this could be our year!

A Taste Of Chaos

Our friend Jen was in town last week. She's the tour accountant for something called "A Taste Of Chaos", though it didn't really seem that chaotic to me. Here I am taking a call on the radio. "Go for Eleanor."

Mostly, we hung out on the tour bus (much quieter there). Here, Jen is showing me her bunk.

Here I am hanging with Mom and discovering that there are mirrors on the ceiling.

And here, Dad gives me a closer look.

Happy Birthday To Me!

I celebrated my very 1st birthday on February 7th. Can you believe it? 1 year old already. We had a party at our house and all my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins came over. There were signs and balloons and even my high chair was decorated.
I got my own birthday cake - just for me! I like chocolate.
Here I am with all my cousins - Nicholas, Lauren and Zachary. Check out my pretty dress. It says "Birthday Princess".
I got presents too - lots of pretty clothes, a purse, some books and a Fancy Nancy doll!

Happy Birthday to me!

Encased Meats

I recently made my first visit to Hot Doug's, "The Sausage Superstore", a Chicago institution and one of my Dad's favorite places. Aunt Angie took this shot of Dad and I standing out front. (Yes, that is a line out the door. Yes, there is always a line out the door.)

Once inside, I got to meet Hot Doug himself and Dad showed me the sign on the wall that declares "There are no two finer words in the English language than 'encased meats', my friend." (I think Dad has a t-shirt that says the same thing.)

This is no typical hot dog joint as evidenced by the long lines, the NY Times culinary section feature and a number of Food Network and Travel Channel tv appearances. Here, my big cousin Nicholas is breaking up some pieces of Doug's special "duck fat fries" for me to enjoy.

Did you notice that Nicholas, Lauren and I were all wearing our new Run-DMC t-shirts? We did that to celebrate the announcement that Run-DMC will be inducted in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on April 4th. Dad is threatening a road trip to Cleveland...

Baby's First Christmas

Happy New Year everyone! Sorry it's been so long since my last blog. 2009 has been a very busy year, so far. Last month I celebrated my first Christmas. It was great. Here I am "decorating" the tree. Isn't my dress pretty?

The one thing I didn't love about Christmas is this Santa Claus character.
Very scary.

I got to spend a bunch of time with my family and I got lots of great presents too! Baby dolls, a tricycle, a Notre Dame cheerleaders uniform and lots more. The wrapping paper and empty boxes were really fun too!

Baby's First Thanksgiving

I recently celebrated my first Thanksgiving. What a great holiday - family, eating, football, napping. I loved it! We started the day at Oma and Oda's house for breakfast. Here we are - all dressed in purple...

Next it was off to Mem and Pep's. I got a new bow for my hair from Mem...
I ate mashed potatoes and carrots & turnips. Delicious.

Later, we bundled up and headed out for the Thanksgiving parade. Here I am with Mem waiting for the parade to start.

I saw firetrucks, Benny The Bull and Gina Glocksen from American Idol. I fell asleep before Santa came by.

HOPE

What a great week for America and what a great week for Chicago!

This week we elected a new president and he lives in the same city as me! Mom and Dad got up early last Tuesday to go vote and I got to go with them. I wore my Obama Baby t-shirt! Here we are on our way to the polls.
Later, we gathered with friends to anxiously await the results. Here I am with Mom and our friend Jen in their matching Blue State t-shirts!
Just a few hours later, the results were revealed...a landslide win for Obama! The champagne flowed as we watched our beautiful city become the center of the world.

ROCKtober

Wow - I can't believe October has come and gone. What a blur. It was an awful month for us Cubs fans, but other than that it was pretty great. It started off with the celebration of my Aunt Beth's wedding on October 4th. Here I am with Dad getting the last minute details of my flower girl duties...

And here we are outside the church. Isn't my mommy beautiful?
We had some more excitement on October 15th when my new cousin arrived - Zachary David LeMaistre - and he's already a Bears fan!
I celebrated by first Halloween. Here I am at my Aunt Angie and Uncle David's house in a pumpkin costume...

But my real costume was a peacock!

I went trick or treating at the zoo and to a bunch of parties. Here I am with Mommy at my music class Halloween party.

On November 1st Dad and I celebrated Dios De Los Muertos. That means Day of the Dead - which is not as scary as it sounds. Here, Dad and I are modeling our matching Day of the Dead t-shirts.

The Pacific Northwest part 2

From Seattle, we headed east to Walla Walla, Washington - which is really fun to say! Aunt Pam and her husband Greg have a winery there called Gramercy Cellars.

We were there for the beginning of the fall harvest and Mom and I both got in on the wine making action with some good, old fashioned grape stomping. Here I am going in...
And here I am coming out!

We went out to some really nice restaurants on our trip and, even though I didn't get to eat any of the food, I was always very well behaved. Here is Aunt Pam teaching me about espresso. Everyone drinks espresso in Washington.