baby names

M has been telling me that we need a name for the new baby, but Nathan and I haven't picked one yet. So I asked M what names he could think of. "Butch is the only name I can think of," he says. "But that's a pet name, not a baby name." Thank goodness he isn't set on it. We're required to pick a boy and a girl name before we have the baby here, so I guess we could always put it on the form for a boy's name. Yeah, so you have to pick the name first and then have the baby -- you can change it later, but doesn't it seem funny that you have to pick it before you see the baby? Maybe he doesn't look like a John! But, realistically, most people decide on a name before the baby comes anyway.

Veletrusy palace

We visited Veletrusy palace on Saturday. It looks quite lovely from a distance, and up close too. This view hides all the scaffolding on the other side. Most people come for the grounds, rather than the palace -- it's an English-style park, with walking/biking paths everywhere. The palace is on the river, so we crossed at least one stream and had to drag V away. She loves rocks in general and especially loves to throw them in water. Once we pulled her away from the bridge, she kept filling her hands up with more rocks until she could hardly walk due to the concentration required to keep hold on all the rocks. Good entertainment value. I remember M being fascinated with throwing rocks in the water, too, maybe all kids are at this age.

The hippo pictures are from here in Prague -- from a playground in Letna park. Letna is on the opposite side of the river from us. This part of the park is very close to the metronome, yes, a huge metronome on a hill facing the river. The metronome replaced a monstrously expensive monument to Stalin that the Czechs pulled down after the fall of communism.

The green pics are back at the Veletrusy palace. Check the crown in V's hair, made out of grass. M got a kick out of picking grass to help me make it, but soon lost interest and went back to playing ball and hitting anything and everything with a very long stick. I love the picture in the stroller. She's smiling in later pics, but the expression is priceless here.