The cheese series

 

 Iris, who has recently approached near calm on the teething front, seems happily disposed to display the full set of choppers at the "cheese" command in front of the camera. Here are some before and after pictures displaying the effect of this simple and magical word on her demeanor. We start with some sisterly photos, with princess balloons, of course, in the first set. And for those of you in the FS, yes, I really do need to do something about those couches.

 

 Now witness the magical effect of the word with Mugga, who braved all the hype of the US news media to make the journey here (and guess what, she didn't even hear a gunshot, let alone get caught in a firefight!). We had a lovely time between swimming at the club and staying out of the heat at our place and just generally enjoying the grandma magic that she knows so well how to turn on for our girls. They were completely enamored of her, to the point where Ruby's masterpiece pictured above, which could rival some very fine cave paintings in France, I believe, figured Mugga as the central stick figure.

 

 Here's a little before and after during the horse show with Daddy. It's a good thing she doesn't sustain this grin, as it hurts my face just to make it for a few seconds.

 And finally, we have "las hermosas," as they are frequently called, at home and enjoying themselves, with lovely smiles that morph with the first "cheese" and then into even more hilarious grins with a double dose of the "cheese" effect.