10 Months!!

The day nearly passed without the realization that it marks the tenth month of Baby Sister's existence!! How does that happen - the minutes turning into hours, turning into days, turning into weeks, turning into months?! This photo, taken today right after she'd waken from her morning nap is very illustrative of her personality - happy and cheerful, almost always, unless she is hungry or tired. In the last month she has graduated to more solid food-fare, small chunks of food - bananas, quartered blueberries, kiwi and her current favorite, black plums. She has begun trying the mechanics of crawling but spends most of her attempts pushing herself backwards and so prefers rolling as her mode of transportation. She loves to dance and has good rhythm. As soon as she hears music, whether from the radio, on tv, me or the Girl singing, she starts be-bopping her little body in time to the music. Sometimes kicking wildly or waving her arms with one finger pointed as if conducting the song. She also likes to read books on her own (Almost daily, she can be found lying in front of the book shelf pulling out one book after another until settling on one. At which point she rolls over onto her back and starts sifting through the pages.) or with the Girl. Just tonight I was reading a story to them both and came to a part in the story where the girl exclaims, "Ta-da!" As clear as day, Baby Sister repeated, "Ta-Da" in her high-pitched little voice. The Girl and I exchanged looks of amusement and disbelief. Baby Sister fills our home with many, many smiles and much joy...if only she'd quit growing up so darn fast.

This is what happens...

...when you allow an almost-4-year-old to be in charge of Puff distribution!

Oh my!

Every night before bed I read a few Bible stories to the Girl from her children's Bible. Last Thursday we were reading about Jesus washing the disciples' feet. Jesus began to speak of the betrayal and all the disciples wanted to know which of them would betray him. Jesus answered them, "The one I give this piece of bread to." He handed it to Judas saying, "Do what you must." And Judas left immediately. Upon hearing this, the Girl piped in, "It's like America's Next Top Model, if you don't get a picture you have to leave." Ha, guilty as charged!! I must now reluctantly admit that I watch America's Next Top Model and that the Girl has obviously seen her fair share of episodes to know the drill. I like to think that, like myself, the Big Guy upstairs got a good chuckle out of her remark.

Drenched

The best antidote for a hot, sunny, summer day? Getting wet, of course!! Yesterday we met up with friends at a park with a splash pad and the kids beat the heat with some good ol' fashioned splashing!

Baby Sister got in on the outskirts of the spray.

The big kids showing her how it's done.

Here she is trying to catch the water with her tongue.

She's decided she's just about done with all of this splashing business.

Blown Away

This is Baby Sister's wind(fan)blown look. Her hair is so light and fluffy that it doesn't take much for it to be swept straight up.

Bookworms

Nothing like some good stories to get the morning off to a great start!!

Self-portrait

Mastering the art of the self-portrait

(while at TCBY after having consumed some "Rainbow Cream" aka: seriously bright ice-cream with an undiscernable flavor).

Another day...another adventure!!

Yesterday we (myself and Miss A's Mom) took the girls to a water park. On the way to the water park we dropped Baby Sister off to spend the day with Super Great Grannie (and she is - Super and Great!!) as I figured that a water park is probably one of those places that requires a 1:1 ratio of parent to child. The adventure began before we even arrived at the park in the form of heavy traffic. Apparently we weren't

the only people who figured that it would be a fantastic idea to take advantage of a $10 ticket promotion on a hot summer

day. It took us over an hour to get the mere 10 miles between Super Great Grannie's house and the parking lot of the water park. The exit off of the freeway was backed up and the entire 2 miles from the exit to the water park consisted of bumper-hugging, horn-honking and hand-gesturing. None of which I participated in...except for maybe a bit of bumper-hugging...maybe. All the while there was a chorus of "are we there yet's" coming from the backseat. Eventually we made it into the water park and promptly upon doing so, the clouds rolled in covering the blazing sunshine and were accompanied by a slight, cool breeze. First stop, the kiddie-area which was adorned with pirate-themed slides and a wading area filled with ice-cold-turn-your-toes-blue water. There were a few tiny slides that the girls enjoyed going down and then there were some larger slides that they probably would've enjoyed had they been tall enough (at least 42") to ride alone, or their mothers short enough (maximum 54") to have accompanied them. But since we didn't fit the height criteria, our only other option was to take them on a much bigger slide. By all accounts, it was not in the least bit scary, not like the tube slide that pretty much dropped straight down, but the top of the slide was a bit intimidating. Especially through the eyes of a 4-year old who'd never experienced such a thing. Miss A and her Mom were the first to go and Miss A psyched herself out while sitting there at the top of the slide for what must've seemed like an eternity waiting for the go-ahead from the lifeguard to go. So she screamed the entire way down. As for myself and the Girl, the ride went rather smoothly until the end when I was unprepared for entry into the water which resulted in both the Girl and I going under. The Girl was not in the least happy about getting water up her nose. And so, approximately one hour after entering the park, the girls were crying and ready to be done with the waterslides. The park also includes an amusement ride section and so we spent the rest of our time in that area...but that, as you may have guessed, was another adventure!! We'll try again next summer, maybe all they need is a year to bolster their courage...and a few inches.

Stuck.

This itty-bitty has mastered the art of rolling to get where she wants to go. In the past few days we have witnessed her get her knees up

under her and push her belly off of the floor in an attempt at crawling, but so far she is still totally reliant on rolling. Which is fine,

except for one thing - maneuverability. In this sequence of photos you can see her progression. 1) Happy to be at the wall. (Just moments earlier she

was mischieviously poking at the outlet. Thank-goodness for outlet covers. Too bad I only had one in the bottom outlet and not the top. We're covered now though!) 2) Maybe a little bit too close to the wall. 3) Trying to figure out how to back away. 4) Completely fed up and pleading for help. I'm thinking that she'll be figuring out how to crawl sooner rather than later.

Devotion and an adoring fan

Yesterday evening the Girl asked if she could feed Baby Sister her dinner. I hesitated, my initial thought being that it could get messy, or at least

messier than it normally is, before quickly realizing that it didn't matter. So what if it were to get out-of-hand messy? The Girl was eager to try her hand at food delivery and why on earth would I stop her from trying to help out?! As it turned out, the Girl and Baby Sister as a feeding duo quite possibly made less of a mess together than Baby Sister and I at mealtimes over 90% of the time. Maybe it was a combination of the utmost of care that the Girl took in making sure that every heaping spoonful found it's way to Baby Sister's mouth and the way in which Baby Sister opened oh-so-wide to receive those much-larger-than-Momma-gives-me bites to impress her Sister. Whatever the case may have been, one thing is certain, I love the utter devotion that the Girl has for her Baby Sister and the complete and total adoration that is written all over Baby Sister's face in response.

An island kind of day...

Ah summer.

What's not to love?

Sunshine.

Warm weather.

Sand.

Gentle lapping waves.

Cool ocean breezes.

Cute babies wearing pink hats...

and playing in the sand.

Big girls splashing...

and running with sand buckets.

Little baby fingers.

Blue skies.

Childhood friends.

Future Foodie?

'Light' indeed!! Here is Baby Sister just checking out a few recipes while having some "naked, airing-out, cooling off, before putting my jammies on" time. I think she really enjoys looking at pictures of food...and not necessarily only while in her birthday suit. Ha, ha!!!!!!

Happy Birthday J!!

Thirty-one years ago today, J was born. In honor of the occasion he took the day off and we spent the day together at...

this place. How lucky are we that such beautiful beaches are in abundance just a scant hour from our doorstep?! God is good and the beauty of His creation is undescribably amazing!

All of J's Girls

Loving all of the places to sit on this piece of driftwood.

A moment of solitude (doesn't happen that often with an almost-4-year old) and contemplation.

Baby Sister...

was mesmerized...

by the rocks. Love those sweet little hands!

Framed by nature.

The Girl enjoyed walking on top of the driftwood like it was a balance beam.

WOW!!!!!!

Clap, clap!

On Saturday Baby Sister achieved another motorskill milestone (say that 5 times fast!!) - she figured out how to clap!! I'd like to think it was because she wanted in on all of the clapping and cheering that the Girl and Miss A were doing for their pedaling Dads.

200+

Entry fee: $118
2 new tires: $40
1 box of energy goo packets: $25

1 Kellogg's cereal jersey: $40
6 games of skeeball: $2
Making it to the half-way point and still smiling...

breaking up fights between two girls fighting over signs and sticks...

arriving safely at yet another pit stop...

spending time with your Girls...

one happy Baby Sister...
two

soggy
girls...
crossing the finish line 15 hours and 200+ miles after you started....PRICELESS!!!!!