9 Months

Dear Erin,

Last night, right about the time I fell asleep, you officially turned nine months old.  Who knows what you were doing at that time.  You were in your crib.  You were quiet.  You may have been sleeping, or you may have been practicing your new-found "sitting up from a prone position" skills, like you did for your entire nap yesterday afternoon.  For the past two days when I go in to get you from your nap or in the morning, you are sitting up in your crib.  And you are quite proud of yourself for being able to do so.

You love the dog, and you love your brother.  Every time we come out of your room you make a delighted gasp when you see the dog.  Every.  Single.  Time.  You think it would get old.  He is, after all, the same old dog.  And he's usually just sleeping at the top of the stairs.  But you are always delighted.  I think your order of important people in your life goes 1) Mama  2) Dexter  3) Buddy  4) Daddy.  Poor Daddy.  You are cool with Daddy so long as I am not around.  But if you can see me all bets are off.  You are decidedly a Mama's girl.  Friends would be delighted to hold you.  And I happily hand you over, with the warning "She will probably scream.  Don't take it personally.  She does it to John, too."  They don't often hold you for long.

You love walking with someone holding your hands.  Two days ago you pushed yourself up to a standing position for the first time, using my leg.  You can stand when holding on to a footstool or a coffee table, but you get distracted and turn around, or let go, and you kind of forget that the solid object is holding you up.  And then you go BOOM down to the floor.  And then you cry, of course.

You would love to crawl, but when you lean over far enough to get on your belly you start to cry.  Or, you can be on your belly but you can only push yourself backwards.  So you can go places.  Just not really in the direction you are intending.  Then you invariably get stuck in a corner or against a wall or under the book shelf.  And then you cry, of course.  I can't help but cheer you on, even though life is way easier with a non-mobile baby.  But you are just trying SO HARD.  And you want to move SO BADLY.  So I cheer for you, instead of pushing your butt back down to the ground.  C'mom, baby.  You can do it!

I'm making it sound like you cry a lot, which is not true.  You're a pretty cheerful baby.  Except when you can't reach your toy.  Or you fall over.  Or you want more food.  Or you want to be all done.  Or you are tired.  Or you are bored.  These are usually short-lived crying sessions.  And we are working on some sign language.  You are pretty good at telling us you are "all done."  Except when you are not all done, but you do your thing for all done, anyway, because it's fun.  And since your "all done" sign is beating your hand on your tray, or your lap, or my belly...  Well, it's fun to do that any time, so "all done" doesn't always mean "all done."

I am about ready to move you to your big girl car seat, as you have gotten too tall for your infant carrier.  I just need to keep you in it for a couple more days, because you need to come to the eye doctor with me on Tuesday and I can't really trust you OUT of your infant carrier.  So Tuesday evening I'll do the switch.

You are super chatty, with ma-ma-ma's and ba-ba-ba's, and da-da-da's, and oodles of raspberries.  You think they are funny and you do them often.

Your hair cut has grown in enough that it looks much more natural now.  Grandma wondered why I got it cut.  "Did you SEE it before?" I asked.  It was a shaggy mess.  Much better now.

Dexter is warming up to you.  He actually hugs you now.  And kisses your hand, or the top of your head.  He enjoys playing with you, and he still very much likes playing with your baby toys.  He likes to keep the baby monitor on when you are sleeping so he can hear when you wake up.  And he loves picking out your clothes every day.  He always dresses you in a dress, or a skirt.  His fashion sense is second to none.

I'll post some pictures and a video from yesterday, July 13th.  Grandpa changed browsers on his computer so now he can see videos on VIMEO.  That shall be the video posting site of choice from now on, I think.  Google Chrome, baby.  You've got to use Google Chrome.

Happy 9 month birthday, Erin!  Keep on being cute.

Love,
Mama

And HERE'S SOME VIDEO from last night after dinner.

Sour Cream

"So I am going to tell you what is in sour cream.  There's cream.  And there's grapefruit juice.  And then you mix them all together.  And then you have sour cream!"

Sour cream 101.  From Dexter.  Now you know how to make your own.  You're welcome.

So She'll Look Cute

"I'm going to pick Erin's clothes, so she will look cute," Dexter says as he gallops up the stairs.

Is it me, or did I totally just get dissed for my baby girl dressing skills?

He picked orange and pink.  I think orange is becoming one of his favorite colors.

I've been thinking this for about a month and a half now, but trouble is, I believe, imminent.

Celebrating America's Birthday

Happy Birthday, America!  Dexter was on the lookout all weekend for America's favorite colors.  He and Erin wore their red, white, and blue.  I wore red and blue.  Daddy was pretty lame - I don't think he wore any of America's favorite colors.  And Dexter totally called him on it when we went out in search of an open ice cream store Thursday afternoon (we ended up at DQ).  He wanted to know WHY Daddy wasn't wearing any of America's favorite colors.  That Daddy.  He's lame, sometimes.  ;-)

Dex and John stayed up late on Wednesday night and went to see the Longwood fireworks (for free, because no, we're not paying a zillion dollars to actually go IN to Longwood with a four year old).  They had a fun time, and I think were both delighted to stay inside the truck where it was cool and not humid because the AC was running the whole time.  I heard that lightening bugs and actual lightening were spotted, and Dexter's favorite fireworks were the red circles.  Probably because they almost looked pink.

On July 4th itself Dex and I went blueberry picking again in the morning.  He was ok with picking for about three minutes and then he was done.  So I gave him my camera, and he was happy for the remainder of the time while I picked four pounds of berries.

Picking one of the five or so berries he was interested in.

Traditional "Show me the blueberry" photo I make him do every year.

And now here's a few of my favorite Dexter shots.  Unedited, uncropped.  He takes a LOT of terrible photos, but every now and then he comes up with some nice ones.

View through the bird netting of the nice little pond and the rest of the farm

Dex holding a blueberry

The inside of Dexter's mouth.  I cannot even count how many of these pictures he has taken.  He giggles wildly every.  Single.  Time.

Blueberries on the ground.  I know he totally didn't mean to do it, but I love the composition of this photo.  Blueberry in contrast with the pieces of dirt, grass, and mulch.  It's almost like he knows what he is doing.  Til you watch him do it and realize it's a total crapshoot, and man do I love that little Canon Powershot (he was using my little camera that day, and I told him he WAS NOT to drop it or Mama would be very very angry...)

My blueberry bucket and Dexter's feet

Me picking berries

The flag on Dexter's shirt

The camera is back in my hands now, and I finally told him we could leave.

Not to go home, mind you.  Oh, no.  I made him pick black raspberries, too.  He picked one.  I think.  And then he was done.

Because he was in sight and walking distance of the strawberry playground when we were picking raspberries, and he DID NOT want to pick.  He wanted to play.

Yes.  The strawberry playground.  It's a strawberry.  You climb a ladder inside it, and then go down a slide.

Did you know the child can pump his own swing these days?  He's fantastically good at it and can go really really high.  This day, he went so high his Crocs fell right off his feet.  Which he thought was hysterical.

Back at home, cute stuff here posed in her firework shirt and shorts

Strategically placed America's Birthday decorations high above her head.  They are still up, of course.  Our living room is no longer called the living room.  It's called the "star room."

And here's a couple of all the kids, together.  Surprisingly, Buddy is the only one NOT eating grass in this one.

Hope everyone had a lovely time celebrating America's birthday!

PS - Dex picked his red and blue Crocs that way, on purpose.  The ones he wore berry picking got super muddy, so he wore the other ones later in the day.  They are just like the other pair, but the other way around, he said...

Stars and Haircuts

I was going to take the kids to Lancaster today to go to the Hands on House.  But Dexter's favorite part is the playground outside.  And it was raining this morning.  Again.  Some more.  Our lawn is a jungle and I don't think there's a chance it's going to get mowed til tomorrow, maybe.

So we stayed home instead.  Dex and I decorated the house for America's birthday, and then we went to the barber shop, and then we went to my favorite little Mexican restaurant for lunch, where Erin cheerfully threw rice and tortilla all over the floor.

Both kids are wearing the star shirts Grandma got for them, so I thought I'd take a few pictures.  So, below are photos Dex took of our America's Birthday decorations, and the photos I took of the kids.

Stars hanging from the stair railings.  I forgot to upload the picture of the stars out on the front porch.

Little flags outside

And our big flag outside

Erin shows off her star shirt AND her very first hair cut.

She was really pretty good, considering how long we waited for her and Dex to get their hair cut.  She only cried at the very end.

Dex provides some celebratory music with his harmonica.

Star shirts and haircuts for both

Erin, shocked that Dex got so close to her, ON PURPOSE.

Happy Birthday, America!

Aaaaaaand we're done!

Didn't Rain on my Parade

It's been raining ridiculous amount here this week.  So much that John was draining some water out of the pool with the hose.  And while he was draining, ANOTHER rain storm came through.  And the level of the pool stayed exactly the same - water coming IN to the pool at the same rate as water EXITING the pool.

It rained so much this spring that strawberry picking season was delayed.  And it seems like it was really short.  So short we didn't go.  Which didn't make me sad because I hate picking strawberries, and Dex doesn't really eat them.  But Erin.  Oh, ERIN.  That girl can eat her some strawberries.  But still, not enough to justify going to pick.

We did go pick blueberries on Saturday, though.  Those are easy enough.  And Dexter likes them.  Our past couple years of picking he has picked enough to fill his belly, but put zero in his bucket.  But this year he was surprisingly helpful and managed to fill his belly AND Erin's belly, AND he even got 20 berries or so in his bucket.  I was impressed.

How many blueberries you got in there, chubby cheeks?

The running commentary from this one as he is picking is priceless.  "That one is blue.  That one is green!  OH - I forgot to look when I was picking!  I picked a green one!"

Lots of green berries still on the plants, so I think they will be open for another few days at least.

Everyone say "Blueberry!"

Cute Stuff here was pretty content to sit in the back pack and have blueberries shoved in her mouth every couple minutes.  After she was sick last weekend, she was still a bit dehydrated all week.  I think she pooped one time all week, and we were beginning to get a little concerned.  Blueberries turned her right around.

"Did you just take a picture of me eating a blueberry?"  he yells with glee.

Erin intently studying the blueberry plants.  "How do I get those berries from there in to my mouth..."

Ah, screw it.  I'll just try to eat this stick.  Someone will come shove a berry in my mouth soon, anyway.

No way!  Did my brother just TOUCH me?  ON PURPOSE?

Brotherly love makes her very, very happy.

In the afternoon I packed the kids up and headed over to a friends' house so I could get Erin an air conditioned nap (our AC got replaced on Saturday) before our big PARADE DEBUT.  We walked in the Darlington Independence Day parade on Saturday evening with our friends from the Bel Air moms group.  All the kids rode their bikes, and wore their Bear tee shirts.  So we Biked for Bear.  It was fun.  It was hot.  BUT - it didn't rain on our parade!  Dex said he had fun.  I have no idea what his favorite part was.  My guess would be the playground at the end of the parade?  :-)

Pre-parade dinner picnic.  What the hell, the kid has only pooped seven times today.  May as well give her some more blueberries...

Erin swiped Dexter's earmuffs for the parade.  Wasn't sure how loud it was going to be.

Dexter spent the entire parade, as he put it, "Behind the thing I REALLY liked."  Our friend Jordan's battery powered Gator.

Littlest Strider rider.  She was OMGCUTE

This is most of the group.  We are certainly not professional parade marchers, but we had a fun evening.  The kids were hot and tied and happy.  I was hot and tired and also EXHAUSTED.  And happy to come home to a new, fully functional, much quieter fancy air conditioner.