Autumn Leaves

Welcome to Fall and Halloween is right around the corner.  Tomorrow is our last day at Baby Bootcamp.  That means the count down has begun for mommy to go back to work and me to start going to the Montessori.  The next couple of weeks bring trial days at daycare and some time at the mall shopping for Christmas presents.  But first, Friday is Halloween.  I will be dressing up in my very first Halloween costume.  Stay tuned to see what I am going to be.  

Over the weekend daddy spent a few hours raking up the leaves that fell from our maple trees in the front yard.  He practically filled up our yard waste container.  Today is Wednesday and as you can see from this picture, the grass isn't even visible because so many leaves have fallen since the weekend.  Mommy and I decided to go outside and play in the leaves.  I had to taste every single leaf that I could get my hands on.  This is my neighbor friend.  Her name is Juliana.  She and her mommy saw us playing in the leaves and they came over to play with us.  Juliana joined in the fun of eating leaves.  She is only three weeks older than I am.  

Flower World

Last weekend Mommy, Daddy and I drove out to Flower World.  This is a 'garden center' in Maltby, WA.  I say 'garden center' because it is so much more than just that.  They are located on 15 acres of land.  3 acres of that is covered retail space where they sell all kinds of plants.  The other 12 acres looks like parkland and they have chickens, ducks, swans, peacocks, pheasant and pygmy goats that stick their tongues out when they bleat.  We had fun walking around and trying to decide what types of plants we want to put in our yard next.  We got lots of ideas, but left the buying to some other day.  Here I am watching the chickens peck at the corn cobs that were scattered all over their pen.  

Play Date

This is my friend Violet.  (She is the one on the left)  We are almost the same age.  Her Mommy's name is Miss Christina.  (She and mommy used to work together) They came over to our house to play today.  We've met before, but this meeting was much more fun than they have been in the past.  We actually interacted with each other this time.  Our mommies helped us stand up and look at each other.  We found each other's hands and when we caught eyes we smiled.  It was like looking in the mirror except this baby didn't make the exact same movements as I did.  She even makes her own sounds.  We had several of our own conversations.  Our mommies must have thought what we were saying was pretty funny because it make them laugh, a lot.  Since I like to see what everything tastes like, I tried to lick pretty Violet, but she just tastes like a baby.  Not very edible, so we decided to be friends.  

Next Time Won't You Sing with Me? (By Mommy)

How many lullabies do you remember from your childhood?  When Sophia was born, Chris and I wracked our brains trying to remember songs from our childhood so we could sing to her.   We were only able to come up with a handful and even those were only partially committed to memory.  'Itsy Bitsy Spider' topped the charts.  

Both of us are book enthusiasts, so one day while perusing our favorite bookstore we came across a wonderful book that every new parent should have on their bookshelf (and in their CD player for it comes with audio).  It is called Humpty Who? A Crash Couse in 80 Nursery Rhymes for Clueless Moms and Dads  As it says on the back of the book cover, "HUMPTY WHO? is a crash course in Mother Goose (and more) featuring 80 classic poems, songs, lullabies, rounds and riddles." Plus a "Bonus Feature 35-song CD starring a rollicking mom's ensemble."  Now whenever we are at a loss for song lyrics, all we have to do is pull out this book for a little reminder.  

To our repertoire we have added the ABC Song, Alice the Camel, and Skip to My Lou which we sing on a daily basis.  These songs seem to calm Sophia down if she is in a particularly fussy mood (as Nee Nee and Pappy witnessed in the car while we were visiting them).  We even know the words to Pop Goes the Weasel and did you know that London Bridge has more than just one verse?  Some versions have up to 8!  

Now whenever we hear the ice cream truck driving around our neighborhood, we can sing along to the tune, "Do your ears hang low?  Do they wobble to and fro?  Can you tie them in a knot?  Can you tie them in a bow? Can  you throw them over your shoulder like a continental soldier? Do your ears hang low?"  Where do they come up with this stuff?

First Foods

Yummy, rice cereal and carrots!

All Clean!

Since my four month check up, I have been expanding my horizons by trying different kinds of foods.  I started out with rice cereal and sweet potatoes.  Then I tried prunes and pears which were both really good.  Most recently I have eaten carrots and found that I really like them, but they don't like me so much.  I will have to wait a while and reintroduce them to my diet once I get a little older.  Next I will try peas and applesauce.  Every evening I sit in my little booster seat and have fun getting messy.  Each evening I eat a little more than I did the night before.  It is exciting to find out what flavor will hit my tongue next.  

Family

Family:  What a blessing!  We are back from our wonderful trip visiting both Mommy's family in Kansas and Daddy's family in Tennessee.  I tried to sit down and compose some stories to describe what a great time we had while we were there, but it was hard to find the words.  Like the saying goes, 'a picture is worth a thousand words,' so I hope that a few pictures are worth even more.  I have posted some of my favorite pictures that we took along the way.  Enjoy!