eleven

A year has almost passed.  Oh my, it has been wonderful with you here with us.

This month, you became so much more adventuresome!  You love to climb the stairs, make funny wrinkled-up-nose faces, stand up and clumsily move from one item to the next.  You are always looking for an opportunity to sneak out the baby gate and roam the house as you wish.  

Your hair has grown thicker and more unruly.  Some days it looks red and others it looks brown with hints of red and blonde mixed in.  It remains curly and a bow or barrette is a must to keep it out of your eyes.  You began to tolerate pigtails (or at least you now sit still in the bathroom sink while I fix your hair) which helps the hair situation tremendously. 

You attended your first baseball game and loved standing at the rail watching and listening to all the action.  It was a warm windy night and you smiled at the feel of the breeze blowing through your wild hair.

Your little personality has become quite fiery and determined.  Long gone are the days of sitting contently watching your sisters.  You now follow closely behind their every move. 

We are delighted to watch you my dear.  Your little funny faces, cheesy smiles, nervous giggles and wrinkled-nose expressions captivate us all!

Summer Morning

I don't want to ever forget the day she clapped and giggled while tasting a family favorite for breakfast: berries and chocolate chip pancakes!  Her sisters were highly entertained by the mess she made all over her face and hair.  She was encouraged by their giggles and the morning began with a kitchen full of laughter.

I do love long summer morning breakfasts with no rush to get anywhere and siblings that interact together happily {for a change!}.

Bastille Day

Happy Bastille Day!

via

{Bastille Day marks the beginning of the French Revolution.}

Today, we celebrated Bastille Day with a trip to a little French bakery.  Who can resist an opportunity to throw in a little history with some divine sweets?  My big girl wanted to know why we were going to a French bakery and not our normal bakery spot.  She was delighted to have a mid-afternoon treat at this cozy little place {she called it a "cottage"}.  The little one didn't care much about the pastries or the cozy little bakery but seemed happy to be out with her mom and big sis as we all discovered some new tastes and sights.  

We discovered that we love French macaroons!

We hope to enjoy them in France someday...wouldn't that be fun?

curious...

Gone are the days of sitting contently.  

With every inch of your little body, you seek ways to explore and discover.  

Some of this exploration and discovery is wonderful, especially when it involves books, playing with your sisters and splashing happily in the tub.

But on most days, you seem to be looking for more of a thrill than just looking at books and playing with the toys on the living room floor.  Most days, you sit by the baby gate and wait for one of your sisters to leave it slightly ajar so you can quickly escape.  You escape as fast as your little crawling knees and hands will let you.  You crawl fast to the stairs and quietly make it to the top where we hear you bounding around.

Most days, you wait for Momma to put you in your highchair and forget to strap you in.  You peek down and desperately try to find a way out.

Most days, you stand by the back door and scream and yell to the dog or your sisters to let you outside.  Most days, you look for all the cabinets in the kitchen that don't have baby locks on them and happily unload all the contents.  I believe our tile has a few more cracks in it from all the banging you do during dinner preparation.  

Curiosity has come to stay, I'm afraid.  

Although it keeps me busy, I am grateful to see a happy and well-adjusted baby learning from all the curiosity in her blood!

up for a breath

July arrived and I realized that we hadn't even stopped long enough to really relax and enjoy our summertime.  We have rushed here and there, driven and flew and kept too busy for my summer liking.  Although it has been busy and quick we have some good memories from the vanishing month of June.  For July, we have emerged from the suffocating feeling of being too busy and are up for a breath of fresh summertime air.  Lazy summer air.

first batch of tomatoes from the garden - a loose tooth - evening tea party - canoeing - Rangers Game - charming yellow cabins in the woods - roadside asparagus - ready to load the boat with kids - thoughts of a highchair escape - first baseball game

ten

This month you were determined to figure out just how to make your arms and legs work together to crawl across the floor.  About a week ago, you were able to crawl across the room without resorting to the good ol' army crawl.  You now proudly crawl about the floor in search of new things to get into.

You also began pulling up on couches, chairs and tables this month.  At first you would only pull up to your knees but just yesterday, I witnessed you pulling up to your feet and standing.  The sheer joy on your face when you made up from kneeling to standing by yourself, made my full-time job as your mother so rewarding.  We were both filled with such great happiness as you reached your goal and squealed with delight.

The teeth have come with full force this month.  3 new teeth came in together to join the lone bottom tooth from last month.  Your little smile looks so different with 2 big front teeth on top and 2 little teeth on bottom.  You are evolving from baby to toddler daily.  While I love all your little changes, I can't help but lament over the fact that my baby is getting bigger.  I find myself holding on to these baby days tighter than I ever did.

You were sick for the first time.  It was a horrible case of Hand, Foot and Mouth.  Your poor little mouth swelled up and sores covered the inside, making it very hard to eat, sleep or drink.  It took hours to get you to sleep and you often woke in agony from the sores.  It was a rough 5 days but you finally got better and we were so happy to see you happy again.

You continue to watch your sisters very carefully.  I even caught you playing school with them and the neighbor girl the other day.  Your sisters love you so much and are so eager to play with you now.  This is a fun stage for Momma to see.

What fun we are having with you little red.  Your crazy hair, distinct personality, sweet cuddles and determination are amazing to see each day.  We love you!

Building a house for fairies

After visiting a local fairy garden tour, my girls were insistent upon making some fairy houses for our yard. A few days ago, we went down to the woods and searched for some natural adornments for our fairy houses. {Everything found was on the ground.  This is our little nature walk rule.}

After separating and sorting our goodies from the woods, we began to create our whimsical fairy homes. 

 We used simple wooden bird houses {made at last month's Home Depot Little Builder Day} for our houses.

{Popsicles were promptly consumed after we realized that we needed more Popsicle sticks to make a door.} 

First, we took some old paint and painted acorn caps for little fairy hats.

While they were painting, the hot glue gun was heating up for some serious gluing!  After the acorn caps were painted, they were set aside to dry.  Next, little natural treasures were glued onto the bird houses to make fairy homes.

The little fairy houses were hung on the branches of our trees in back to gently sway in the breeze.  

My girls hope this will lure all the fairies to our yard.