He-Who-Digs-Holes Jr.

When Dada and I moved into our first house (some 8 years ago) we joked that if Dada were a Native American, his name would be He-Who-Digs-Holes because of all of the planting and putting up of new fences and such that he did around the yard. Well, now we have Junior who loves being out in the yard with Dada. Over the weekend the two of them planted 2 trees, 3 bunches of bamboo, and 3 wisteria. These large holes were for the trees. Max did actually get some dirt out of the hole and into his little cart!

Charlie's 9mo Checkup

Charlie went in for her 9 month checkup this morning, and she checked out just beautifully!
Her stats:
Weight: 18lbs 11oz - 50th percentile
Height: 29" - 75th percentile
Head Circumference: 44.8cm - 75th percentile

Her length and head size have somewhat normalized and she is very proportionate.
The pediatrician was impressed by how mobile she is, and when I talked about how she doesn't sit up much, he put her in a sitting position and she did just fine. His response was that she probably doesn't sit up much because she is always on the move! (so true.)

Bare Legs & All

I found this cute dress for Charlie a while back and have been waiting for weather warm enough to dress her in it. Note the matching little bloomers covering the diaper! I just love seeing her little bare legs as she crawls around

She's getting better about pulling herself up to get a look at Cliffy. Not that Cliffy appreciates it. Right after this picture was taken he left the scene!

A Determined Little Girl

Since Charlie has begun crawling, she has become very determined when she wants something. In this case, she saw that a couple of O's cereal pieces had fallen to the bottom of her exersaucer. She really loves those O's, so she did what she had to do to get to them. What this picture doesn't show very well is that for most of the time that she was in there her legs were sticking right up into the air. Didn't matter to her - she got the O's!

This one is just because it's my guys.

Too Many Songs?

This morning when I was changing Max's diaper, he had a loose stool, and I was commenting to him about 'Poor Baby, a little bit of diarrhea. Mama will get you all cleaned up.' His request:
'Sing the Dia-wea song, Mama'
'What Diarrhea song?'
'Dia-wea cha-cha-cha'
Oh. THAT diarrhea song. Maybe I need to control myself and not sing a song about absolutely everything.

New Foods

Over the weekend, Charlie got to try a new food - Stars! She didn't like the flavor very much, but was so excited to get to put them in her mouth that she ate every one I gave her! Well, at least she ate the ones that actually made it into her mouth.

Hi Dada

The other day Dada was lying on the floor with Charlie crawling all over him. Even after she went to bed Dada remained on the floor to finish the magazine he was reading. Item by item, Max brought out his pillow, blanket, and stuffed animals from his bed to lie down next to Dada. Cute!

Shoes Please!

Currently, Max has a real thing for putting on various shoes and clomping around the house. He wears my shoes (above), Dada's shoes (below), and...

He is getting more and more into his yellow rain boots...

He even puts them on when Dada is trying to get him ready for his bath!

100th Post!

I noticed as I began the post that this is my 100th post - I don't have anything philosophical to say, so I'll just get on with my original topic.
Here are a couple of updated photos of the 2nd floor. The framing is complete, and Dada has the electrical rough-in a little more than half done. Real progress to see now! In the photo above, the wall to the left is Charlie's bedroom wall, and the door opening at the far end is into Max's room.
In the photo below, you can see into Max's closet close in to the right, and into Charlie's room beyond that.

Here Kitty, Kitty!

Charlie just loves Cliffy. She has a special squeal she only makes when she sees him. Now that she is crawling, she can actually follow him around. He just loves that.

Ooh, I almost have you!

Good Kitty.

We have a Crawler!

Well, it has happened. Charlie figured out how to get around! I now have to sweep the floor about every other day to keep all of the little bits and dust from going into her mouth... oy. Here she is wearing Dada's favorite hat...

and not wearing Dada's favorite hat. Boy, she can whip hats off quickly!

What? Not for Boys?

Max has been visiting our closet ever since we moved into this house as there is no closet door. He loves playing with our shoes - we often find them all piled into our hamper (could he be telling us something?!?) The other day he came out wearing a pair of my high heels, much to his father's chagrin. Dada even asked me not to take pictures of it, but how could I not? This will be great material once he hits his teenage years.

Hair and Makeup Please!

A couple of weekends ago the kids and I went down to my parents house for the weekend. My niece, Cassidy, found Grandma's lipsticks and proceeded to make sure she and Grandma looked their best.

Modeling the latest color!

Then she moved onto the hair. Everyone needs little pony tails all over their head, right?

Helper Max

Dada needed to fix the hinge on the foyer bench/coathook. Max, of course, had to supervise.

And then he had to get in on the action.

It's been a while...

Due to a combination of trying to figure out a new camera and some laptop issues, it has been a while since my last post. So I have a few to catch up on today!
Here is a shot of Max coloring the other day. The lazy (or smart?) kid insisted upon pushing the footstool over from the living room so that he could sit and color.

Crazy boys!

On Monday our friends Wolfie and Mom Erica came over for a play date. Max was showing off his new trike riding abilities and Wolfie caught a ride gladiator style. Erica and I were laughing so much it was almost too difficult to take the pictures!

First Visit to the Pool With Grandpa

Last week Max got to go swimming with Grandpa for the first time. He obviously had a horrible time. He and Grandpa played in there for an hour!

Right before it was time to get out, Max decided it was a good idea to dump the entire toy bin into the water. Grandpa was thrilled to have to run all of them down.

Ray of Light!

Yesterday I managed to get not one, but two pictures of Charlie smiling that actually show her two bottom teeth! Such a gorgeous smile. But I'm not biased or anything...

Look What I Can Do!

Something else Max figured out how to do the other day was take off his own shirt. You can imagine my delight. I decided to take the laid back approach and ask him if he was cold. It took him a little while, but finally answered in the affirmative and Dada helped him put the shirt back on.

My Bike Has Pedals!!

Dada and I have been trying for months to get Max to use the pedals on his tricycle. This past weekend he finally figured out what we were talking about all this time! Check out Wallace and his sippy cup on the handle bars. A guy on the move must have his dog and some refreshment.