Happy Halloween!

Bath Time

Daphne is finally getting too big for her infant tub. The last few times I used it she has spent the whole bath trying to get out of it. Daphne is sitting up in the regular tub without slipping and so now we can take advantage of joint baths. Let the fun begin!

So Active!

Yummy TV remote!

Standing upright is so much fun!

Daphne is running us ragged with her newfound mobility. She is a proficient crawler and will actually crawl faster if you call to her not to go to a particular location. Daphne is also pulling up on anything that will get her to a standing position. She has even pulled up on flat surfaces such as the dishwasher. The other day she pulled up on a mirrored closet door and she repeatedly licked the mirror, or was she licking herself? We still put Daphne in the ExerSaucer sometimes to contain her but she starts to get fussy after a while.

I remember this stage being exhausting with Tyler but it's worse this time around because Tyler has so many accessible toys. If Tyler is actively playing with something such as his train tracks we will run interference so that Daphne doesn't pull up all the tracks. But we have told Tyler that anything he leaves out is fair game for Daphne to play with, slobber on, or chew. And certain toys that we don't want Daphne chewing on (like Matchbox cars) get confiscated when left out.

Daphne's Dental Drama

Ms. Mobile wouldn't sit still enough for me to get
 a close-up photo of her mouth this evening.

Unfortunately, Daphne experienced a "first" milestone about 5 or 6 years too early today: she lost her first baby tooth! This morning at daycare she pulled up on a low-to-the-ground high chair and managed to bang her mouth on the tray. One of her bottom front teeth came out, root and all. It bled a little bit and she cried a little bit but her teacher put ice on it and then she went back to playing all happy as a clam. Michael took Daphne in to the dentist and he said there's nothing to worry about and nothing to do. We know it's mostly cosmetic but we are still sad that she knocked out a tooth so early and that it will be quite a few years before it grows back in.

Kitchen Helpers

Apparently Daphne wanted to help
make French toast too!

Tyler loves breakfast food and helps
make pancakes and French toast.

Chow Hound

Daphne has shown an increasing interest in table food (aka non-baby food). In the infant room at daycare all of the kids are on their own eating schedule and the babies who can sit up use high chairs that are close to the ground. Daphne has started crawling over to the high chairs and grabbing food (like cereal) off other kids' trays. Daphne still likes baby food too. I often feed her while I am eating and if I stop for too long to take a bite myself she lets me know about it!

Teething

Within the last week Daphne's top two front teeth have broken through the gums. The two teeth adjacent to these teeth look like they are close to breaking through the gums too. Last weekend Daphne was a little fussy and wanted some extra cuddling, but other than that she has handled the new teeth breaking through like a champ.

Game Day

The Aggies choked today against LSU. Daphne couldn't even bear to watch the end of the game so she took a snooze in my lap despite the noisy sports restaurant. We'll give this Tiger win to cousin Hazel since she's a newborn!

Playing Together

I put Daphne in her crib momentarily to contain her.
She was quite amused when Tyler started tossing in
all the items from his bed.

After chastizing Tyler for capturing a crawling Daphne with
the clothes basket, he showed me how much fun it is to play
underneat the basket.

While Tyler loves playing with many of his old baby toys
that are now Daphne's, he is not quite so thrilled when
Daphne plays with, or more accurately puts in her mouth,
the toys he currently plays with.

Pumpkin Patch

Daphne was trying to eat the sign

Our little pumpkins!

Lots of people tell us we have a happy baby
and we could not agree more.

Farmer Tyler on the John Deere tractor

 

We headed to a nearby pumpkin patch last weekend. There was lots of fun stuff for Tyler to do and Daphne enjoyed taking it all in. Tyler did the bouncy pillow, bouncy castle, cow train ride, giant gunny sack slide, little kids' hay maze with slide, and gobbled up pumpkin donuts. Tyler originally did the gunny sack slide side-by-side with me and then with Michael. Then he went down all by himself a few times too. I must admit that the slide was pretty fun!



Soccer

Doing a drill

Spectating is fun!

Tyler probably had his last dry soccer class last weekend so Daphne and I went to check out the action since she was actually awake (class is often the same time she naps). Starting this weekend I think the last 3 classes will be a little wet and muddy. Tyler loves class and is excited to sport cleats and shin guards although they are not a class requirement.

Hugs

Daphne has just started to raise her arms in the air to indicate that she wants to be picked up. Tonight when Michael got home from work the kids and I were playing on the living room floor. Daphne gave Michael a huge smile and raised her arms to let him know she wanted to be picked up for a hug. It was really sweet!

Ready for Rain

Tyler has been itching to try out his new Spiderman umbrella and he finally got his chance on Friday when we had our first big rain of the fall. Not caring about bad luck superstitions, Tyler just had to try out his umbrella in the house before we ventured outside.

Daphne tries to get a hold of anything that Tyler is holding.

Ding! Ding! Tyler and Viola coming through.

Daphne gets a crawling hug from Viola.

Hey Girl!

Since they have been outnumbered by girls in their class at school, Tyler and his buddy Joshua like to joke around and call each other girls. According to Tyler they tell each other, "Hey girl!" and then they giggle. The way Tyler says "Hey girl!" is pretty comical!

Cousin Hazel

Welcome to the family precious little Hazel! My brother Brad's wife Megan gave birth a few days ago. Megan and Hazel are already at home and doing well. This means my dad now has 5 grandchildren under the age of 4! I foresee many fun reunions for the cousins.

Rockaway Beach

Who knew that October would bring such gloriously sunny weather? We (except the babies) basked in the sun at Rockaway Beach this past weekend.

Lourdes, Calvin, Dave, and Lilith

Busy boys

Just hangin' out

Pulling Up

Daphne started pulling up today! The first time was more of a fluke because she semi-crawled up the side of a duffel bag and then got to a standing position. But much later in the day she pulled herself up while holding onto Tyler's race car bed, which is the perfect height for her to practice this new skill.

9-Month Check-Up

On Friday I took Daphne in for her 9-month well child visit. The stats:

• Height: 28-1/2" (76th percentile)
• Weight: 20 lb 7 oz (80th percentile)
• Head circumference: 17.3" (51st percentile)

I recently read that 9 months is the peak for baby fat since that's when most babies become mobile. That's probably a good thing for our little chunky monkey!

Overall Daphne got a clean bill of health. Her pediatrician wants us to work with Daphne on making consonant sounds instead of only babbling vowel sounds. It doesn't seem like she should be saying anything coherent for quite some time!

Exhausted!

Daphne is so busy moving around and checking out the world that she has been taking shorter naps recently. This is especially true of days she is at daycare because she has so much fun being with all the other babies. Daphne usually goes to bed around 7:30. Tonight (her 3rd and last day of daycare for the week), I fed her some peas and then she dozed off and dropped her bottle in the middle of dinner at 6:30. Talk about exhausted!

Busy Baby

Daphne is now able to pull herself up from the floor to a sitting position. She really wants to pull up into a standing position but she's still working on it. One thing is for sure- that baby girl cannot stay still very long!

Ew!

Yesterday Daphne crawled over to Tyler and tried to eat his cargo shorts. Tyler was disgusted by the drool she left on his shorts and I told him they would dry out. When they did not dry out immediately Tyler insisted on changing into clean shorts. I couldn't resist telling Tyler that he has been drooling on me for 3-1/2 years now!!!!

Good Help is Hard to Find, ...

which is why I am glad my helpers make doing dishes much more fun!

Fine Fall Weather

Daphne and Lilith

Calvin and Tyler

We have been out enjoying the fabulous fall weather as of late. I had to coerce the boys to stop and pose for a photo. Tyler continually insists that he and Calvin race on their bikes and then takes off without a fair start. Thankfully Calvin is not competitive and so he just rides around at his own pace.