Fun weekend and nap drama

Erin had a busy and fun weekend as usual. She went to the Holly Springs farmer's market yesterday, then went on a walk and also did some shopping up in Crossroads, then more playing at home, dinner, and bed. Today, she went on a walk, went to church, and then Uncle Dale, Aunt Maria, and Rio came to visit! She loved seeing Rio race around and chase her ball, something she is not used to her dog doing. Bella was exhausted after...watching Rio from the couch.



Then she went to the neighborhood park where she played with the kids next door, had dinner, and even found time to help Daddy with some work before bed.



We have noticed an alarming trend the past 4 days - Erin only wants to take 1 nap a day. It's been about 10:30am until noon or so, which is nice, but not so nice when she refuses to take an afternoon nap and then starts melting down around 5:30pm. The sleep book said if this happens to put them to bed earlier at night, but she already is in bed by 7:30pm. I'm scared to go earlier in case she starts waking up at 5:00am (5:45am is early enough!). If anyone has any ideas, please let us know! I might start leaving her up there longer in the afternoon and just letting her rest. I usually leave her about 20-25 minutes...her music has shut off by that point, and she is usually angry at us for leaving her in there when she's not going to go to sleep. It's hard to be a baby - especially one who is so busy!

Pool party and 10 months!

Erin and her cousins had a pool party in Concord this weekend. It was lots of fun!



They also went on a wagon ride, and did lots of playing together. She was really tuckered out tonight when we got home!



Erin is 10 months old today. It's hard to believe that she will be a year old in 2 more months. Her favorite new tricks are pulling up on tables and chairs to stand, and trying to let go and stand on her own - but that usually doesn't end very well. She also likes to clap when she is happy or excited, and sometimes she will wave at people if they wave at her. She's been very talkative lately, and we are starting to wonder if she is trying to say "dog" because when Bella is around, she says a lot of "da".

She is crawling up a storm and does not like to be held, even to read books. Also, she has figured out how to lift all the flaps in her books and touch the touch-and-feel pages. She is getting closer to using the sippy cup, but still hasn't quite figured it out. She also loves to feed herself and will eat mostly anything, though some foods end up mostly on the floor while others she is much more careful with! Oh, how could I forget dancing?!? She will bounce up and down if she hears music that she likes. Unfortunately, it looks like she has her mommy's rhythm (or lack thereof)!

Bookworm

Erin is definitely a bookworm. Her newest thing is to get us to read books to her and then she gets mad when the book is over. Bob had to read the same one to her 5 times in a row last night! I guess books are a good thing to be interested in!

Busy girl

Erin is very busy these days. So busy, in fact, that she doesn't want to take time out for naps during the day. She is super speedy with her crawling and zips around the house! She tries to climb the stairs and can do it if we let her. The baby gates have been employed at both the top and bottom of the stairs! We got her this little play table at a consignment sale in Concord last weekend, and she likes standing up at it and playing. She also really likes pulling books off the shelves in the coffee table, standing up at the couch to "pet" Bella (Bella is not happy about that), and standing up at the front and back storm doors to watch the world go by. Everything looks different when you are standing up!

Here's some cuteness

Erin's grandma cleaned up an outfit that I used to wear when I was little. It's awfully cute on her, if I do say so myself...and it's perfect for these super-hot days! Bella checked it out and approves it for Erin to wear.

Yuck!

Erin is really quick and sneaky these days...and Bella likes to take her dog food out of her bowl and drop it in the living room. You can imagine what this combination means. Yes, I caught Erin tonight with a piece of dog food in her mouth. We washed her mouth out really well, but I still felt bad. She didn't act like it was gross at all, which makes me wonder how bad her baby food and formula really are! Bella was also a little miffed to lose a chunk of her food.

We had lots of fun in Concord this weekend for Grandma A.'s birthday! Here are the kids getting ready for a wagon ride.

House work

Well, it's been 5 years that we've been in this house, so I figured it was about time to do a little decorating. After searching for awhile and not finding anything in our price range that we liked, we decided to steal Dale and Maria's idea (which Maria stole from someone else, so I figured it was ok :) of printing pictures of places we have been and hanging them on the walls. Here are some pictures of the pictures, and we still have some to hang in our bedroom. The ones in the kitchen are actual "art" from HomeGoods. Oh yes, we spared no expense!





Bob also hung up a swing for Erin in the back yard. Thanks, Grahams, for the swing! She loves it!



I also shipped Erin off to day care this morning for her third day for the week and got some mulch for the front of the house. She and I had lots of fun yesterday at Baby Time at the library and at the pool too!