From the archives: a very nice nose

Juniper, at about 5 months old

Mama's little helper

"Look! I can do it too!" So proud.

On the subject of dishwashers and babies, I am pleased to report that our dishwasher door can handle at least 20 lbs. of weight when it's open. Hopefully we won't be putting it to that test too often.

Sally is my mom

I love Hazel.

I love myself.

I love my dad.

My blog post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything above this line by Juniper.

Hazel tries raspberries

Before:



After:






I'm not sure how much she actually ate, but she sure did enjoy the smashing and smearing.

Jack-o-Lantern Smile

Her second top tooth will probably come in any day, but for now we're enjoying her lopsided jack-o-lantern smile.

Music is camouflaged

Juniper: Music is camouflaged.
Aaron: How is music camouflaged?
Juniper: Because you can't really see it. If you want to draw it, you have to write little lines and notes and stuff.

Stacking colors

If only she had a red ring, she'd have a matched set.

Juniper's solar system

A while back, Juniper created a model of the solar system at the local park.



The pinecone is the sun, then four small things for the inner planets (you probably can't see Mercury unless you zoom in to the larger image), a piece of pine straw for the asteroid belt, and four larger things for the gas giants. No Pluto, since after all, "it's just a planetoid."

Hi there!

Moving in 3 dimensions

Today at the park, Juniper taught Hazel how to climb up steps. Hazel was a little hesitant at first, but once she got the hang of it, she had a blast. This is her second trip up the jungle gym steps. (I opted for careful spotting over video quality.)

Juniper was pretty excited about teaching her sister a new skill. And Juniper really does get the credit here. Hazel was hanging out on the bottom step with no interest in climbing till Juniper crawled up the steps to show her how it's done. This is up there on my list of great moments in parenthood.

Maybe children really do become their parents

Juniper recently got her very first big kid Lego kit, with instructions to assemble a moon buggy. She was delighted to follow all the instructions (with some help from Aaron the first time) to build the buggy, then take it apart, and then put it right back together again. And again. And again. And again.

Her mask is from a Puff the Magic Dragon costume my mother made me when I was a little kid. And the water bottle label is a Wonder Woman bracer.

9 months

Hazel had her 9-month check-up on Tuesday. She's 22.5 pounds and 28.5 inches. Our girl is solid. No worry that she's not getting enough to eat!



We often hear people express an interest in munching on those fat cheeks.



Here's Juniper at 9 months -- also pretty juicy!

Belated 4th of July

What, you mean you don't wear dress shoes and PJs to light sparklers and celebrate Independence Day on July 6?

Juniper was very disappointed when 4th of July fireworks were rained out. We had to visit several stores before we found one that still had sparklers in stock. CVS saved the day, and Juniper was very excited to get some belated July 4th fireworks activity (which we are belatedly sharing with you).

Suitcase fun

Do you think we could use this trick to save on plane tickets? It's an overhead compartment sized suitcase, so we wouldn't even need to put her in the baggage hold.



Hazel was very excited when Juniper brought her along for this space ship ride. I think they went to Mars, maybe also the moon.

Multiple Choice Quiz

The appropriate caption for this picture is:

a) Hook 'em horns
b) Rock on
c) Spidey throwing a web

Whee!

There was some debate among kids at the playground about whether this is a spaceship or an airplane. Hazel didn't care one way or the other. She just wanted to fly.

The persuasive power of a good vocabulary

Juniper: I'm Lightning Girl and one of my powers is I can turn into a beetle that crawls. You can have that power too. Want me to show you?

Sally: Not right now, Juniper. We're eating dinner. You can be a beetle that crawls after dinner.

Juniper: But I can turn into a beetle and crawl.

Aaron: Please sit in your chair, Lightning Girl. You can show us your beetle power after dinner.

Juniper: Did you know that Lightning Girl can turn into a beetle that crawls? I can show you.

Sally: I would love to see how Lightning Girl can turn into a beetle after dinner.

Juniper: But I'm very excited and very eager to turn into a beetle.

[Grownups unsuccessfully attempt to suppress smiles and make eye contact with each other, both giving a small nod of agreement.]

Sally: Juniper, I think maybe I am very eager to see you turn into a beetle.





The first part of that conversation is a reasonable approximation of what was actually said, but the line about being very eager is a direct quote. Pitching a fit and whining wouldn't have done it, but we cave when confronted with good vocabulary words (correctly used, of course).