At the gym with Papa Todd

After weeks of begging, we finally convinced Papa Todd to come play again.  The highlight of the visit was a trip to the gym, where he proved to be an excellent spotter for budding little gymnasts!

Sylvie chilling and crawling with Papa on the gym floor

Everybody walking the plank.

Sylvie learns about the pummel horse.

Chatting with Papa over a game of catch.

Climbing and jumping.

Watching Elsie jump into the foam pit.

Sylvie thinks she is a big kid.

9 months,  1 week:

Hide-n-Seek fun.

Everybody enjoys getting in on the game.

Sylvie likes the snow, too.

Proof that she doesn't always smile- especially when big snowsuits make it hard to crawl.

Elsie enjoying the first snow of the season.

"Look!  SNOW!"

"Aaaand....SNOWBALLS!" 

Amazement.

Wonder.

Joy.

Sylvie Harriet is 9 months!

You want ME to smile?

Okay, here you go!

Sylvie now weights 16.8lbs (12%) and is 28 inches long (57%) (for those interested, Elsie weighed 16.2lbs (8%) and stretched to 27 inches (30%) at this age).  She wears size 3 diapers (when she uses disposables), and mostly wears 6-12 month clothes and size 2 shoes.

Sylvie consistently sleeps 2 hours at a time at night, with a few 4-hour chunks thrown in, too. She usually takes two naps a day, the first lasting one lasting 1-1.5 hours and the second lasting about 30 minutes.

Her hair is finally growing in enough that we can say it is going to be a light brown color.  Hooray!

No new words this month- Mama, mamama (milk) and Dada are all she is saying.  She is staring to really understand that we are talking when we sign, though, so I am excited to see her begin to sign back to us.

One of Sylvie's favorite things to do is bathe with her big sister (really, doing ANYTHING with her big sister).  She loves splashing in the water, watching Elsie make funny faces and noises, stealing Elsie's animals.  She does her best to scoot right up next to Elsie in the tub, so Elsie had learned to tell us when Sylvie get in "her space" so that we can move her back to the other side of the tub.

Sylvie's other favorite thing to do is playing "chase" with Daddy.  Daddy crawls around on the ground, and Sylvie follows him around, giggling madly the whole time.  Sometimes Daddy chases Sylvie, too, but that doesn't work as well since Sylvie loves to be "caught" by Daddy and showered in kisses!

Watch me grow:

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

 And just for fun, Elsie at 9 months:

Double bath time!

One of our favorite parts of the day happens as evening comes to a close and night begins to fall.  The whole family enjoys some special time together in the warm, steamy bathroom while the two girls splish-n-splash in the tub.  A month ago we took the plunge and began letting Sylvie play in the big tub instead of making her sit in the little baby bath, and she LOVES to splash in the water with her big sister.  Sharing toys, bubbles, and a love of water, we love the privilege of watching these two girls grow up together!

Fun in the bath!

The girls had their first really interactive moment (that I have seen) yesterday.  Elsie learned she could make Sylvie laugh just by laughing herself - here is a bit of that fun:

Apple picking with the Albrechts!

It's been at least six years since we had our inaugural Autumn Apple and Pumpkin Picking Tour with the Albrechts.  Four kiddos later, the trips aren't exactly what they used to be (they never seem to end with a wine-tasting tour anymore...), but they have a lot more laughter, excitement, and joy.  Here are some pics from the 2013 Tour:

A couple quotes

Elsie had been recently diagnosed with pneumonia and an ear infection.  Despite this, after a lot of playing chase in the house, Dad needs a rest.  Elsie promptly puts a coaster in my shirt pocket.
E:  There you go - now you have more energy!
A:  Thank you Elsie!  But aren't you sick?  Don't you need a rest?
E:  No.  But I am just a little bit sick, so I can keep running!


talking about names while going to sleep as I had referred to Josie as "Jo"
A:  Yes and my name is Andy.
E:  No, you are Daddy.
A:  Yes, I am your Daddy, but my name is Andy, just like Momma's name is Josie.
E:  No, no but your name is Daddy!
A: Henry's Daddy has a name and Ada's Daddy has a name, every person has a name, just like you!
E: But I am a bunny!

One last Halloween party...

"Shimmer me timbers, I'm climbing stairs!"

We tried to get a picture of all the kids on the couch.  We failed.

What's more fun than a Halloween party?  A Halloween flash-light egg hunt!

These nice gentlemen agreed to watch Sylvie while I helped with the egg finding.  Well, at least they didn't seem too opposed to the idea.

Thanks for the lovely evening, Jen!

Autumn Miscellaney.

Though Elsie seems to prefer to take "selfies" with my camera, you have to admit she is getting pretty good at candid photo shoots!

Elsie and I hosted a Baby Doll Tea Party for her and her friends- you can see the fancy tea table complete with vases of flowers and a tablecloth in the background!

The girls enjoy playing Legos together, especially outside on a beautiful fall day!

While on a walk with Lila and Miss Heather, Elsie though the puppy might enjoy a ride down the slide.  She did not, but Miss Heather did!

Sylvie has her own set of baby Legos, courtesy Miss Claudia!  She likes the people best.

And a few good quotes:

***

Elsie:  "Daddy, do you know what Christmas has?  Lots and LOTS of CANDY!"

***

Elsie:  "Mama, what's the opposite of potty chair?"

***

(while driving the car)
Mama:  "What was that, Elsie?  I didn't hear you."
Elsie:  "That's okay Mama, I wasn't talking to you.  I was just telling a story to Baby Sylvie."

***

Elsie:  "Mama, I am really silly!  And when I grow up, I am going to be a Silly Goofball!  Or maybe a Silly Little Peanut."

***

"Elsie, what do you have in your pants?"

I was a little concerned when Elsie came around the corner with stuffed animals in her pants this afternoon, but she quickly assured me that ALL mama kangaroos carry "joeys" in their "pouches".

I guess I should have guessed what was going on by all the hopping that was happening earlier in the day, but I was thrown off by the bear flashlight that she was also brandishing.

I let her continue to carry her joeys around, but I did convince her to take the Halloween candy out of her pouch (underpants).  Parenting win.

A Swashbucklin' Halloween