We've got a walker!

That's right! Violet is officially walking. She was taking steps each day, but now she can't stop, won't stop. She is quick, slightly wobbly and 100% adorable when she is on the go, which is (almost) 100% of the time she is awake. Because of this recent milestone, she naps and goes to bed at night even better than before! (She has always been a good sleeper, save for bouts of teething here and there.)
Birthday planning is in full swing. She turns 11 months in just a few days, so we have to get our butts in gear. Her birthday falls on Monday. Her party will be the Saturday before and we plan on taking her to the zoo for the first time that weekend as well.
This last weekend, we had to leave our place bc of Hurricane Irene. We went back to our old house, where Violet got to play in her old room.

"I used to hate this thing? Say what?"

"Hello? Sorry! Wrong number!"

After being in disposables all weekend, we are back and ready to hop back into cloth!

Here is just a small tidbit of Violet walking. I'd post more of her running around the room, but I've been too busy chasing her. Maybe her daddy can help out after work or on a weekend, so you can see. All of her grandparents have seen her on the move, so they can vouch for us/her. She is a fast one!



So she likes to fake clear her throat, say "Uh Oh" and talk on her "phone" and say, "Hi Daddy!" She loves clapping and power walking/wobbling and dancing.
We could not be more proud or happy. <3

Brief Random Update

Hi! I am messy but look at my teeth! I have 7 of them, you know! :)

Playing with her PBKids owl. She was using it's foot to touch EVERYTHING this day. She was sticking it in her stacking cups and trying to make the dog kiss it.

And of course, her new favorite thing in the world - her PBKids Anywhere Chair. She likes to climb it and jump from it, down onto her Boppy and blankies. This kid is a dare devil!

This child gets cuter and funnier each day, for real.
She points at everyone all.the.time. The cashier at the grocery store, the dog, people on television. If I say 'uh oh' she repeats it. (Even if someone on television says it.)

Are we seeing a pattern here? I think it's adorable and I do not have the boob tube on all day, everyday, but sheesh! New idea? Less shows, more music. She likes to bop. Bouncing up and down, shaking her head, and "singing" along to the music. (Yes, even if it's a commercial.)
::gulp::
It's not like I watch daytime soap operas, talk shows or reality programs with Violet. I don't watch them period. We dig anything Jim Henson around these parts. The Sprout channel isn't too shabby either, but it's time to cut back. A lot. Verizon FIOS does have a Toddler Tunes station that is actually not too bad.
It has been super rainy and stormy this last week, so I guess I am just experiencing a small case of cabin fever. Thankfully, Violet has been keeping busy by crawling, cruising the furniture and all of the usual things. She does take independent steps each day. (Yup, anywhere from 2-5 steps all on her own! Not quite walking yet, though!) Last night, she took 5 steps but it was more like she was running! Mike and I both got to see it together, which never happens. BONUS! :)
Violet went to her new friend Isla's first birthday party on Saturday. We did not get any pictures of them together, but they sure did have fun together! Isla is super sweet and likes to share. Her parents are pretty rad, too. (Bonus for Mike and I!)


Oh and if you're a CDer, check out this giveaway. We have a bunch of Fuzzibunz and they seem to work quite well! :)

Official 10 Month Pics

There is no such thing as sitting nicely for pictures these days. Not around these parts, Pilgrim.

Oh, andplusalso...

Just beachy!

My goodness it's been awhile! I feel like we are always saying that, but it's true. As time goes on and Violet gets more mobile, it gets increasingly difficult to try and keep up with the blog, pictures and videos.
We recently took a trip to the shore. It was Violet's first time and she did so well! We were gone from July 30th until August 7th. We all made it through the whole vacation! (We were fully prepared to cut the trip short if V was not having a good time, of course.) I'd say Violet made it out the best though. No sunburn like her folks and she even brought back some seashells! She loves water. At home, bath time and pool time = a breeze, so it was no surprise that she took to the ocean waves like a dolphin...kind of. She wanted to go swimming on her own! Don't worry - we held her close as we jumped through the waves. She crawled all over the beach. She had an inflatable pool set up that she splashed in. She did not eat the sand, but rather felt it with her fingers a lot, puzzled by its grainy texture. It was a wonderful experience! So we've got a beach baby on our hands for sure!


During vacation, Violet's 7th tooth made its appearance; she tried (and liked) pancakes for the first time. She also had the famous Cole peaches and plenty of other fresh fruits and veggies from local produce stands and the farmer's co op market close to the island. Speaking of famous Coles, she met and played with her new friend, Jonas, on the beach. They were incredibly cute together. It was nice to catch up with our old island friends. That place would not be the same without them.

Violet is no longer using a bottle and has the sippy cup in full effect. w00t! She celebrated her 10 month birthday while we were away. Here is her pensive beach pose. (har har)


Her new favorite thing is to hold up a random toy and pretend it is a telephone to talk to Daddy, or "Dat." Speaking of Dat, Michael and I celebrated on August 2nd. Yup. We started dating 10 years ago!
Now that vacation is over, it's time to start planning Violet's first birthday party. So while we are preoccupied and organizing a very small celebration for our very small (yet big) girl, we will be sure to pop in with random updates and pictures.

YouTube seems to be undergoing maintenance, so I will be sure to edit this when it's back up with a video or two! :)

This & That

Violet is very mobile these days. She cruises the furniture one handed and let's go to stand alone (by herself, not holding on to anything) for a minute or two at a time. She took FOUR steps the other day!!! Since, she has taken one or two steps, but she is still testing the waters. When she crawls, she is so fast!

She has also sprouted teeth #5 and #6. So her top four front teeth are in and her two bottom front teeth. She no longer looks like a vampire. ;P

We have a framed 8x10 photo of her up that was taken just before she turned 6 weeks old. If we say, "Say hi to the baby," she turns to it and waves and tries to say "hi!" It's pretty adorable, if I do say so myself.
The animals now let her hug them and pet them more and don't seem to be nearly as annoyed with her as they used to be. In fact, our dog Mona has become her BFF since realizing that whatever food Violet drops, she gets to nom on.
At her 9 month pediatrician appointment, the doctor said she is doing incredibly well. She is hitting her milestones early/on time and is healthy, happy and normal and we are more than happy and proud! :) Here are the stats: 28.5 inches tall, 20 pounds and 7 ounces.
This summer is breezing by, but we are having a blast and savoring each moment of Violet's first year. All of her firsts and each new milestone she hits truly amaze us. I know each new parent says these kind of things, but there is a reason for that! We've already started the planning for Violet's first birthday party. This may seem crazy to some, but time seems to go by so much faster with a baby in tow. Just trying to keep our bases covered. :)

'Til next time! <3

NIMBY

The Vandals have this song that I am constantly thinking of while searching for a new home. Not In My Back Yard. The song is about denying G E Smith (of SNL fame) admittance to their community. For me, it represents the nuclear reactor on the outskirts of town. Now that I think about it, G E Smith was probably meant to represent General Electric because the Vandals can't write a song with a straight face. And that's a good thing.



I really believe nuclear energy can be safe. So what's the concern about? It probably parallels the common apprehension of flying. The fear doesn't make logical sense because flying is statistically safer than driving. But on the other hand if anything did go wrong, the whole lot of passengers would be royally F'ed.

So there is a slight chance we will have an "incident". But there's also a chance Violet's turtles will show an interest in ninjutsu when they reach their tweens.


"We caught him when he couldn't play the lead from Tattooed Love Boys."

9 in / 9 out

Violet's been an outside baby just as long as she has been an inside one. This gives her the experience to make an educated choice of which she likes better.

I'll Stay! I Love America!

Our Nikon has a 32GB memory card. Even at the whatever-infinity-times-two-megapixels we are shooting at, that is a lot of storage. So this means we don't have to delete any photos as we copy them to the computer. This also means while scrolling through her 9 month photos we can skip one photo too far. Then it's *zip*, space-time has wrapped around itself and we are staring at a 2 week old baby, who hadn't yet rolled or babbled or crawled or cruised. But because this moment wasn't touching enough, didn't make us instantly realize how fast time moves, we began sorting through clothes she's outgrown since moving back to the Philadelphia area. We had to rub jalapeño seeds in our eyes to calm down.

Philadelphia is been berry good to us.
We've got two more moves before we can settle. Violet is loving the apartment living. We are tolerating it as a necessary evil to our relocation. More on that later. For now, check out how Violet spent month eight, more or less.