Fuzzy Love

IPodding

Although I've spent a lot of time on the computer this week, I haven't had any time to post because of the new toy I got for my birthday: an IPod. All this week I've been plugging our CDs into the computer, one by one, so that they can be transferred to my IPod (Mark had done some already, but there were still a bunch left to do).

I've been noticing that I don't listen to music very often (since the kiddos) and I kind of miss it. And I don't think I've bought a CD since Liam was born. That's sad. I bet that's also the reason why parents get stuck loving the music they loved in high school forever: having kids creates a musical fog of a few years that they can't find their way out of. But then I guess Mark doesn't have that problem: when I mentioned that I liked a new song on the radio, Mark said, "Uh, Kat, we have that CD." Oh.

Because I'm so behind on everything, I'm going to tell you some old news. Rolling Stone magazine put out a list of what they think are the 500 best songs of all time. They did this in 2004, but I just found out about it. It's an interesting list (not only because almost half of the songs are from the sixties).

And check out the cuties...

Liam and Ms. Splash-a-lot.

Yard Work

Another quiet day. We spent most of the morning on the front lawn: Mark did yard work and cleaned out the garage while I cleaned the minivan and the stroller. Olivia happily sat in the shade on a blanket and chewed the grass while Liam biked (triked?) around.

We're sort of getting things ready for my brother James and his girlfriend Sam who are arriving for a visit next Saturday. Visits like this are the kind of motivation I need to get the little honey-dos done.

Because it is such a quiet, boring day around here, I'm sharing an interesting site with you: Lukira. This site gathers up bizarre content from around the web and is technically for older children, but I especially liked the games Squares, Bubble Bees, and Find Five Errors, as well as Word Count and, for some reason, Leekspin.

By Golly, She's Got It!

As I've mentioned before, I've been using baby signs with Olivia. It's sort of been on and off, but I've been fairly consistent with four of the original five I set out to teach her: milk, more, eat, and all done. Two months have gone by and she's given me no response. Then, a couple of days ago - Wednesday? Thursday? - Olivia appeared to make the sign for eat. What the heck, I thought, and gave her some veggie poofs. She scarfed them all down.

I still wasn't 100% sure, however, until tonight's dinner. Mark was trying to stuff more pureed peas in Olivia's mouth and she threw her arm up in the air, fingers outstretched, just like the sign for all done. He tried again and she did it again. And again. And then they did it a few more times for the camera. Hmmmm. Then, when dinner was finished and taken away but Olivia was still strapped into the high chair, I asked her, "Are you all done in there?" She immediately threw both arms high up and waggled her fingers around.

I really think she's got it.

The Laundry Show

Eight Months With Olivia

Eight months we've had this beautiful little girl. It's almost time to start planning her birthday party (almost). At eight months Olivia is smiley and interested in everything, lovey and quick.

She is good (and fast) at crawling, can sit by herself, and can pull to standing and cruise along the furniture. On Wednesday night she climbed all the way up the stairs.

She still eats some baby food - and particularly loves green beans and peas - but also eats crackers, cheese, bread, and anything we've stuck into the Baby Safe Feeder (cantaloupe and bananas are favorites).

She says, "Mamamamamamamama" all the time, but I don't know if she means it.

She takes two naps a day: first at about eight thirty; the next about at one. She goes to bed at seven and wakes up once before getting up for the day at six. She is a beautiful sleeper and goes down with little fuss.

She adores her big brother and thinks the cat is hilarious.

How did we ever get on without her?

Liam's Sunflowers

Remember Liam's little baby sunflowers, started from seed in our kitchen? They're all grown up. We have a few blooms opening up now, but by the end of the week we'll have lots.

Liam is very proud.

The Water Park

There's a water park in our neighborhood. Whenever I'm feeling crappy about the suburbiness of where we live (and we live in the epitome of suburbiness), this park makes me  happy we're here. There are two fountains in the park, plus a playground and a landscaped (fake) stream.

Today we met up there with my friend Tiffany and her kids. She and I sat in the shade with our babies and chatted while our "big kids" romped through the fountains.

If Liam looks overdressed in his swim shorts, swim shirt, and swim shoes, remember that we are a fair people and he's lucky he's not wearing a hat as well.

We packed a lunch and enjoyed being outside, even in the near-record heat we've been having lately (high of 97).

We finished the outing with some rolling down of hills.

Farmer's Market

Despite near record-breaking heat today, we trooped out to the local farmer's market to see what it had to offer. It's been years since I've last been to one, and possibly the last time was in Halifax, where the market is held in the maze of an old brewery and is filled with fruits and vegetables, fresh fish, flowers, baked goods, crafts, and artwork. This one wasn't quite on the same scale. But it's new and besides, it's close to the house.

We went to get some fresh fruits and veggies for the week, although we really had no idea what's grown locally. There are so many good reasons to buy food from local farmers (the food is fresher and cheaper, it's better for the environment), we were planning on being flexible.

We were pleasantly surprised. Although there were only about five or six booths selling fresh fruit and vegetables, that was enough. We bought cherries ($2 a pound!), cantaloupe, green beans, corn, peppers, and lots of other stuff. And we got to sample watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, and a whole tomato.

Well, we had some cantaloupe for lunch and the corn for dinner and my god! that was some of the best tasting food ever. So we'll be back. Cheap fresh fruit....mmmmmmmm.....

Birthday Partying and Baby Wrestling

Liam attended his friend Lauren's third birthday party today, and it was a good one. Jenn had hired a musician that does music classes for little kids and it was a blast for the kiddos.

There was much dancing and singing (note: must copy for Olivia's third birthday).

And, while the "big kids" were eating, there was baby wrestling. Olivia and baby William (born three days before Olivia) were calmly sitting and watching everything until someone introduced a ball. Even though William is in a higher weight category, Olivia took him down.

Whaa, haa haa!

Olivia's New Trick

And my friend Kari (she of the toys) is driving away from Colorado for good today. Ohio gets her. Sniff. Sniff.