love is in the hair

summerisms

this week in summer's words:

yelling at the neighborhood dog: "go back to the zoo!"

looking for a lost toy: "think...think....think..."

playing with her pterodactyl: "tweet! tweet!"

waking up in the morning: "tone! i miss you!"

even better to eat you with

we interrupt your regularly scheduled "victory" to bring you two teeth:

sleep: here's hoping you and i meet again someday soon.

healed

since our last afton update, our bubbly baby has been not once, not twice, but a miraculous *thrice* healed.

first, our discerning viewers may have noticed that afton's porcelain face has been marred by severe skin irritation for most of her babyhood.

well, i finally gave in to the West and got her some medication. though sensitive and oft aggravated skin is likely something that dearest afton will have to endure most of her life (a genetic gift courtesy of yours truly), this round cleared up within a few days.

second, afton is officially an eater. one day, she woke up and just decided to eat solids. she now regularly polishes off entire jars of baby food (carrots are her favorite; see photo).

finally (and possibly most importantly), she is also a sleeper. nearly as soon as i posted that she was not sleeping through the night (*my* night, at least), she started staying in dreamland for ten or eleven hour stretches.

yes, victory is in sight.

bowtique

some people collect beanie babies, some collect dolls,
some collect spoons or mugs or stamps.

i collect bows.

and i have finally built them a home:

record high

not quite.

but sixty-one degrees fahrenheit in the middle of january?

we'll take it.

hello, gorgeous

meet the tallest. shoes. ever.

where's the practicality in five inch heels?

there is none.

and in a world filled with diapers and dishes and laundry,
that's what makes them so beautiful.

monday night cookie madness

poor summer didn't understand why her fun and delicious peanut
butter friends had to be tortured in the lonely, hot, dark oven.

mid year review

a six-a-month baby! so what’s the latest scoop on baby afton?

well, first off, i’m not going to report that she sleeps through the night, because the constant droopiness of my eyes indicates that she surely doesn’t. however, she does sleep for a six or seven hour stretch, which is good enough for now.

so far, no teeth. and no eating solids. she spits out everything we’ve given her. what can i say? i guess my breast milk is pretty phenomenal; nothing else will do.

“tone tone” has taken over as afton’s newest nickname, totally dominating all others because summer has really picked up on it and runs through the house screaming “TONE!” if she doesn’t know where baby afton is.

afton’s latest hobbies include her constant chattering –often serenading us with midnight renditions of BAAA BAAA BBBB – and grabbing everything in sight. she’s pretty vicious with that grab, too, knocking over mug trees and pulling out hair and all that. our little lamb is very strong. and tall. she’s nearly outgrown this round of clothes (it’s only been a month!)

but afton’s number one favorite pastime hands down is spending time with sister summer. these two are inseparable love bugs.

afton is still the smiliest baby that there ever was and lights up every room she enters – not to mention enchants everyone she meets. she has a fairly easy going personality (what a relief!) but can definitely crack the whip when she wants to. and by “crack the whip” i mean scream for an hour and a half until she gets what she wants. yup, she can be just as willful (and loud) as the rest of bryan’s girls. lucky him.

and lucky us for our baby girl bright. i think we’ll keep her.

the better to eat you with

first cut

yup, we pulled the trigger and cut off baby summer's hair.

i tried to wait until she turned three so that her fine wisps would magically become thick, luxurious locks (that happens at three, right??), but it wasn't materializing fast enough, and patience is definitely not a virtue with which i have been blessed, so off with her head...er, hair.

anyhoo, that summer girl, she likes to keep us on our toes. our tip, tip, tippy toes.

situations that we think are pretty benign (like, say, playing in the snow), she turns into torturous ordeals. and conversely, for those landmark events that generally cause a lot of commotion (moving to a big girl bed or getting a hair cut), she doesn't bat an eye. not even a twitch. na-da.

i don't think she even knows her hair has been cut.

she sat in a chair. she watched some tv. and then she ate a peanut butter sandwich (or just the peanut butter, rather). 'twas remarkably uneventful.

like the eye of a tornado.

i see a red door

and i want to paint it black:

bring it on 2010.

bring. it. on.

root beer floats

the champagne of the masses.

happy new year!