Chaotic Clean

Just recently, Katie asked if she could take her fun-filled baths with Michael. Who are we to begrudge such a time-water-energy saver? Little did we know what chaos we would be introducing to our already crazy evenings! Just tonight, Traci tried the duo-bath for the first time on her own as Mike returned late from work. Of course, Katie was very patient and nurturing to her little brother - making sure that he didn't hit his head on the faucet, getting him toys, washing his back, etc. But, Michael.....oh, Michael.... The kid was hell-bent on destroying everything in his path. He knocked down anything sitting on the sides of the tub, tore down the soap/toy bins behind Katie in the picture, tried to climb out of the tub numerous times, and even flipped the shower on/off switch on the faucet. THIS is why we had restricted him to his mini-tub until now.... Oh well, everybody got a good laugh and Katie said it was her most fun bath ever. Daddy will DEFINITELY take over his bath-giving duties tomorrow!

Nothing Beats Daddy

Katie is definitely not a big fan of thunderstorms, which are pretty much a daily occurrence around here in June. Luckily for her, Daddy was working from home yesterday. When a major system came through, Daddy dropped what he was doing and provided her with a snuggle pillow. Our little girl, who has recently dropped all of her naps, was so comfy and secure that she almost fell asleep. Isn't this exactly what Daddies are for?

Beanie Baby

Does this kid look like he enjoyed his dinner tonight, or what? Michael's favorite eats of late have been any kind of beans he can get his hands on. His absolute favorite are black beans. With taco soup on tonight's menu, we let Michael have at it with some black beans and shredded cheddar. Mmm-mmmm. Pure delight, except for those that will be changing his diaper over the next 24 hours. Doesn't he look like the chimney-sweep from Mary Poppins?

Pre-Game (Go Yanks!)

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice

Sorry, Michael....this playdate just wasn't meant for you! Katie had a super-duper girly playdate with a couple of old pals and their younger sisters this morning. Her good friends Allison & Jacqueline (who are in for a couple of weeks from Miami!) and Lyla & Anamarie came over for some dress-up-princess-dance-doll-pizza-treat good fun. It was definitely a girl-a-palooza!! How did Michael fend for himself? He just crawled around, knocking down princess castles, chewing on high-heeled shoes, and stealing pizza.

Cause-And-Effect

Michael is hitting his milestones at a fast and furious pace. One of his most hilarious ones lately is the understanding of cause-and-effect. As you can see from the video above, he will repeat some silly activity a million times to see what effect he has made. Yeah, the door jam was an innocuous example, but it wasn't quite so cute when he pressed the same button on our printer a million times and crumpled all the pieces of paper that came out of it. (And, of course, Katie had to try it, too.)

Anyway, this milestone was just one of many that we talked about with Michael's pediatrician today at his 9-month appointment. The doc was extremely pleased with Michael's progress and growth. Only one bummer to come out of the visit: unless things change over the next couple of months, our little baby will probably have to have surgery to get his tear duct unclogged (sniff, sniff.) Well, we'll worry about that when we see the specialist. To end on a positive note, here are the latest stats: 29.5 inches (86th percentile) and 20 lbs, 14 oz. (56th). Guess he's been burning some major calories with all of his movement!

Closet Tolkien Fan?

Katie may just have found her next calling: castle building! Just yesterday, when both Mom and Dad were busy with other things, Katie plopped herself down with her blocks and set about to build "Pocahontas' Castle." The next time that Mike looked over, she had used all 50 wooden blocks to build the masterpiece on the left! The picture really doesn't do it justice because our collage program cropped the photo too closely, but she somehow defied physics and gravity with blocks teetering on the edge of toppling over. Mike and Katie were so excited about her finished product that they called Mom down to investigate. For some reason, the first thing that Traci thought of, with the castle's towering height and uneven edges, was the Eye of Sauron from "The Lord of the Rings." Perhaps our little princess is a closet sci-fi/fantasy geek-to-be??