Maris Farms Pictures

Holly likes the "kitties" (they're really bunnies).

All smiles looking at all the critters in the barn.

This was a good picture...Holly really didn't like riding the ponies.

Daddy and Holly coming out of the slide.

"Come on Mommy!"

Holiday really liked the slide.

Little cheese face.

Holiday is enjoying her chocolate milk while Daddy is enjoying his turkey leg.

Look...more "kitties" (aka goats)

Action shot of the pig races.

Yet another fun slide.

How tall is YOUR little pumpkin?

Holly at rapt attention for the music entertainment. They really loved her...and her boots.

...with her sippy cup in hand.

New Pictures

Holiday and Daddy at the Puyallup Fair (and a goat)

Little goats

Baby chicks

Holly loved the bubbles

Really loved the bubbles

Holly's getting her hands washed.

Pretending to cook with Daddy.

One of Holly's last bottles.

The flu shots came into the doctor's office so Holly's got her first round. We went to Aunt Sue's funeral on Friday, and Holly did quite well. We were surprised that about 80 people showed up, it was a beautiful ceremony too. It's been nearly 20 years since I've been inside the Bonney Lake Church. We went to Maris Farms on Saturday. Holly liked the slides and the goats (she called them kitties) and loved walking around in her new galoshes. They're little ladybugs boots. We had lunch there and watched pig races and checked out a folk singing duo. Holly really liked them too. After that we went to Grandma Claudia's house and hung out. Grandma has lots of cool toys that Holly likes. She really seemed to like Uncle Wade and sitting in the recliner with him playing the stand up and sit down game...repeatedly. And after that, we went to Uncle Chris's house in which Holly's favorite part was playing with all the cousins. Kaelie basically babysat her the whole time which worked out great for us. About every 5 minutes Holly would come running out the back room with the string of cousins behind her into the kitchen. They just make sure that she didn't climb the stairs or fall off the bed...it's all good.

18 month check up

Holly weighs 22 lb 12.8 oz (26%) and is 30 inches tall (10%) so it's still looking like she's going to be short like her Mommy. She's looking good on all her milestones, they were really impressed with her chatter. Holly only cried a little during her shots and got over it in a minute. The annoying part was that they are all out of their allotment of flu shots for the month so we have to go back later. I guess the government only gives out a certain amount to clinics each month. Pharmacies don't carry the necessary shots for persons under 8 years old. After last years swine flu vaccine fiasco (which we never got because they didn't have it till January) and running out of regular flu shots this year, I am not too impressed with the CDC. It doesn't make any sense not to give out the number of flu vaccines the clinics request. Blaaaahhh. David and I both got our flu shots so that's some level of protection for Holiday. Our doctor is pretty proactive so she's supposed to call when they have more in. I definitely have it on my calendar to call them on Nov. 1st.

Little Social Butterfly

Here's Holiday at the Meetup.

Holiday really liked the other kids.

We all went to the Meet & Greet for our Meetup group and had a total blast. It was at the Ravenna Community Center in the play area for little kids. They had a lot of cool toys. The Meetup people were really cool too. It's nice that all the kids are the same age, then there's not any rowdy 10 year olds running over the one year olds. We were surprised at how far people came. We expected that everyone there would be from Seattle, but there was a family from Kent, Bellevue, and Edmonds. I guess you're willing to drive if you want to find the right group. Holiday liked following the other little kids around. One little boy liked to scream for joy as he slid down the slide and Holly would scream for joy back. They repeated this several times. Holly will play with something she likes and run back to me and tell me all about it, in babinese of course. Holly knows a lot of words but not how to put sentences together yet. She also thinks it's funny if Mommy crawls into a playhouse with her. She'll actually push me in with everything she has and she's pretty strong. The Meetup group is going to be part of a Halloween parade on Oct. 30th so we're excited about that. Holiday is going to be a little pirate.

Some good news and some sad news

The good news is that my friend Jennifer just had a baby girl born late last night, Audra Moraine (I hope I came close on the spelling). Both mother and baby are doing fine. The sad news is my Aunt Sue passed away on Monday. It was quite a shock to the whole family. You will be missed Aunt Sue.

Holly is still doing great. Her vocabulary seems to increase every day now, it would be absurd to make a list of the words she knows there's so many. :) Although I have to point out that she says "Uh-oh" a lot lately. I think she's dropping things on purpose so she can say it. We cut her bangs again because she's been physically pushing the hair out of her eyes. There's hardly any food on the floor now when she eats, so I guess that means she actually eating. She actually scribbles with crayons now instead of eating them. Half the fun is removing them from their container and putting them back in. We have a meetup date tomorrow at the Ravenna community center. I signed us up for a group that the members are families with toddlers in which most of their free time to get together would be evenings and weekends, which is perfect for our schedule. The pictures of this particular play area look promising, I'm sure Holiday will have a good time.

More Pictures

Holly's wearing Mommy's shoe.

Big smiles.

And smirky smiles.

In a little Elmo outfit.

There's black olives on those little fingers. I remember doing that.

Daddy and Holly in the playtent.

I see Daddy peeking.

Holly's appetite seems to be on the gain this week. Making up for being sick and then some. She's eating much more real food and less Gerber baby products, although she's still a big fan of the fruit strips and yogurt melts. With the bout of sickness we were able to wean her off of bottles and formula completely. The recent formula recall was also a factor. Last night she was running around the living room going "Aaaaa-aaaaah!". It sounded like fun. She knows what the word "kiss" means, she gives us a kiss if we say it. Holly also knows the word "dance". When she hears "dance" she stomps quickly around the room with feeling and excitement, it's usually accompanied by screams of happiness.

Holly's all better...and more pictures

Holly and Daddy reading.

Bumbershoot Day one.

Daddy and Holly during the concert.

Close-up.

Mommy and Holiday.

Touch! (I love that shot).

Bumbershoot Day two. Nap time.

Ellie and Anna.

Lunchtime at Bumbershoot.

Cute little pigtails.

Waiting for Anvil to start.

Holly's all better. It lasted 6 days. I looked up flu for toddlers and healthy kids usually have the flu for 5-7 days when they get it. So Holly was average, but it still was rough going. I highly recommend flu shots. Holly's back on her regular food and milk again. I was a little sick over the weekend but today is the first day I feel better. I think I got a touch of whatever Holly had. Holly got a big package of clothes and books from Grandma Linda last Friday. I think we have the essentials till she grows again. Thanks Grandma!