A Trip to the Zoo

We ventured out to the Birmingham Zoo last Saturday... it was Farley's first time and she loved it (other than the allergic reaction to her sunscreen). Here's some pics of the day...

Getting in prime "animal viewing position"- Farley's favorite way to travel

The monkey house was her favorite-- must have reminded her of Monty.

Her hat looks very jaunty here!

She said "oooh" to just about every animal we saw. This is her looking at the flamingos, which she proceeded to call like she calls the cat!

A chipmunk we spotted... I keed, I keed- just Farley's cheeks making an appearance

Almost zoo'd out... taking a little break!

I liked the animals, but nothing compares to my daddy!!!

10 Months

Well, our little sweetpea turned 10 months old yesterday. Here she is with her mama this morning in a precious spring outfit. Slightly less precious when I discovered upon our arrival at daycare that she had sneezed and wiped green snot on her white cardigan. It's just what the outfit needed, really. So springy... (and p.s... at what point in my life prior to now did I think that I would find a "snotty-nosed kid" so dang cute??? Never before, but you never know, I guess...) No worries, though. One wipe later and we were back in business. By the way, baby wipes are awesome on so many levels-- they're like the paper towels of the gods. Will it be bad when I still carry them around when Farley is 20-something? Enough jabbering... on to the list!

At 10 months, Farley:

• is still talking. A lot. She will just jabber away (see her mother's own admission above) and it's so cute. She loves to say "uh oh" and makes a point to drop (throw) things or knock them over just so she can say it.
• wants to climb Mt. Kilamanjaro (sp?). Yep, I think I might have a climber. Bless her heart, though, she is a product of her parents so she's a little lacking in the leg department. So, whenever she pulls up on the object of the moment, she starts hiking a leg up. Luckily, she doesn't usually have enough leg to get up on whatever it is! Its only a matter of time, though.
• is a music lover. She will sing and dance to any music playing. Maybe I should have put quote marks around the "sing" and "dance" part, but its so cute. The singing is more like some "ahhh-ing" and the dancing is mainly a bouncy pumping (that sounds so weird, but if you saw it, you'd be like "yeah... bouncy pumping... totally"). The only songs she knows the lyrics (ha!) is the song that Monty (her sockmonkey) sings, which is "ooh ooh, ahh ahh." She totally will sing that one. And then she grabs him, hugs him, and then wipes her nose on him. I think I may see a pattern emerging...
• is so brave. When will we get to that phase where she is a bit more timid in the exploration department? Farley will travel anywhere she can get to via her favorite mode of transport (crawling) and does so without fear. Will she barrel down a hall towards a room where no one is that's pitch dark? Sure! She doesn't look back to make sure she has protection. See... Mt. Kilamanjaro... watch out, this baby is an explorer for sure!
• is steppin'. Yep, she is practing her walking skills with Mom and Dad and is getting a little bit better at the whole "one foot in front of the other" action. Plus, she's cruising now, and can make progress around the coffee table. This is indicated by the tiny greasy finger prints that form a lovely border!
• is right on track. This isn't the thrilling stuff, but what I'll need to remember when I start working--I know, the guilt is heavy-- on her baby book. At her 9-month appointment (which was after her 9-month post, so sorry for the late stats), she was in the 56th percentile for weight, but only 25th for height (leg-ularly challenged... welcome to my world, sister). She is wearing 9 to 12 month size clothes and size 3 diapers and shoes. She still eats mostly stage 2 foods on the spoon, but does a lot of finger foods and lurves wheat bread. (carb-ularly challenged... again, welcome to my world, Farley). She does well with water in her sippy cup. No juice because, well I guess because I'm the meaniest mom ever. (just practicing for later). She still doesn't feed herself her own bottle and is the only one in her class not to. This is what happens when you're the favorite and the teachers spoil you! But, a couple of times, she has picked it up of her own accord and drank the last little bit. Just DO NOT think you are going to make her do it!

That's all I can think of right this second, though each time I do one of these month updates I always think of something I forgot and try to remember it to go back and add it. Then I forget what it was. Ahhhh... Mom Brain. Potentially worse than pregnant brain. I think. I can't really remember. What was I saying?

ED: Hey hey hey! I remembered something. And then forgot it. And then remembered it again!!! So, here's my additional bullet point... Farley is:

• sporting two teeth!!!! Ahhahhhahaha (maniacal laugh). I wrote on her 9-month that she probably still wouldn't have teeth but I eat my words! She has her two bottom teeth poking out. They're not all the way out, but they're coming! As predicted, I have not been able to capture them on film. (or file, as I guess we should say it these days) They are cute, though-- they are growing (groan) on me!

Just Because... You got a problem with that?

I didn't think so! Its Friday afternoon, gorgeous outside, and I'm about to have another weekend to hang out with my family! Doesn't get any better than that! So, have a great weekend-- it should be beautiful, so...

have some fun in the sun...

and feel the grass (faux or not) between your toes. Or fingers (whatever works for you)

(pictures from a couple of weekends ago at Veterans Park)

Thanks, Easter Bunny! Bok bok!

I'm finally getting to posting my Easter pics. It was such a wonderful day: good food, good company, good candy in Farley's basket (that Easter bunny-- he knew Lent with no candy had been rough on Farley's mama so he brought her some to share), and most of all, the anniversary of the greatest day in history for us all to celebrate. Easter=great day!

It was a big day for Farley... short on napping and big on activity, but she was a trooper and never fussed a bit. That is one thing I feel brave enough to taunt the universe about... no matter how much I brag about how stinkin' good she is, well, she's still so good! She's happy and laid back-- Jason and I really lucked out. Can we brag and pretend that it's all a result of our awesome parenting skills? However, a year and a half from now when she's having a full-blown nuclear meltdown in a department store, can I then claim that I never said it? Deal! On with the good stuff:

Her Easter basket (made by Cooie)...includes a new bath towel and spout cover (for taking big girl baths in the tub), a new sippy cup, a new shirt for Monty her sock monkey, a cross for her room, and CANDY!!!

What's all this stuff? For me?

As if you don't already know who these people are...
And these, too!
Ally is helping Farley show off her bunny necklace from the Taylors. By the way, is she storing up for the winter in those cheeks? Yeesh!
Just cute- no other description necessary
The whole clan
Mom and Dad looking sharp
Farley didn't actually hunt eggs this year, she just did some modeling with her basket!
And then tasted her basket, naturally

Rapid Gunfire Posting... up next- Preciousness!!!

Told you I had lots... these are some pictures I took Saturday night before bathtime. I had just undressed my spider monkey-- oh wait, squirmy child (same diff sometimes) and I know you will find this shocking, just SHOCKING--she pee peed on the floor. Guess she needs the other spider monkeys to know that's her territory. (I mean, we have a male cat who has managed to never squirt in the house in almost four years and Farley comes along and fills that void of any and all bodily functions on whatever surface she feels like. And yes, I realize that I will probably be reporting next week that the cat started squirting. Why I do this to myself is beyond me...) Anywho... while I'm hollering for Jason to come quick and bring lots of paper towels and something to clean with, Farley goes for the toy bin again. The cuteness that ensues will probably make your eyeballs explode.

And we're off...My Par-tay!

I have a plethora of things to post, so let me just get to it... We had a wonderful long weekend and great Easter- hope you all did as well! We started off with Good Friday-- it was a holiday for me from work and Jason took the day off! He played golf (which he hasn't done... oh, I guess since before Farley was born! He was missin' it seriously) and I stayed home and hung out with Farley all day. I just sayin', if we happened to win the lottery, I'm pretty sure I could get used to being a stay-at-home mom. Then, Friday evening we went to Red Robin for my and Teresa's (delayed) birthday. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the food, company, and all the gifts. May I just say that the servers there are very... um... enthusiastic. Yep, that's it. The birthday song remix (oh yeah, I kid you not) was about 120 decibels and they had Farley's attention (and everyone else within a three-mile radius). Here are some pics...

Farley...not tardy to the party!

Sweet girl helping Mama celebrate her 29th (yikes!)

Farley... the one split second the whole night she wasn't getting attention!

The whole crew (minus Jason the photographer)