peas

marianne had peas for the first time tonight. she LOVED them. she kept banging on the tray between bites and practically bit (read: gummed) the end off the spoon. seems she might be a fan of green veggies, so far...zucchini and peas.

don't mind the commentary - we thought we had been recording earlier and then barely caught the end of the meal...as you can tell, I'm scraping the bowl clean.

we also noticed that she was jabbering a new sound tonight - "buh". she's only been saying "hehhh", which she says first, and then she starts in with the "buh"s. george is a pretty good sport with her. the video comes to an abrupt end when she makes a hurried getaway to the ledge. ever since saturday morning she's been going up the ledge on her own and she can now maneuver her way down without doing a header into the floor.

pumpkin cap is compliments of aunt kimberly. she's going to wear it to daycare on thursday for "black and orange" spirit day.

playdate

marianne had a playdate with her friend, madeline, several weeks ago while momma had a playdate with madeline's mommy, tonya. they are only three days apart in age - madeline was actually born on marianne's due date of 3/21. they had a great time together. this is actually before marianne was sitting up well on her own.

marianne adeline and madeline marie

i think madeline may have possibly taught marianne to sit up.

they spent a lot of time playing take-away with this strand of beads.

is that a hint of a tantrum?

yeah, they swapped some spit.

madeline, you are so precious.

creepy-crawler

the last month has been so busy and so has marianne...busy taking on the world of crawling, standing and eating solids (at least mushy ones) with her lone tooth. we certainly have seen a lot of change in her during her 7th month.

she decided she needed to be on the move and she made haste. at the end of august she found her way up to hands and knees.

by the end of september she was military crawling and - much to our amazement - pulled herself up to standing at her einstein gym.

military crawl.

i think i'll just stand.

she put it all together this past weekend and she started crawling on all fours.

crawling (and she actually jabbers a little in this one).

she's now aware that there's a lot more on the floor than her toys and the dog and cat - rugs, outlets, cords, shoes, dust bunnies, so much to touch and taste. that's a big "ooooh noooo" for momma and daddy.

a little tummy time in the nude before my bath.

on the fourth of october we started a meal of solids (read: rice cereal thinned with breastmilk). five days later we gave zucchini a try, which she really seems to like, and i suppose she thinks she needs to chew all that mushy food because on the same day her first tooth emerged. i've been making her food so far. it's so simple and quick. i actually can't wait to start flavoring some of her dishes and trying some combos.

first taste...she's not sure about this.

second day...i can do this.

zucchini is a hit.

this past weekend we went to a pumpkin festival. it would have been an amazing day but it was 87º. are you kidding me? in october? it was supposed to be sunny and cool. it was miserably warm, nay, HOT! hence, marianne's cheeks are beet red. but darn it she looks cute with those pumpkins.

our little yogi getting into downward dog.

our little baby girl is changing before our very eyes. we were so lucky to have our friend, denise, take 6-mo photos of her. here's a couple of newborn vs 6-month comparisons.

vs

vs

marianne is finally getting hair - even in these 6-month photos it's barely there and now she has quite a lot and it's fuzzy, that is before momma slicks it down with lotion. it was pretty dark at first but it's turning lighter and lighter.

i like to think she's momma's girl...

...but who am i kidding?

two years

for our second anniversary i made plans for jerry and i to attend a farm dinner in honor of our farm wedding.

i found this genius group of culinary folks who have collaborated with farms all over boulder county to host dinners on various farms throughout the summer. the spots fill up quickly and i was lucky enough to get two seats for the weekend of our anniversary.

there are a couple of long community tables set amidst the farm - in the field, near the garden or, in our case, in the barn. the food prepared for dinner is harvested fresh from the crops and livestock raised on the farm. it was an amazing experience. jerry was doubtful, of course, but we both had the most wonderful time. we met some interesting people, savored a tasty bottle of wine and ate the most scrumptious meal.

we were greeted to frog belly farm with an apertif of italian bitters and ginger ale & an appetizer of grilled flatbread with mozzerella goat cheese and basil.

we toured the farm and enjoyed the sunset before heading to the barn for dinner.

our menu:

cerleriac soup - creamed celery root

roasted peppers, potatoes and farro salad with chevre

wood-fired farm ham with polenta and chard

grilled colorado peaches with lemon verbena cream

we sat next to a couple who had their 1-yr old girl with them. she actually reminded us a lot of marianne and gave us a glimpse of what's to come in six more months.

happy anniversary, jer. it was a wonderful night and brought back so many memories of our wedding. i love you so much. jb

first came love. then came marriage. then came our baby in a baby carriage.

my boots

these are my john deere boots.

they are still too big but i asked momma to let me try them on the other night. i'm so stylin'. momma and daddy can't wait for me to wear them.

baby belly

i'm a little behind on posting, we've had a lot going on the past few weeks so i'll have several new photos and videos to post when i get around to it.

this morning marianne was doing a little playing while we were getting ready for work and school (daycare). i only got as far as putting her pants on before i got sidetracked with getting myself ready. i snapped this photo with my phone so it's not the best but i just love how it highlights her little belly.

she's not crawling yet but she seems determined. she's not very interested in sitting up but we've been trying to work on it with her. she'll sit up unaided for a few seconds and then topple over but she doesn't face-plant, she has enough control to lay her head down gently.

we had a very low-key labor day weekend...cleaning house, yard work, errands! loads of fun. ha. we did have an nfl fantasy league draft on monday. marianne (and momma) has her first fantasy team. momma didn't really know what she was doing but marianne hollered when she wanted a player for momma to bid on and draft. i think we ended up with a pretty good team. everyone at the draft kept saying how "marge pearl" (that's our team name) has one of the best-looking lineups. we'll see...game one tonight!

summer fun

sunday was ablaze so we took marianne up to the fountains in stapleton to try out her swimsuit and cool her off. all summer long there are always kids playing in the water...it's such a great little fountain and I couldn't wait to dip her in.

she was super pumped: swimsuit - check; smile - check...

unfortunately, by the time jer got home from the office and we walked up there, the sun was going down and it wasn't so hot out anymore and the water was COLD!!! brrrrrrrr

our water play was short-lived.

george is wishing he could get loose of the tree and join all of the kids in the fountain. he'd have that place cleared out in a heartbeat.

dry, warm and ready for some milk.

"i'm lookin' for milk. do you have any milk?"

then momma, daddy and george had ice cream but all marianne got was to lick the clean spoon.