I did it...Blake finally gets a cheerio in his mouth

I did it...Blake finally gets a cheerio in his mouth
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Blake jumped over a major hurdle on September 3rd. His pincer grasp and hand-eye coordination finally allowed him to get a cheerio into his mouth all by himself! This is most exciting for the rest of the family as it means we no longer have to get our fingers bitten off feeding him cheerio after cheerio.

Curly-headed flirter

Curly-headed boy
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Blake is definitely a smiler. Especially for the ladies.

I was telling George the other night at supper how he loves to smile at all the sales clerks when we are out shopping.

"Yeah," Faith piped up, "Even the ugly ones."

Tattoos for school

Tattoos for school
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Faith decided that she wanted to do some temporary tattoos on each arm this week, just in time for the first day of school. She's a biker at heart, I guess.

Speaking of school, Faith found out her classmates and teacher on Friday. She has a couple of friends in her class (although not all), and there are more girls than boys, so she's happy. Plus her teacher is a girl, so it's all golden.

Today, Labour Day, is the day before school and she's been bugging us all day to make her lunch. We decided that she can start helping with this this year (I always remember making my own lunch...Mom, did this start in grade 1?). Anyway, she has taken this decision with a certain single-mindedness that only a six-year-old, or her father's daughter, can have. George finally told her she had to wait until AFTER supper to make it.

Her next question, of course, "Can we have supper now?"

Learning how to crawl

Learning how to crawl
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

As you can see from the photo, Blake has been practicing his crawling stance for the last couple of weeks. He has worked his way up to rocking back and forth on his hands and knees, but he hasn't quite managed to get moving in a forward motion...yet. It's only a matter of time. And then life will get very interesting. Do you know how many little beads, Barbie bits, and other choking hazards are strewn about our house? Constant vigilance and possibly liquor (for me) is the only answer.

Riding an elephant

Riding an elephant (4)
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Last Friday we headed to African Lion Safari for a family trip. It was great, if a little hot. (Blake could have cared less...but the rest of us had fun.

The highlight was Faith and George's ride on the elephant. Faith wanted to do it as soon as she saw the elephant rides, so we thought, "Why not?"

As you can see from the picture, they got to ride a Mommy elephant with Junior following closely. This is just one of the million pictures I took of the event.

Faith thought the whole thing was very cool and George actually didn't mind the height.

The camping trip

Playing horse and carriage (1)
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Our trip to the RV park this year was exhausting and fun. At one point we were running a semi-daycare. :) We had seven kids running around our site, with the bikes, helmets, toys, and chairs to prove it. The kids were great though...they played and played and played whatever their imaginations could come up with.

In this picture, you'll see them all playing horse and carriage. Faith's at the front with the reins saying "trot on!" and the rest of them are the wedding party (although I'm not sure William is aware that he's become a wedding crasher).

When I grow up...

At dinner the other night, Faith was talking about what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wants to be in the hospital. After determining that this meant being a nurse, I asked her "Why?" Thinking, of course, with a warm glow in my heart, that she wants to help sick people, or make people feel better, or something equally humanitarian. Her answer?

"Because I get to see people's privates."

Omigod!