Charlie is gonna be MAD!

Yup...Halle has the steak bone...

Isn't that a picture?? She didn't want to give it up either...too much time with the dog!!!

The New Play Structure

Whenever I take Halle to playgroup she gravitates towards the slides. She likes to climb(try) up the slide part...over and over again. It's like a little baby treadmill. She likes to climb in and over and under the structure as well so I decided to get her one of her own. It was a big hit with our girl. Not only does she have a slide and climber now but the whole thing is located OUTSIDE. Going outside is definitely the preferred activity these days. (I wish it would just get about ten degrees warmer. )


Wow, look at the fine workmanship in this climber...

Did you say this is a present for me, Mom??

WOW!! My own cimber and slide!!

Hmm...the yard looks different from up here.

Daddy, do you promise to catch me??

Here I go!!
Woohoo!

Ahhh....

...that's what all those teeth are for! I may have mentioned in an early post that Halle is teething-again. When we first met Halle, she had two lower teeth and was cutting the top four, front teeth all at the same time. Then came two more lower, front teeth. Then four molars...all at the same time. Now Halle is getting all her eye teeth at the same time. How many more teeth are there? Anyways, her newest thing is that she no longer wants her food cut-up into bite sized pieces. She wants to take bites out of things including your toes should they be exposed as she happens by. (She doesn't bite hard, it's more of a taste test. Disgusting nonetheless.) For snack today she asked for a banana. Ok, she pointed and gave the sign for 'more'. She wouldn't eat it if I gave her a slice so I just handed her the whole banana and she ate it-three quarters of it!!

This picture was taken as I asked her if she was 'all done'. I got 'the look'. She's going to make some boy miserable one day!! LOL

One Angry Little Ladybug

Remove the sharp objects...

Charlie is a good dog. He's big. He's goofy. He's good for spooning with but he has issues with depression. Situational depression. For example, if Halle is in the situation, he's depressed. For a while in February we had him on 24 hr watch thinking he might try to hurt himself. He was trapped in the house with Miss H all day and all night because it was even too cold for him to go outside!!! When Halle and I went to NS, Charlie found his reason for living again. He got up at 7 for breakfast instead of being dragged to his dish at 9:15. He bounced and jumped around, was excited to see Alan and was generally re-born. This morning he didn't get out of bed until 9 again. I think that was after Halle took his kong for the third time.

The Hat

Halle is from a part of China that has really spicy food. There is some conjecture that the spiciness of the food passes on to the people(female variety) in that area as well. Halle doesn't really have too much of a temper but she does have her moments. One of those moments came when Auntie Janesta decided she would like some photos of her and her favorite niece. It was later in the evening and there was a bit of a breeze so we had to put on Halle's hat. When I initially put it on I guess I pulled it down a little too far and it went over Halle's eyes so I pulled it up a little. Then Halle pulled it back down over one eye and proceeded to look around at everyone. As we were walking to take the photos in the pasture, Janesta kept pulling the hat up and Halle would pull it down...but only over one eye. Then she stuck her chin out and gave us this sassy little look...that's her spiciness.






This is 'the look'.

East Coast or Bust...

Halle and I headed to the East Coast for a few days and hence the reason for no blog activity. What a great little traveller she is!! Despite having only slept half an hour in either direction, she was in a really good mood. It was an excellent trip overall and we did a lot of visiting with friends and family and Halle spent quality time with Nana and Papa. We even managed to fit in a visit with friends from our group we travelled with to China. It was great to see their little one again and see how much she has changed. Plus, my family had a baby shower for Halle and my aunt determined that from now on, all family baby showers will be when the child is 14 months old. Apparently they are a lot more interesting then!! Halle entertained her aunts and cousins for two hours straight!

Halle learned some new words while we were away: Maddi(Nana's dog), kitty and she started doing the sign for "book". Oh, the other thing Halle discovered was the piano. She loves the piano!!! I'll post some video of the maestro later when I am unpacked. I went to bed at 8:30 last night and didn't wake up until seven this morning!!

Here are some pictures from our trip!

Lunch with my friend Pam

Hmmmm....what should I order? Grilled cheese sounds good...

Entertaining guests at the baby shower....

Showing off her new hat!!!(and teeth!!) Halle is getting her lower eye teeth now. She's been excellent considering how her little mouth must be feeling.

Playing the piano. I think this time it was a rendition of 'Bonhomme Bonhomme' but I can't remember exactly.

'Maddi'

'Kitty'

Travelling to visit Justine!

The girls at their six month reunion.

Playing 'pick-up the soother' with Papa. Note**Halle doesn't use a soother, she prefers her thumb but she like to pretend she likes the soother. She's complicated.

Getting ready to board the plane back to Daddy....