she pees and poops in the potty! (an extended post on early potty training)

**oh my! i have so neglected this blog - which i will probably continue to do. but, i was going to post this several months ago and failed to. (this post was written on 4/20/11 to be exact - when lillian was about 18 months old). because several people have asked me for our potty training "technique" or "story" i am going to go ahead and share this post - even though it is waaayyy late. enjoy*

all of a sudden, i feel like one of those braggy mcbraggerson mothers. you know the ones. "oh, little henry. he just loves to recite shakespeare, and he is so good at it." or "oh, little lisa, she just loves the blue book. she's had it memorized since she was two." and, "oh, little harrison, he just can't stop dividing everything by pi."

you get where i'm going.

but, at the risk of being one of those, i must say, "oh, my little lillian, she pees and poops on the potty. and, she looks so darn cute in her big girl panties! did i mention that she also does the laundry and the dishes now?"

(okay, so some of that is untrue).

i just can't help but be proud of lillian's latest accomplishment. i know that most people thought i was a little crazy introducing toilet training so young - 17 months!!!. i was doubted (even by bradford) (even by myself at times). but, victory is ours!

and, now, i will tell you all about how we got where we are. you may not care. and, that's okay. you can just scroll down and see lillian's potty pictures. or, if you don't want to see them (and, you might not - after all, it is just a girl and her potty), then leave already!

here goes nothing:

we introduced the potty several months ago after i read "the diaper free baby" by christine gross-loh. we are lucky to live in an area that houses many different viewpoints and philosophies on things like parenting. there is a rather large natural parenting and attachment parenting contingent, which i am happily plugged into. and, the idea of elimination communication (or "EC") has been discussed on more than one occasion in these groups. this is how the above book first came into my radar.

for those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept of EC, here it is in short: it is a method by which the caregiver(s) of a baby (starting in early infancy in many cases) learns to read the babies cues about when it needs to eliminate (poop and pee people!) and helps the baby to eliminate in proper places (like a toilet). basically, this method emphasizes good communication and a closeness between caregiver and baby.

i am guessing that most readers of this blog find the idea of EC a little crazy. i did. i'll admit it. i didn't understand why people would do this or how they did it or what difference it made, etc. etc. And, I still don't entirely understand these things. in theory, the idea of EC made sense to me. after all, it is in line with almost all of the other parenting decisions i have made (or have tried to make) since before lillian was born - natural childbirth, extended breast-feeding, co-sleeping, homemade baby food, baby wearing, and on and on. (gosh, i feel crunchy!). and, EC is, in a sense, "international." you know how i love to feel international (especially canadian - boy, do i want to be canadian!).

but, i digress. anyway, after reading the book, i was not convinced that EC in total was for us. but, i was convinced of a few things. first, i became convinced that being allowed to work on "pottying skills" was an important step in a child's development and, that, unfortunately and for whatever reason (i have theories, but don't get me started!), parents in the united states unnecessarily delay this step. second, i became convinced that all of the "starting too early can cause severe emotional trauma" hype was - in a word - absurd. of course, potty-training at any age can cause severe emotional trauma. but, this is dependent on circumstances that have little to do with the child's age. third, after reading "diaper-free before three," by jill lekovic, i became completely convinced that almost all that you hear about the need to "wait until the child is ready (read, until the child is well over two)" is completely unfounded by medical literature.

in short, i decided to make this parenting decision like i have made most - study a bit. think a bit. and, then, go with what feels right.

it just didn't feel right to make lillian keep dumping in her pants. i don't want to dump in my pants. neither do you. and, i knew that if she knew any different and had any choice about it, she wouldn't either.

so, we bought her a potty. and, we sat her on it a few times a day. then, we started letting her run around without clothes on a few times a week for a few hours. this experiment resulted in the following:

at first, she would pee right on the floor and go about her business like she just hadn't wet my rug.

then, we noticed her start to notice. she would look down - clearly surprised that pee was running down her leg and puddling on the floor.

then, she would start to tell us. "oh no, pee pee on floor."

then, she would start to try and stop it mid-stream- saying all the while, "oh no, pee pee on floor! lillian pee peed on floor."

then, one day, she started sitting on her potty and peeing into it. you would hear her - "potty, where'd are you?"

of course, after every peeing on the floor incident, i would take her over to her potty and ask her to sit down. she would sit. then, i would say, "pee pee should go in here. try to pee pee in the potty" (or, something along those lines). i just wanted her to connect peeing with the potty.

that was pee. poop was easier. a light switch just turned on one day about poop and the rest was history.

so, that's the story. and, here are some pictures.

every little bit helps | raffle for alabama

most of you have heard through the grapevine (or Facebook, which is the modern grapevine i guess) that i am hosting a raffle to benefit the disaster relief effort in alabama. if you've heard. excellent. donate!

if you haven't heard, please visit my business website for more information (and, then, donate!).

i know many of you do not live in the dc metro area and/or are not interested in a session with me. that's okay. if you are in mobile, enterprise, or birmingham and you win the big prize, i can do your session when next i come to town. if you just aren't interested in a session with me, that's okay too. there are other great prizes. not interested in those? that's okay. i know all of you are generous people who don't care about prizes and such. doing good is good enough prize for you. and, i thank you for that and for your donation ;)

(really, go check it out. i have raised $500 already! and, a huge thanks to all of you who have already donated. it is appreciated!)

CLICK HERE for more information or go HERE to make a donation and skip the fine print

p.s. a post about lillian's potty adventures is coming your way shortly. stay tuned for that. happy saturday!

happy easter!

this morning, we visited the del ray farmer's market (and helped ourselves to a family favorite - homemade apple cider donuts) before stopping in at st. elmo's coffee shop for lattes.

then, lillian and i went to see the easter bunny and hunt easter eggs at eclectic nature, our neighborhood garden shop. lillian loves the easter bunny and is obsessed with easter eggs. this is her second easter egg hunt this season. as you can see from the photos, she prefers to open the eggs immediately to see "the prize" before chucking them into her basket.

i hope that everyone is having a happy easter! here are a few photos - enjoy!

let's make art people!

i tend to get out of whack without some sort of schedule. a calendar.

you see. i need structure.

when things have their place in the week, then i can be in the moment without worrying about what i should be doing or what might not be getting done.

i see the irony in the fact that i need a schedule to be "in the moment." don't judge.

because i had a difficult time last season managing my time between the business and home, I decided to really stay on top of it this spring/summer. to be proactive. to book only as much business as i could realistically handle on part-timeish hours. to not let it take over my life.

because, after all, the business was supposed to be a part-time deal. lillian is what i consider to be my full-time job. she, at this point in our lives, is my priority. bradford and i thought a good deal about what it meant for us as parents for me to stay home with her, and we made a decision that this was best. for her. for me. for our family.

so. the point. i made a schedule. a calendar. no hour to hour instructions, only general day to day notes about how to spend the week. for example, wednesday is craft day.

lillian loves to "play paint." she asks to play paint all the time. sometimes, we play paint outside on the sidewalk. sometimes, we play paint on the kitchen floor. (the magic eraser is a dream come true by the way). she hearts paint.

and, i heart my new schedule.

i leave you with some photos of our little family. littles mcgeezy is much loved.

happy tuesday.

[p.s. yes, i realize the photos in this post are different sizes. i have no idea why. it bothers me. it does. but, after spending too much time on trying to fix the problem, i decided to move on. to leave it be as they say. so, sorry.]

[p.p.s. this post is dedicated to ryan sanders who randomly messages me to ask when i am going to update the blog. thanks ryan for keeping me honest. ;) ]

these days

lillian is loving life.

she is learning so much.

she speaks in sentences regularly. she parrots everything you say. and, i do mean everything. (my road rage and foul mouth have been parroted back to me as of late. wonderful.)

she still loves stuffed animals and completely ignores baby dolls. right now, she is napping upstairs with no less than seven stuffed animals. she wants them all. her favorites: monkey doggie, doggie, other doggie, and monkey.

she loves loves playing hide. she hides herself under covers, in our closet, in the bathroom cupboard and then says "lillian where'd are'd you?". very cute. she will wait quietly wherever she is for a long period of time before revealing herself. patience is a virtue. she also hides her stuffed animals. at nap time, I have to go on a scouting mission to find them - checking all of the regular hiding spaces for them.

sometimes, when she is supposed to be napping, i hear her saying, "monkey, where'd are'd you?" or "doggie lie down. doggie sleep. doggie, where'd are'd you."

she still loves rolling around the block in her car. she does not prefer to be carried, strolled, or the like. she wants to walk. which, can be slow. and frustrating. but, she is independent, and I like that about her.

she still plays quietly by herself a lot. she will read a book while i am reading a book - lying on the floor with her legs crossed in the air. she does not need to be entertained in the least. i like that about her too.

she is learning to use a potty. although, i am not sure much progress has been made on that front. i will keep you posted. we still cloth diaper and all that jazz. my hope though is that she will soon be out of diapers all together.

she loves doggies - still. and monkeys. and ducks. she goes nuts over airplanes. we go to the air and space museum regularly to see all of the airplanes. we also live near enough to reagan national airport that she sees airplanes all of the time landing and taking off. she screams - "airplane!" and smiles a huge smile, which is cute. this is always helpful in the car - airplane spotting is our favorite in the car pastime.

she has a sense of humor. she is always saying that this or that is "funny" - and, most of the time, it is. if she hears bradford and me laughing about something she will fake laugh and say "funny." i love that about her.

she does not care to have her photo taken. it is rare that she actually looks at the camera when i whip it out. but, that's okay. i don't care to have my photo taken either.

what else?

just so you don't get to thinking that she is the most perfect child you know, here are a few things that drive me nuts.

first, she likes to walk on her own everywhere. i know i said this already, but, its important that you understand how annoying this can be. especially when you are in a crowded place. especially when you are in an airport.

second, she does sometimes throw fits. she will fling herself down on the floor crying, which can be funny. but, most of the time, it is frustrating. (but, then, sometimes frustrating things are actually funny if you have any perspective at all).

she has started running away from me when she knows that i am about to take something away from her. she knows that she isn't supposed to have whatever it is that she has. when i lock eyes with her she says "no no!" and runs.

but, really, that's it. otherwise she is perfection on a stick. and, i love that about her.

that is the obligatory summary of little's development at present.

as for us, we are busy. as usual. we hosted a play date at the house this morning, which was fun. last weekend, we went to the zoo, which was crowded. it was such a beautiful day that it didn't surprise me. but, it did remind me of how crazy it gets around here (mainly in the district) in the spring and summer months. tourists tourists everywhere. i absolutely loved the winter months at the museums. there is something wonderful about an almost completely empty (relatively speaking) museum. but, oh well. perhaps the tradeoff - warm weather - is worth it. we will see.

this weekend i begin outdoor portrait sessions again. time to get back on the horse. and, saturday is my birthday. i am old. its official. the big 29. yikes.

until next time, here are some photos I took of lillian at the zoo last weekend.

tonight littles

came over and gave me an unprompted and unexpected long hug. very sweet. i said, "thanks littles. i love you." and, she said, "love you mommy." oh. how sweet. my heart still hurts. as does my toe. because, after the hug she crawled over all stealthily* like a ninja and bit me on the toe. she found this incredibly funny. as did i. but, i tried not to laugh. i don't want to encourage toe biting. i am pretty sure that random toe biting isn't socially acceptable.

*stealthily may or may not be a word. i don't care either way.

nothing cures a busted face

like a vegan cupcake.

for all of those who've shown concern for little's little face, thanks so much! she is doing wonderfully. she does have a mark on her chin (exhibit A above) and the remnants of a fat lip, but other than that she doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear.

today was supposed to be julie's last day here,* so we headed down to the national harbor, which has a "cake love" bakery. they make vegan cupcakes. littles eats vegan cupcakes. it was a match made in heaven.

*did you catch the "supposed to be" above? we took julie to the airport tonight only to discover that her flight was delayed by an hour and a half - which would have caused her to miss her connection in atlanta. she is spending another night here with us. we are happy to have her!

goodbye for now.

busted.

lillian celebrated mardi gras by busting it at the playground this morning.

there was blood. lots of it.

she bit through her bottom lip and skinned her chin. wowza. what a way to start the day. julie - who happens to be visiting this week - helped me lug her home. she screamed the whole way (lillian, not julie) and the blood continued to spew. by the time we made it home, she looked like a cullen pre-reformation.

poor thing.

by the end of nap time, all was forgotten (except that, every so often, she would lightly touch her big fat lip. the look on her face when she did this suggested that she had no idea how it had gotten this way. i have seen this look before. the "wow, what happened last night? look." i might (might) have even had this look myself once or twice. but, i digress.)

other than this incident, littles mcgeezy has had an exciting few days. she is enjoying julie's visit. we have been going going going since julie arrived, which has been fun for all of us. bradford actually took monday off, so we had three full days with him. that, combined with the fact that we have a wonderful guest, have an excuse to eat out and go out for coffee more than usual, and have done some serious "tourism" have made the last few days divine.

speaking of divine. you know what's divine? salted caramels. yes. you heard me. salted caramels. if you can get your hands on some, you must. they are truly delicious. old town, alexandria, has a relatively new candy story that sells these little yummies and i am addicted!

i digress again.

i really hope to keep up with this blog from here on out. i hate that i have let it fall through the cracks. i have just been so busy with my business - which is still going strong - and with travel and my family and my life that i let the routine of blogging routinely (redundant much?) go. but, i am back in the saddle.

until next time -

let this be the first of many

i will start blogging again. i will.

i have decided that it is a must. however, it will never ever happen if i try to catch up. it will only happen if i start from today and move forward, pretending that no gap exists. ignoring the fact that i have been a horrible horrible blogger for some time now. completely living in denial. that is what i will do when it comes to this blog.

so, pretend i have been a perfect blogger. okay. just pretend. pretend you are all caught up on my life because i have been blogging daily - never missing a beat.

im glad we have an understanding.

i will play catch up only this once. with these pics. because they are too good.

happy holidays!

i owe all of you pictures. i know i do. and, since its christmas eve, i offer this:

best wishes to all of you -

hello. we are still here.

i thought i would give a quick update on the hardin family.

we are busy!

my business has really picked up. this is a wonderful (albeit a bit surprising) development. i am working very hard to balance work and family. some things are definitely falling through the cracks - like cleaning for example (those who know me know how difficult letting go of my daily cleaning routine has been) - but i am doing my best to maintain some semblance of order and balance in my life. the transition has been a bit difficult (it all happened so fast), but it gets easier every day. what i have learned (or, rather, am still learning) is that it is very hard to do everything well. i tend towards anxiety when things get busy and stressful - when i feel as if i am losing control. i have to constantly remind myself that some things - like daily vacuuming for example - must be sacrificed for the greater good. sometimes, you have to prioritize and let go of the things that really don't matter. that is what i am learning to do.

but, enough about me.

bradford is off in NYC today (he left yesterday) on work related business. he is still doing well at work (as we all knew he would!). they keep him very busy, but he is doing an incredible job with the work/life balance - which i so appreciate. he has been my biggest fan during this new business venture. i couldn't (and wouldn't) have done it without his never-ending support.

next week we leave for birmingham, alabama, where we will see family and friends and witness my cousin ashley get married to a wonderful man. i couldn't be happier for her and couldn't be more excited about heading back down south. we will leave from birmingham to go down to mobile, alabama, to visit bradford's family - which will be a blast i am sure. can't wait! we plan on seeing as many people as we can during our trip and have already made plans to visit with Judge Fuller and chambers. maybe we will see my judge as well?

okay - now for what actually interests you -

lillian is doing well. she started sleeping all the way through the night (yes!!). we knew she would when she got good and ready, and she did not disappoint. we are both glad that we stuck to our guns about not "sleep training" her - of course, some people swear by it but we felt it just wasn't for us.

another big announcement - lils also stopped breastfeeding! she is a full time drink from a cup baby now. this transition went extremely smoothly - she was ready apparently! i started to notice that her feedings did not seem to interest her as much and cut back a little bit, which she did not seem to mind. then, we stopped feeding before bed (because she didn't seem that interested). i did not think that she would fully wean, because she was waking during the night to eat. but, once she dropped her before bed feeding she immediately started sleeping through the night (imagine that) - this means so more breastfeeding!

i miss my little baby and am sad that our breastfeeding days are over. we made it one year and one month, which i know is a big accomplishment, but i will miss it. with that said, i am glad that the transition went smoothly. i told myself that i would not hang on to breastfeeding for me, and would take cues from lils about when to stop, and that's what we did. i am proud of lillian! she is growing up.

now, i must admit that i tried to get her to sleep with us again the other night. i miss co-sleeping and had forgotten why we stopped. i immediately remembered, because lillian did not like sleeping in the bed with us. she couldn't get comfortable and slept horribly for a few hours. it made me sad to transfer her to her own bed in the middle of the night, but that's what she wanted. she really has grown into an independent little thing.

what else? lillian now does a forward roll by herself. at least, that's what she thinks is happening. she bends over, puts her head and hands on the floor in the forward roll start position, and then flops over with the biggest smile. we clap and congratulate her on her acrobatic abilities - but, can barely hold back our laughter. it is the funniest thing.

she still loves her "monkey-doggy," which is what she calls her curious george monkey now. she loves to sing "the itsy bitsy spider" and does the hand motions. singing this has replaced breastfeeding at bedtime. (oh how the times are a changin').

she loves her uggs - a gift from aunt val - and carries them around the house (and tries to wear them to bed). she says "yucky yucky" when she makes a dirty diaper. she likes to put her cloth diapers on monkey doggy. she says "ut oh" when she drops something. she seems to say new words daily!

okay, so i must get back to work. i hope you enjoyed the update.

and, i must apologize for not blogging more often. i promise i will get back to it when things calm down. (maybe no one even reads this blog anymore?)

and, to all of those i love - family and friends - i apologize that i have not been in better contact these days. i have just been so busy. but, i do love you all and appreciate your support. please, know that!

have a wonderful weekend.

lillian barnett hardin: one year stats

we took lillian to the doctor for her one year check up this past week.

here's how she measured up:

weight: 19lb 3 oz, 15 percentile

height: 29.25 inches, 50 percentile

head circumference: 17.5, 30 percentile

lillian did very well at her checkup, despite the fact that she had to have two shots and had to have blood drawn. the results of her blood test? negative for lead. negative for anemia. positive for egg allergy.

we hoped she would grow out of her egg allergy. but, she hasn't. she's a better vegetarian than we are - no eggs for her.

in conclusion, i am working on pictures from her birthday right now. i have decided not to do anything above the most basic of edits - i just don't have time. so, i should be able to post some soon. i have been crazy busy with work and with life. forgive me.

speak to me, oh lillian

i have been trying to keep up with a list (in my head - along with all of the other lists floating around in there) of all of the words that lillian knows (and says), but it is difficult. in the past week or so, she has really picked up the pace when it comes to word usage. [it's kinda crazy really]. so, fyi and as a reminder to us, here it goes:

• night night
• hi
• what's that
• doggie
• duck
• eye
• dada

and, in the past day or so, she has said belly button (this one sounds like "beba but'n"), yuck, and water.

there might be more, and i will update if/when i think of them.

hello.

hope you are having a good day. we are.

bradford is out of town at a wedding. lil and i are bachin it up here. this morning, we drove lils' car (more on this later) down to the del ray farmer's market where we picked up donuts and coffee and met up with allen, liz and ruby denson. lils demolished her donut with a quickness. she is a donut eating machine. then, this afternoon, we visited one of our favorite coffee shops (cause of its proximity to the little gym), which was having a fall craft fair. it did not meet expectations to say the very least. so, we went home, got lils' car, and went down to the local elementary school's fall festival. it was rockin.

now, lils is napping, and i am working (sorta).

good day.

it's been a little crazy here lately.

to say the least.

hence the lack of posts.

but, don't confuse the quiet here with our lives. that would be a mistake. our lives are not quiet. they are happy. they are full of all things wonderful. but, they are bizerk. out of control.

a little like this:

yikes!

i hope to post some proper, regular, updates soon. but, you should know a few things before i go.

(1) lillian barnett hardin is ONE. we threw her a birthday bash this past saturday. our home was filled with sweet eats, noisy (and non-noisy) toys, handmade decorations, and, most importantly, many many many people who love the lils.

[i have so many photographs. and, i promise to post some of them soon. seriously. that is a promise i intend to keep.]

lillian is walking - well. she is an expert! she is almost running, which is exciting. she loves to be up on two feet and never ever crawls. the days of the crawl are behind us. she can identify several of her body parts by pointing. she hearts her belly button in a big way. she can say the following: night night, what's that?, duck, doggie, heeeyyy (while waving and cheesing), lily (this is brand new, as in tonight), dada, momma and maybe some others (inconsistently). she still wears cloth diapers with pride. she still breastfeeds (although very seldom - i have a feeling the days of the "nana" (aka booby) are numbered). she cannot get enough of books and reading. if you sit down to play with her, odds are that she will go get a book and come and crawl into your lap. she stills smiles and laughs like a goober. she is still a people person. she loves waving at people. she enjoys wearing shoes and lights up when i tell her to go put them on. she helps me put on her pants by lifting each leg in turn. she is attached to a curious george stuffed toy (monk monk). she loves to move fast, to fly around, to get dizzy, to laugh, to feel the wind in her hair - etc. she is finally sitting forward facing in her car seat. she snacks - one of her favorites is go lean (i know, so sad). cheese might be her favorite food. she likes to eat whole apples (i think she likes the biting part). speaking of biting, sometimes she walks up to me and bites me on the leg or foot (it hurts!). she loves being cuddled, but doesn't need me around too much. she likes to play independently. she is still the sweetest, most loving little girl. she gives hugs and kisses liberally and without being asked (although, she will grant your request for one at any time). although she can walk on her own, sometimes she grabs our fingers and let's us walk with her. bradford and i couldn't be luckier - truly. i love her so much it hurts.

(2) bradford has been busy at work. i have been busy with my new business. i am a little surprised (and happy!) that it has taken off so fast. i get inquiries daily and book regularly. i am enjoying it (although it is making life a bit hectic right now).

(3) we have trips planned in november - birmingham and mobile. maybe we will see you?

until next time -

it

a few funny things

for your enjoyment

lils mimics. everyone. in random ways.

when you sneeze, she sneezes and laughs.

when you cough, she forces out a fake cough and laughs.

the other night at dinner, bradford burped (rude!), and lils immediately and without hesitation made a loud (and quite accurate) burp sound. it was hilarious. truly. [of course, our laughing just made her laugh more and attempt to do it again.]

when i brush my hair, she searches through the drawer in the bathroom, finds a brush, and tries to brush her hair.

last night, she saw me shaving my legs. she took one of her foam bath letters and started rubbing it up and down her leg with a very serious look on her face. who knew i looked that serious when i shaved my legs? apparently i do.

lils does know some words. and, we are trying to teach her more every day. when she points to something, we tell her what it is. we also try to teach her body parts. we sing head and shoulders knees and toes and other ridiculous songs. we point out our ear and then her ear. our eyes and then her eyes. etc.

well, she finds belly buttons to be the funniest body part. if you ask her where a "button" is, she will giggle and try to lift your shirt to find your button. she cannot, however, find her own button. this is because she can not see it.

anyway . . . she also seems to know what a breast is (in this house, we call them "boobies"). [this should not surprise you, as she is a boobie baby.]

a few days ago, lils and i were out with ruby and liz. lils pointed at ruby and said, "what's that" (or her version of it). we told her it was ruby. then, we tried to get her to say ruby. pointing at ruby, we said, "ruby" "ruby" ruby" over and over. now that i think about it, both girls were probably very annoyed by this behavior!

well, finally, lils said something that sounded like ruby. boy, was i impressed. she is advanced! then, lils leaned over, grabbed the neck of ruby's shirt, pulled it down, and said something that sounded like ruby again. this action, however, made it obvious that she was talking about ruby's boobie. not ruby.

i just looked at liz and said, "that's what you get for naming your child something that rhymes with boobie."

we do stuff

just in case you didn't know.

i haven't been blogging, but that doesn't mean that there hasn't been stuff to blog about.

there is so much in this area to do - most of it free - which is just one of the many reasons why we love living here.

in addition to frequenting neighborhood playgrounds (there are at least five within walking distance), strolling around our favorite haunts (the streets of Old Town, Mt. Vernon Avenue, etc), taking long "exploration" drives in the car*, and hunting down iphones (unsuccessfully - long story), we also try to visit national parks, monuments, museums, and the like. i like to call these "field trips" for lils.

*last weekend, Bradford and I got in the mood to drive and drove over the Potomac into Maryland. we found a historic colonel farm and a lighthouse that we plan on going back to see. lils was asleep in the backseat, so we couldn't get out and explore right then.

a few weeks ago, lils and i took bradford to one of her favorite field trip locations, oxen hill farm.

she loves it there. and, i find it interesting, as did bradford. farm animals, old farmhouse, barns, birds on a wire - what's not to like?

we have also visited the national zoo twice in the past two weeks. bradford, lils and i went when bradford got home from his weekend in atlanta (bachelor party), and i took lils back one day last week on a whim. we had fun both times. lils' favorites: the great ape house (no surprise there if you know her love of monkeys), the turtles, and the prairie dogs. i took photos, which i will share in a coming post.

until then, here are some pics of her at the playground.

[i must totally apologize for the quality of all of the pictures in this post. somehow, my iso got bumped to 2500 (eek!), and i didn't realize it. - if you have no idea what that means, just disregard!]

she loves to slide! the higher, curvier, faster the better! she laughs like a hyena the whole way down.

see.

she also enjoys going through the tunnel (which is high in the air and connects two parts of the slide apparatus). she learned this trick at little gym.

her hair stands on end because of the static - so cute!

oh yes, i must also mention the weather situation around here. it is fantastic. this past weekend it stayed in the 70s. we broke out fall weather garb to walk down to the farmer's market. here's lils modeling something from her fall wardrobe.

[we did put shoes on her before we left!]

and, to throw in the kitchen sink, our neighbor linda was nice enough to drop off some balloons for lils. they floated down from the sky into her yard (random!), and she thought lils might like to play with them.

she was right.

other news: we are in the middle of planning little's one year birthday bash, which is keeping us busy. bradford is almost done painting the house, which has been keeping him busy. business is going well for me - i have a shoot this weekend in the district.

life is good for lils. she walks all over the place now. she still has a very healthy appetite and will eat anything, although she is starting to show preferences for certain foods in a way that she hasn't really before. she plays with the dogs. she prefers fabiola over petri. she still pretends to go night night. she climbs - everything! she still liberally kisses and hugs. she takes off her diaper at every opportunity.

enough for now. have a great day.