Bath Time

The whole family was involved--minus T.J. His loss!




But where is Pepper?

Lady of Bath II

If you want to see the prequel, here's The Lady of Bath I

Enjoy the impressions! Her hair is so long it doesn't really spike up as much as I wanted it to.

Little Rascal:




Mohawk Madness:

Statue of Liberty:



The Donald:

Air Drying

What a difference water can make!

Matching

About a week ago, T.J. told me that Bronwen could do this, and I was a wee-bit skeptical. Yet my doubt was ridiculous, because, sure enough, when I sat down with her today, she had no problems!

This is a rare video--mainly showcasing Bronwen's finger instead of her entire cute self, but it was too amazing to resist. I know; I am being one of "those" moms. Sue me. Hope the video isn't too dark.




Now, a picture of Bronwen to make up for the poor lighting:

Time with Daddy

Sunday I departed the abode to dine with my wonderful friends and an upscale Chinese eatery. T.J. was excited to have the baby all to himself for a couple of hours. I came home to smiles and giggles, and I inquired as to what they had been doing whilst I was away. Bronwen wasn't saying too much, and T.J. was saying even less. I did some digging, and discovered photographic evidence of what silliness they had gotten into. Apparently they were doing impressions:

Ventriloquist and (her) dummy:John McEnroe:
Julia Child:I am glad they found such a great game to play while I was gone. T.J. also made Bronwen cook dinner, consisting of lemon with a side of lemonade. Delicious!

Pointer

Anyone else notice how she is pointing in most of the still video shots?
Guess you can figure out what she does all day, huh?

Saturday Morning

It's almost like you were there, isn't it? I know I've been taking videos outside quite a bit, but I think you'll agree that the lighting is much better than inside the house. Also, she is fresh and ready for action! The mornings are not as hot, so we try to enjoy outside time while we can.

Today Bronwen once again had a trusty lemon, but soon she discovered that the dirt was more interesting and apparently tasty too.

Plus, she does something for the first time ever...watch and see!

Fun with Citrus

Given cousin Camille's penchant for putting rocks in her ears, I probably shouldn't have asked Bronwen to try to put the lemon in hers. Still, I was trying to see if she could connect two concepts--the lemon and her ear. Luckily she didn't find the notion of citrus shoved in her ear canal so exciting.

Whew.

Birds and Bad Kitties

Dear Aunt Jana,
I am sorry I didn't say my usual "Nanana," but I was watching birds. I really love Bad Kitty though. We call him Kramer.
Love,
Niece Bronwen

More Outside Fun--Finale

She is still trying to show me both the moon and her belly button in this video. I mean the real moon, not the "other" kind.

Note the sound she makes when she sniffs the flower--kind of a loud inhale and exhale. I love it!



At the end I catch her as she is about to tumble. Don't worry, she shook it off and was on her way to see the turtle.

Video Out-takes

Yes, I realize it is in the morning, and I am asking her to find the moon. Seems confusing, ah, but only to a less-complex child! The moon was clearly visible and she pointed right to it. I know I should save moon-sightings for night, but lately she's been in bed sleeping before the moon rose. Also, if I have point to and look at the sun she'll damage her sight forever: Not the best option, certainly!


Thanks to Aunt Jana, Bronwen now has stylish Hello Kitty sunglasses. Don't worry--they were not harmed in the making of this video. I think this will explain why she was trying to still find her belly button when we were looking at the turtle.

More Gardening

While I was cooking dinner, TJ had some outside time with Bronwen in the backyard. The last pic has evidence of her trying to eat a bit of pine straw.

BTV it is!

Italian? Na.

But the kid loves basil!

Applesauce Unassisted

Congratulations to T.J. and Bronwen who have been working together for weeks, nay months now to perfect the spoon technique. Great job and kudos to all involved!

Package Surprise!

Many thanks to Aunt Jana who kindly sent Bronwen some gifts today! She really likes her new blocks--as you can plainly see:

Mother's Helper

Otherwise known as "Cinderella."
For the record: I was washing some unknown substance from my wall (hairspray? Spilled beverage?) with a wet washcloth, and Bronwen decided to lend her invaluable assistance. It was so awesome I had to run and get my camera. She is such a willing participant in the day-to-day drudgery that the chores become pretty fun. What an amazing little girl.

Knock, Knock--Who's There?

I really don't think much explanation is needed, do you?

Plant Destruction

Just Bronwen getting into trouble outside. Notice how fast she can move! Also her curls are out of control with this humidity. They are so cute I can hardly stand it.

Part 1:


Part 2:

Daddy and his Girl

We all know who the star of the show is, but I wanted to take a moment to spotlight the man behind the scenes. T.J. is a great dad--he is usually the first one up with Bronwen in the morning, changing whatever diaper surprise she has for him, and the first thing he does when he comes home is make a beeline for his baby.

Together they go for runs, play with toys, read books, and giggle like crazy. TJ. is sweet enough to give her a bath, get her in her P.J.s and put her to be each night in order to give me a break! He is a great dad!

And yes, he is even willing to endure ridicule for his skinny-whiteness just so his baby will have a chance to play in a pool.

On Her Own

I promise I had little part in this. I was sitting drinking my coffee, and she was playing with the magnets on the fridge. Suddenly, she comes walking over with the towel on her head. Good thing I had already gone to the bathroom--I would have wet myself laughing.

Bronwen's ups and downs

Book Club

Bronwen likes to crawl up on this bin of books to read while I work on her blog. Lately, she's been standing up on it as well, hence why I haven't been spending copious amounts of time on the computer.

When we're not reading or working, we enjoy some outside time. Of course, this is in the evening once the heat has calmed down a bit.

Peek A Boo

I called it T.J.'s "muppet laugh" in the video, but really it's the laugh he uses to make Bronwen laugh more. It's fairly effective :-) We all crack up.

C is for Cookie!

I really wish she didn't learn "No!" Luckily, if you give her time, she comes around.

Awesome Game 3--the sequel to the sequel

This game JUST in!

Hello Australia!

Thanks for visiting!

How is tomorrow looking so far?

"Boo" and "Hi"

Sorry the lighting stinks!

Life is a Beach

Time at last for me to summarize our beach vacation. T.J. and I awakened on Wednesday morning, 2 a.m. T.J. actually stayed in bed a little longer, and I jumped in the shower trying to regain my senses. Sadly, that night Bronwen had a little accident, and I had to change her at 1, so I didn't get much sleep at all.

The idea of leaving so early was to ensure Bronwen's slumber for at least half of the journey. Alas, she foiled our master plan and remained saucer-eyed for all but 20 minutes of a 6.5 hour journey. Still, she was a trooper, and led us all in singing many They Might Be Giants ditties.

We dined at Cracker Barrel, and T.J. bought Bronwen a dump truck. It was a small one, of course, so if you need any toothpicks, quarters, or marbles dumped somewhere, you know who to call.

When we arrived at the beach house, I was exhausted. My eyes were gritty, my joints were stiff, and I was a tad loopy from lack of sleep. So what was the first thing we did you inquire?

We took a family picture!

Scott Strikes ninja pose as the rest of us figure out how to squeeze all 134 of us on the porch.While Dylan looks like he is 10 feet tall, never fear, it's just a trick of perspective!Getting 6 girls ready to go to the beach was a production, to say the least!

No comments about skinniness and/or whiteness, please.

Bronwen loved the sand, but she wasn't crazy about the unpredictable surf. Once Scott showed me the plethora of jellyfish in the water, I wasn't so happy with it either.
She loved to pool! The only problem: My little Mark Spitz thought she already knew how to swim.
I love this picture. It was my idea, and I think it came out really well.

Early morning stroll on the beach.











View from our top floor balcony (this is the "artistic" view. If you looked straight ahead, you say a few houses and then the ocean) :


For our dinner night, I had the girls make their own pizzas, and then I made pizzas for the adults.

The six girls:
Georgia and Bronwen:

Simple Joys

We had a balcony off of our room which had a spigot. Bronwen discovered this treasure and became greatly amused in the wee hours of the morning.



In other news:
I am trying to create a slideshow of our trip, but it isn't working out for me! I'll have to just upload pictures a few at a time. I'll pick the best and blog, and then I'll post a Snapfish link for all interested parties.