Our New Little World: September 2006

Our Little Flower

Our blooming flower

What a joy this little girl is. Everybody always said "oh, enjoy the time when she isn't moving around. Things really get crazy when she starts to crawl." I have loved watching her move from stationary to fully mobile little girl. (Ok, so it was a little crazy that she decided to start crawling on the night we were packing for, and about to leave on, our 2 week trip to the east coast. I did have to make some quick grabs to save her from being crushed by falling lamps, but things from then on have been very enjoyable. Well, ok, so the 7 hour plane trip back from Rochester NY was a little tough because she wanted to move around. But beside those times......)

With that mobility comes such an increased curiosity of the world and everything around her. The dogs have learned to get up quickly when they are in her path and we are now making sure that she doesn't head for the stairs without one of us on hand to help her as she climbs with enthusiasm and joy.

Her sleep schedule is still in a degree of flux, sometimes napping for 3 hours and sometimes not napping at all. Sometimes falling asleep at 7 pm and only stiring awake once before 7 am, and sometimes waking up 7 times a night. Gen, as always, has been a stupendous mother, and very tolerant considering some sleepless (or sleep little) nights. But in the end the sheer spunk of our little one always cheers us up.

She is changing and growing so fast and in so many ways. I have been lucky to have much of the summer to be with her almost every day. It is definately an experience that I would not pass up for anything. A summer with Violet is the kind of summer I can fully enjoy. One of my favorite times with her has been our baby swim class. She is a fearless little water flower, being able to swim under water short distances (with me holding her) kicking her legs, holding her breath and coming up ready for more. One of her favorite things to do is sit on the side of the pool and throw herself into my arms. Grandpa Nick has many pictures of us in the pool. I will get those pics posted ASAP.

Violet also loves to eat. She isn't so interested in being fed, she wants full control herself. With only a few months of solid food under her belt she was ready to graduate from pureed brocolli, kale, sweet potato, beens, melon, coconut and avocado to the much more mature, small, finger sized versions of those fruits & veggies. She is also adding to her menu, salmon, rice noodles, potato, carrots, grapes, oatmeal, and oattie bites just to name a few. And when she wants something, she lets us know. Pointing and chattering away happen constantly. To also realize that she understands many words we are saying is opening up the world of verbal communication.

As always she is getting lots of love and laughs from grandparents, family and friends. Violet (and her parents) are so fortunate to have such a wonderful group of people to be around her as she grows. Thank you everyone for your constant love, support and attention.

I start teaching this coming week (which I am very much looking forward to) and Genevieve will be starting a new job as the director of the afterschool program at Trillium. This wonderful opportunity will allow us to have Violet full time. I will teach until 3 each day and Gen starts her aftercare program at the same time. We get to have a little baby swap at school. Along with this great work schedule we also have the luck to have the new Trillium building (which we will be moving into in October) to be just a 3 minute bike ride.

Please enjoy the following video and pictures. If you are seeing 2 sets of the video, I can't really explain why. Some glitch. If you don't see a video let us know.

Hope all is well with everyone,

Much love,

Rob, Genevieve, Violet, Stanley and Hank.