9 Months

Our sweet little Brooklyn is 9 months old now! She is growing up so fast. Here is what she is doing.

She...

• has started pulling herself up on her feet
• loves lots of fruits Ethan won't touch like grapes, watermelon, strawberries, prunes mixed with squash. She also really likes bananas grass, paper, and any cereal left behind by Ethan
• loves the TV remote, being outside, going on walks, socializing with other babies, clicking her tongue, hitting keys onf a;jdklfy keyboard
• a daddy's girl through and through ("dada" is her favorite word--she still won't say "mama.") If daddy comes into a room, she has to smile and look at him. She gets upset when he leaves. In her mind, seeing daddy is more important than eating.
  

No, her hair isn't on fire here. Kyle laughed when he saw this one, saying it was a Brooklyn candle.

A few weeks ago, Brooklyn had her first taste of watermelon. She really liked it, but wasn't used to having something so cold in her mouth.

Ethan loves to help pick things from the garden, and feed them to Brooklyn (since he won't eat them himself. He seems to have an issue with the textures of many fruits and veggies).

We were surprised though when he decided to taste each of the tomatoes he helped pick. For anyone who cares, the small orange tomato is a Sungold cherry tomato, the two top red ones are Akers West Virginia, the green one is a Green Zebra, and the dark one is a Black Russian. We love heirloom tomatoes and planted 12 varieties this year.

We found this train table at a garage sale for $10 last weekend, and Ethan LOVES it. Mom and Dad love it too because now his track is not spread out across the floor. The track actually stays together for more than five minutes so there are fewer meltdowns.

Last weekend we went to the Salt Lake Parade of Homes. This was the third year we've gone and by far the least inspiring. We'd like to continue the tradition, but they made some changes to the parade this year that ruined the show. In the past they had nearly 40 homes to see of many styles and prices. It was fun to go to get decorating ideas, but also to see the creativity and what is possible. This year they had 10 show homes to see for ticketholders plus some model homes and homes that builders are trying to sell (open to everyone). We could understand why they made some changes because of the economic turndown, but if they don't go back to the old way they had it, we probably won't continue going.

The kids were really good during our travels around the valley and through the homes. Despite the changes made, we had a really fun day out together.

We loved this playhouse built on the top level of one house.

Brooklyn was tuckered out by the end of the day.