I was hanging out with Olivia in her room today, and you-know-who joined us...

Can't you hear Erin saying "hey, whatcha doin" or "can I play" or can I have summadat?
Erin was all about getting her sister's attention. Oh, this picture is a good one for showing allll of Erin's new hair. I'm thinking she might need a haircut it's grown so much. ha not really. But it has grown. A lot.

But Olivia was busy looking at the birthday party magazine that came in the mail today. She's already choosing the theme of her birthday that is in July. We were discussing which would be better- The Wizard of Oz or a dog party. And Erin was bugging her. Fortunately, it looks like Erin doesn't mind being deported. I have to laugh everytime I see Olivia carry Erin. Olivia always groans that Erin weighs a TON. I have to agree. She is getting way too heavy to carry around. I will be so happy when she can walk...I know, I know. You're thinking I'm going to have a whole new set of challenges when that happens...

But the deportation didn't work...Erin crawled right back over and got into something else. I love how she's standing in a box full of dolls trying to reach something on the dresser. This kid is into everything. EVERYTHING! It's a good thing she's so adorable and sweet and that her sweet and adorable big sister doesn't really mind having a little munchkin that's into all of her stuff.

Visit with Family

Erin, Tony and I got to see Mike's grandchildren this weekend. Below from left to right: Jackson (2yrs), Hannah (8yrs), Madison (11yrs), and Erin (10mos). We tried to get a decent picture of the four of them, but no such luck. It was like herding cats. The two little ones were determined NOT to look at the camera.

This is Jackson, Emily's big little boy. He just turned two and he's three feet tall!! His Daddy is 6 foot 6 so I'd say he's got a lot more growing to go. He says all sorts of things. Today, my favorite was "baby OUT" when Madison was holding Erin and he wanted to be held. He can say please Mommy, I love you, cup of mik...more things than I can list. And he's so very sweet! They live in Chicago so we don't get to see them much. Erin would sure love to be his buddy.

This is Jackson and Hannah. The girls love playing with Jackson. Jackson is always willing to play with them, too.

Madison loved all over Erin and Erin loved being carried around by her. I was so pleased that my baby girl was letting everyone hold her. I think we're finally past her cry-anytime-someone-looks-at-her stage. She had more fun playing with the kids than I have ever seen.

I had to add this one in. Jackson was trying to hug Erin...but it didn't quite appear that way in the picture. Can we say panic??! He let go right away. Thank goodness.

Jackson thought he needed to get into Erin's carseat.

Erin was pooped by the time we got home. She missed her morning nap and was late going down for her afternoon nap. After this picture I fed her and put her in bed. She screamed forever before finally going to sleep again. Maybe I should have left her here...she looks so peaceful.

It's not often that I can get a good closeup of Erin sleeping these days. This is one of my new favorites.

A slideshow of our most recent pictures of Erin.

I'll Have Some of That

Lately Erin has been wanting everything that even resembles food. I have to say it does please me that she is willing to try just about anything. Today, I had a turkey sandwich for lunch. It had cheese on it and I took it off because one, I'm not crazy about cold cheese and two, Erin loves cheese. She ate every last ounce of cheese off of my sandwich. Later, she ate baby food turkey that I mixed with some sweet potatoes. She ate probably the equivalent of one large jar of baby food. This was just an appetizer...

And after a while Tony had a few pieces of chocolate in his hand. Erin went straight for them and pretty much begged like a little puppy. So of course he had to give her a little bite. She takes the cutest little bites. Oh, and her newest trick is wagging her tongue around when you say "Erin, where's your tongue?" Below is a picture of her sticking it out right after she had a bite of chocolate. See the chocolate?!

And THEN, Tony had a bowl of cereal. I don't know why he was sitting on the floor in our kitchen. Erin HAD to have a taste of that, too. She is having bottles throughout all of this eating, I don't know why she acts like we don't feed her. She was determined to get some of dad's food.

So her dad gave her a taste of Frosted Flakes. mmmmm My favorite! Of course I'm telling him NOT to give her the milk.

And I guess this is her way of saying "YOU'RE next!"

Clapping Erin

This has to be one of the best videos that I have of Olivia and Erin. First, it has Erin clapping. She started doing this a few days ago. She has been "clapping" for a long time but it wasn't real clapping. You could say "yayy!!" and she'd flap her hands around but never make contact between them. The first time she did the real thing she looked down at her hands, somewhat puzzled at what she was doing as she used one hand to kind of slap the other palm. SO cute!

Second, Erin KISSES Olivia's behind. AND Olivia doesn't even notice. What she does notice is Erin's ever-present right leg kicked out on her. Then, another adorable few seconds is the part where Erin fusses at someone, not sure who. And finally, Olivia kisses Erin's feet- Erin always thinks it's funny when we kiss her feet. So many tricks all in one minute.

And just in case you're wondering...we've ordered the gate for the top of the stairs. That's where the girls happened to be when I started filming. Hopefully we'll have it this week.

Sweet Baby Erin

We visited Mimi and Pawpaw in their new home this week. Pawpaw made dinner. The best food we've eaten in a long, long time!

Mimi and Erin. Erin has now decided that she doesn't like being held like a baby, so you have to hold her like this...

Erin hasn't been as clingy lately and has been playing with her toys. And, of course I had to take a few pictures.

8 Seconds on the Lion.

And the big lego blocks... they're great for banging together!

That's about all for today. Hopefully I'll have more pictures in a few days.

Like Her Mother

This is something about me that not everyone knows...although I'm sure most of our blog readers have seen me do at some point. I am almost obsessed with hair on my clothes so I buy these lint rollers in bulk. I was at home earlier today and Erin needed something to play with- something other than her toys because those weren't working for her. I gave her the closest thing I could find that didn't pose any immediate danger. It was our lint roller. I wondered how she might react to the sticky paper but her reaction was nothing worth mentioning. She played with that thing long enough for me to get some work done and even take a few pictures.

Her latest trick is giving us things. If you hold your hand out and ask for whatever it is she has, she'll put it in your hand. But you have to give it back to her right away. She expects to get it back! I told her she shouldn't give then take, but she doesn't listen. : )

Oh, did I mention that this is a random post? I had a few extra pictures that I wanted to show you all, so here they are. Above Erin is playing with some magnets from the fridge. Boring, but adorable. Isn't she sweet?? And below Olivia is walking her little sister around. This is Erin's most favorite thing to do. She'll let you do it for as long as you're willing.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures of her most recent trick. It's hard to explain and she has only done it a handful of times. She scrunches her eyebrows and looks up at you. We'll have to figure out what it is that makes her do it. So far, I have no clue.

Girl Scout Cookies!!

Olivia is now officially selling Girl Scout Cookies...so here is your chance to order up some yummy treats. They're $3.50 a box and you don't have to pay until they come in, which will be the very end of February. The troup gets 55 cents for every box sold and they're trying to raise enough money to go on another camping trip and possibly spend the night at the museum. The money raised also pays for troup supplies and outings. Olivia is totally excited to get to go door-to-door wearing her Girl Scouts unform. We'll have pictures soon. If you'd like to order, let us know... You know you want some. : )

Our Visit with Ryan

Erin got to play with Ryan yesterday afternoon...here are some of the pictures.

Ryan really wanted to play, but Erin wasn't quite sure. So, below is the "before" picture. And one more down is the "after" picture. I love the look on Ryan's face. Think he's wondering what's wrong with that crying baby?
Erin has been very clingy and whiny lately so I was surprised when she let me buckle her into Ryan's nifty swing. She sat there for maybe 5 minutes and didn't make a peep!!
And she even let Ryan mess with her feet. No crying! Maybe we're getting somewhere...
Thanks Ryan for letting Erin use your swing and play with all of your toys!! Next time you'll have to stay up longer so that you two can really play.