12 of 12 August

Alternate Title: Shocker, I Know.

The rules for 12 of 12 are simple enough: 12 photos of your day on the twelfth of the month. The difficulty, at least for me, comes in actually taking the photos and/or managing to post them in a timely manner.

Shocker of all shockers, today I have succeeded.

Hence the alternate title.

Thanks to Chad Darnell for the idea and if you'd like to see others' 12 of 12 posts, head to his site for the list.

All photos were taken in Houston, Texas.


8:47 AM - Perpetual Motion, as the child is now called, made this mess in less than five minutes. The better to see the toys, muahaha.


8:49 AM - The two of them play best when I am not officially watching. Growls, squeals, scuffles and laughter lead to this photo. Sit, dogggie, I am snapping my finger at you, so sit!


9:34 AM - Why are we in the car so early? Rocket Man left his flash drive at home so we had to take it to him. At least she is finally in a forward-facing car seat. Hmmm...I think I like this view better.


11:02 AM - Library time! After some singing and reading, the toys and instruments come out. Shake, shake, shake Senora...


11:46 AM - I cut it up and she won't eat it. I hold the apple and she bites it, no dice: she spits it out. She holds it, and wa-la: the apple is swallowed. Mmm, crunchy.


4:09 PM - We are at the playground and this photo is awesome. It is now my desktop photo. I am so fly.


4:30 PM - Perpetual Motion really enjoys traversing the equipment at the playground. Today she insisted on taking her rake and shovel with her. Why? There's no telling...Take me to your leader.


6:00 PM - Dinner. Ready, aim, smoosh, slide, and into the mouth!


6:01 PM - Cooper enjoys hovering at dinner. He awaits morsels patiently, though usually in vain. So far we have been able to prevent feeding from the table. I am sure it is only a matter of time. Sit, doggy! I snap and you listen!


6:04 PM - Dinner is over, and while cleaning up I get her to do her latest trick: Blalah blalah blalah. Blalah blalah blalah.


6:27 PM - Bath time is over and we are ready to head upstairs. First, we need to read some books. Tonight that meant ripping them. Joy. How many books can I get out before I have to go to bed? One, two, one-hundred-ten!


7:37 PM - Now both children are in their beds. Ah, peace.

Thanks for stopping by!

An animal by any other name...

We've been a little busy this summer. This is our family photo from our trip to the beach.

In early June, we traveled to Virginia to visit Grammie, Pop-Pop and aunts and uncle. Perpetual Motion, formerly known as Little Miss Itty Bitty, was very occupied at their house - she investigated everything and everyone, including the cat.


One of her favorite...toys...up north was her...cousin...Zorro. He was very entertaining and allowed her to hold his ball and his bone. Oh how exciting it was.


One of her favorite things at Grammie's and Pop-Pop's place was the fountain on their porch. Water of any kind is fun, and this one never ended! Well, as long as you refill it after Zorro has a drink that is.


Our trip up north was a special one as we were celebrating Grammie's and Pop-Pop's 40th wedding anniversary. Man did they throw a party! Good food and lots of people to enjoy it. It was a very special time and we were very happy to be able to join in the fun.


About a month later we headed to the beach with my family. We had a bit of travel drama, a la Rocket Man, but I'll save that story for later. Let's just say that he won't be in charge of alarm clocks in the future.

Perpetual Motion really enjoyed the beach. Mostly the ocean appealed to her. She would walk to it and just keep walking and walking until it knocked her down. Towards the end of the week, she noticed the seashells and managed to grab two to keep.


This photo is the result of a long day of family photos, sand, ocean, and constantly being on the go. So lady-like, the way she sleeps, eh?


A few new developments have taken place since her birthday. She walks. Very quickly. She also finally has a car seat that faces forward. This is important mostly because it means that the air-conditioner in the car can finally have an effect on her. Previously she only ever got hot and sweaty in the car.


As is obvious, she really enjoyed playing in the car seat box as well as climbing in and out ad nauseum until we finally put it in the car.

We are also tackling the utensil use at the table:


It is hit or miss thus far.

Lastly, she talks. Most of what is said is, well, lacking in clarity, but definitely along the talking lines. Words that are very clear: eat, night-night, tree, leaves, ball, baby, diaper, bushes, yes/yeah, and dog/doggie.

That last one? It is shouted. "DOGGIE! DOGGIE! Htrieohgjksdnglsj", where Htrieohgjksdnglsj = There he is!

Thus far, all animals are dogs. The cat is a dog and squirrels are most definitely dogs as well. We've yet to see any others live, but I imagine she does not discriminate.

More to come, we hope.