Goin' to the Zoo

While visiting Providence we took Matilda to the zoo for the first time. She loved it! She particularly liked the zebras and giraffes. Whenever she saw an animal she liked she waved, said "Hi!" and then said "cool!" (which is a new word for her.)

She walked, ran, strolled and rode on Daddy's shoulders.

She also had a great time looking at animals she recognized (especially the sheep) in the petting zoo. It was a really nice day.

Congratulations Uncle Doctor!

Eric successfully defended his thesis on Thursday, September 24th, 2009. This was the last step in completing his PhD in celular and genetic biology at Brown University. We are all so proud of Doctor Eric Gustafson!


After the presentation of his defense and a closed-door question session with his advisors, Uncle Eric became Uncle Doctor and we all celebrated with a reception in his honor. Cheers to Eric for all his hard work and to Kim for providing such steady support over the years.


Matilda is proud of her uncle's prestigious achievement and happy that he has more time to play now!

Ahhhhh!!!!

It's not always cuddles, giggles and clapping with Matilda. Some mornings, she wakes up on the wrong side of the crib and we get this:



(do you see all those TEETH?!)


But she usually gets over it pretty quickly.

New Routines

Because she's such a big girl, Matilda is trying to get rid of her 2 naps per day routine and cut it down to just one (way too short) nap. I'm not thrilled about this, but I knew it was coming, so we're doing our best.

However, sometimes I think maybe she's gotten a little ahead of herself when I find her like this at 5 pm!


Daddy had a little fun here too.

Lazy Saturday

Matilda likes to watch football with Daddy on Saturdays... but sometimes an exciting game can wear her out!

Tortellini

Matilda always knows she's getting something extra yummy (and messy) when she has a "naked" supper!

Little Monkey

Matilda is climbing. Everything. She climbs the exercise machine. She climbs the stairs. She climbs up my belly. She climbs up her box of toys. She pushes things around to be able to climb up onto the couch or reach the next shelf on the bookcase. I had to take away her piano bench because she was trying to climb on top of her piano!! Now, she's climbing up on top of her little table. She's quick and is keeping me on my toes!

That's a lot of meat!

We're beginning to fill the freezer again. Ed is doing his part by BBQing nearly 20 pounds of pork for pork sandwiches (yes, it was delicious, as usual!).

It was almost as big as Matilda!

So fancy!

This is Matilda, Chili and I getting ready to leave for church. Notice Matilda's pearls! They were a birthday gift from Shanti and Laura, and Matilda loves them.

Matilda's Words and other updates

Matilda has over 30 words now! She can say:

hi
bye-bye
daddy
ball
hat
socks
shoes
feet
face
cup
dog
cat
see
it
guys
up
please
oh-no
dance
cook-cook (cookie)
shake
sit
fish
flower
baby
potty
book
beans
egg
done
down
slide
swing
bath
sheep

She is walking more and more--she even walked all the way across Grandpa's office yesterday on her own and she will really take off if she's holding just one hand.

She is learning to identify colors, animals and body parts. So far she knows teeth, eyes, nose, ears, face, hands, feet, toes and hair for body parts. She can pick out pictures of cats, dogs, horses, sheep, and fish. She is also getting very good at identifying red, yellow and circles.

She can climb up stairs and is learning how to get down.

She has favorite books that she wants us to read to her all the time and can even pick things out on the pages (such as "show me the red circle") and do the activities in the activity books (like Pat The Bunny)

She has 12 teeth--including 4 molars, and 2 of her incisors are beginning to work their way in.

She is a very good eater. Some of her favorite foods are watermelon, kidney beans and salmon.

She likes to try to brush and comb her hair and is learning to brush her teeth.

She loves to see other babies and says "hi baby!" to nearly all of them. She is still a little unsure about other adults though.

She likes to play hide and seek and is very good at getting into cabinets and cupboards (as well as Romper's cage!) She can play peek-a-boo and "So big!" and when you ask how old she is, she will hold up one finger. She enjoys going to the playground but hates being in the grass. She likes to dig holes and play on the swings. She loves balloons, water and animals, but is still a little scared of beards and mustaches. She really enjoys going to the grocery store. She loves music and Yo Gabba Gabba and likes to dance along.

And every morning she comes to me, pats my belly, says "hi baby!" and gives my belly a kiss. I think she'll be a nice big sister.

Chili is just over 29 weeks done. That means we could have as few as 8 weeks left or as many as 12. I'm certainly hoping for something closer to the former. Chili is about 3 pounds now and already head-down. Chili's bones are fully formed and his or her eyes are sensitive to light already. Chili is a VERY active little baby in there and kicks me much more than Matilda did. We're all getting very excited to meet the newest little member of our family.

Don't forget to vote in the gender poll!

The play-date

Natalie brought Boston out to visit last weekend and the kids had a blast! They arrived late Friday night while Matilda was already sleeping. In the morning, Boston crawled into Matilda's room and Matilda got all excited, smiled, waved and said "Hi baby!!" They played together constantly! They both ate well and waited for their turn in the high chair. They played duets on Matilda's piano, danced and played with the music table, played in the yard and went to the park. At the park, they crawled all over exploring. Matilda liked to dig holes and Boston kept trying to eat the wood chips! Of course they got dirty and had baths.
Matilda spent a lot of time trying to give Boston kisses and he spent a lot of time trying to evade those kisses. They also chased each other around and played their own little game going in and out of the dog cage. They were much too busy to have fits or even really get in trouble and both seemed quite happy with the other's company. (Even with the kissing and Matilda's relentless pursuit of Boston's sippy cups!)
It was a wonderful visit and I can't wait to see them again in December. We took tons of pictures, here are some of my favorites from the weekend: