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Here are some pics from this week of Helen. Going for volume here after complaints from the peanut gallery that one picture is not possibly enough for 1 week. :-)
Spending some quality time with our crazy big Richard Scarry book. Helen has a thing for bulldozers and front-loaders at the moment, and there's a page that fits the bill.

I just love these black leggings.
Yesterday I noticed she's trying to stack blocks on her own (instead of just wanting to knock them down).


I think she may have been switched at birth. She doesn't look like me at all. ;-)

Oopsie

Helen is finding her "voice" a lot more lately. When she is not in agreement with the menu selected for her, she has been dropping the food on the floor (sometimes shaking it in her hand, and then dropping or flinging - so at least we have a warning system in place). The only way I can get her to eat vegetables is to let her spoon feed herself the pureed baby food kind, but I think she's on to me with that one. I turned my back to continue her dinner preparations and turned around to see this mess she created with garden vegetable medley. I gave her a peanut butter and honey sandwich, which she also proceeded to pick apart and throw on the floor. Then, in desperation, we made her a piece of salmon which she ate voraciously. She's all about the protein in the last week. Anyway... I'm sure there will be much more food flinging in our future... Good thing she's cute.

Pumpkin Patch

We went for a ride up north on a beautiful day to visit an apple orchard or two and stumbled on this pumpkin patch. We didn't go home with a 40-pounder, but maybe next year.
As usual, it was the mulch that captivated Helen.


Not sure what was going on here. Maybe the pumpkins looked like pillows to her - this is something she frequently does to all things pillowy.

We've got fever, and the only perscription is...

TIME. Lots and LOTS of time...

Helen had a fever for 6 STRAIGHT DAYS. And on the 7th day (a Sunday no less, since this is sounding like a biblical reference), ah ha! She has roseola. She had no fever when she woke up today, but also no rash, but then one started to show up more and more as the day went on. I wasn't sure until the end of the day when I looked up what the rash looks like on the internet. It must be roseola and *halleluia* life can resume as normal tomorrow! Both David and I got really sick too - no rashes, but awful fever and aches - not sure if it was roseola, but seems an odd coincidence. It made for a really sucky week last week - here's looking up to a new, fresh one - it's also supposed to be sunny and in the mid-70's all week - woo hoo!
Here are a few pics of Helen from last week when she was at home with mom.
She seriously went from baby to kid overnight. Poof. Those shoes seal the deal for some reason too (supercute and classic keds).
H enjoying her new table and chair set.


H in action, even when under the weather.

Oh yeah - I've been meaning to retract the "Ca!" - it seems that "Ca!" is a more nebulous term meant to be interpreted as "what's that"? "What's that" also sounds like "bime?" and "bikthhh?" when we're at home. She really does step up the "Ca!" while we're in the car, but it's probably because I keep saying "Car - yes, car! There's a car, there's a car, car car car car car!".

Buh bye baby...

...Hello little girl!
Yesterday, as you can see, we got Helen's haircut. We made an appointment with Kiddie Kuts for 11:30 am.At approximately, 11:33, Mr. Haircutter was done. No cries, no muss, no fuss. Yeah!
It's going to get some getting used to, this new eastern European hairstyle she has. At least it will last a while... I have to say, I wasn't expecting a dude with dreds to give my daughter her first hair cut, but hey, it worked!

P.S. Mom - I have a locket of hair!
For comparison, that's what her bangs looked like a couple weeks ago. I was getting really tired of trying to push them out of her eyes... I kind of miss them now, but it will just be easier this way...

It has been raining, raining, raining here and it is soooo humid! I can't wait for some sun and cool air. We went to Ikea this morning because we needed to grab a couple things for the homestead. It's the first time we let her run around and play with all the toys they have out. It was funny because it was just like going to the park with all the other kids running around, taking turns to go down the little slide. And there are cool toys she can play with and we don't have to buy! Woo woo!

Ca!

Helen has added a new word to her vocabulary list - it's now 5 words long! It's been forever since she said 'dittee', probably since there's no real dittee around :-(, and she rarely says mum-mum or dadee anymore. The last 2+ weeks have been all about her favorite word "up, uP, UP!" So I was very happy to see her point at a car this morning on the way to school and she said "ca!". She did another time or two, then that was that. Maybe it was a figment of my imagination, but it seems like she said it! It's so exciting to see those little gears in there at work!

More!

Here you go, Jude. Ask, and you shall receive (from tonight):
Still need that haircut...
Constantly on the move.
Tuckered out.

Yup, we're still here

Been really busy. Here's a pic from last weekend sitting on some pine needles.

August MI Trip (bazillion pics below!)

Helen and I traveled solo for a quick trip up to MI to see the fam last weekend! We had SUCH a good time and can't wait to go back so we can hang out together again soon. Here are some pics of the fun time we had.Some of the gang.
The littlest ones.
Helen got sick with a fever and an ear infection. Here she is looking kind of sad the day before we took her to the doctor. :-(
Cecily and Chelsey are all grown up now and driving to and fro! :-)
Grandpa has a set of very cool magnifying glasses to help him with the intricacies of computer innards. It also comes in handy to look at bee stings.
H and her grandpa! So cute together!
All 6 grandkids together! Take a picture - hurry!
This step was one of Helen's favorite spots at Grandma and Grandpa's house for some reason. She kept going back to it!
Helen and grandma, hanging out together and looking at cool leaves.

Grandma and grandpa have always had the best blank canvass in the neighborhood.


Hanging out around the kitchen table.
Smooches.
Helen didn't like this birthday present so much. It was squishy and weird - get that thing away from me!!
Opening birthday presents.
Silly goose.
Sophia brought everyone back a gift from Morocco, where she spent the summer. Besides the super cool geode and rock set she gave us, she gave Helen a beautiful Moroccan outfit that she will wear next summer!
Gettin' to know her cuz's.
Sophia had her hands painted with henna before she left Morocco. Very pretty!
Mom and Dad's moon flower on the porch.
These pics are somewhat out of order. I think this and below starts the ones from my camera (ones above are from mom and dad's). H and her cake. Mmm mmm mmm. The third and final birthday party!

Joey is such a ham!
John is such a teenager. ;-)
H back at home with the silly snake stuffed animal I bought at the Toy House in MI many moons ago. She likes wrap it around herself.
Miss H opening Aunt Jane and Aunt Janice's way cool present! Inside is turtle that projects blue and green stars on the ceiling that help you go to sleep. I think this will be coming in handy soon!