nine months old

little nuggie has become quite the mimic this month. she stares intently at our mouths as we slowly speak words and sounds and we can see the wheels turning as she tries to form the words herself. she has repeated sounds i've made with such accuracy and perfect pitch that our days of letting f-bombs fly are quickly drawing to a close. so far she's said "ball," "book" and "shoes." i am love love loving this stage and find the development of language fascinating.

this month brought about the big milestone of standing alone. it happened one day at the beginning of august when thea was holding onto her toy basket and let go to inspect a toy with both hands. it happens at least once a day now and the amount of time gets longer and longer before she falls on her behind. walking still seems a way off but i'm sure it'll come sooner than i think.

thea has become even more animated this month [if that's possible] playing patty cake, clapping, high-fiving and waving. we have spent countless hours dancing since she was born but this month, believe it or not, she acquired some rhythm. as soon as the music starts she moves her legs wildly, pats me on the back and wails loudly and completely out of tune [her version of singing]. she has also become more affectionate or perhaps it's just that there seems to be conscious thought behind her actions now. she snuggles a lot more and often buries her head in my neck which is just heaven on earth. she loves zack's head and will often hold it with both hands, pull him close and rest her head on his while making happy sounds. and i could be wrong about this but she does this thing where she closes her eyes halfway and brings her forehead to touch mine and i'm pretty sure that's her version of a kiss. i'll take what i can get :)

everything is 'no' right now, communicated via endless head shaking, delivered with a grin from ear to ear. just before we got on the plane to head back from charleston, zack's mom said that her smile could sell ice to eskimos and i totally agree. she has us eating out of the palm of her hand.







ps - this months' photos were taken nekkid [it's SO HOT here] and in thea's darth vader 'dark side' t-shirt which zack had made to match his decathlon team t-shirts. big dada won first place. way to bring it home baby!! and by "it" i mean the three foot trophy and by "home" i mean the garage. i love you.

mom i'm wearing my headgear!

thea puts her rattle in her mouth and proceeds to crawl around and play like this for long stretches at a time. whenever she does this i can't help but think about a scene from one of my all-time favorite movies.

hopefully the nug will be this cheerful when she actually needs headgear.







we leave for south carolina tonight and although we still haven't packed a thing and just realized an hour ago that we don't have a stroller for the trip [i don't want to take our BOB and risk getting it mangled under the plane], we can't wait to be on our way!!

first harvest

zack planted a garden this summer and his green beans came up last week! we're still anxiously awaiting the corn and tomatoes, among other things. here are some photos of thea reaping the rewards of his hard work:







she's such a good eater, both in quantity and her willingness to try anything, though she still doesn't like avocado which is too bad since we have guacamole at least three nights a week. some of her current favorites are hard boiled eggs [the white and the yolk], whole wheat waffles, pasta, grapes, blueberries, strawberries and watermelon. plus we can always keep her content by giving her a celery stalk to gnaw on for awhile.

spitting image

lately people have been telling me how much thea looks like her dad and i hadn't really been able to see it. but when laura sent me this photo of nuggie and audrey at the park this morning it was quite evident:



if that's not a zack randel face then call me crazy.

rooster or future olympic weightlifter?

you decide:



this is nuggie's latest noise/way to amuse us in her ever-growing repertoire. she busted this out for the first time about two weeks ago and soon realized that it makes us [and her] laugh so it has become her go-to expression of late.

please excuse the dirty mirror. it's difficult to keep it clean when someone [i won't name names] spends a good part of the day licking her reflection.

blue steel

our best zoolander impression:



plus a few of my favorites from our recent photo shoots with my phone:

tooth watch: high alert

i can see a tooth! nuggie's bottom right front tooth is lurking just beneath the surface of her gum. won't be long now.... maybe once she has her own set of pearly whites she'll stop sticking her fingers in my mouth and analyzing every contour of my teeth. might we be raising a periodontist? i'd be happy to have one in the family considering how many hours i've logged and bills i've racked up in a dentist's chair.