Running Library

We now have a new feature on our blog: Eric's running library. Since Eric has qualified for the prestigious Boston Marathon, he's been ramping up his weekly running totals. So to kill two birds with one stone, he's been "reading" audio books during his runs (5-14 miles).

On the right hand side of the blog, will be the running library (we might rename this, maybe something with more pep). A letter will appear before the title to denote Eric's ranking of the book. This is followed by the title, author, and genre.

He's been killing some books lately, so we thought it would be nice share with all of you. In case you are of the reading variety. If you have any suggestions, we're all ears.

Monkey & Bananas

Ariel had her 6 month well baby check up yesterday. She is 25 inches long and barely 16 lbs. Really, only 16 lbs? She dropped from being in the 50% for weight to the 38% (based on age). She should be weighing in closer to 18 lbs. So what happened?

Grazing.

It seems that Ariel was eating too frequently and just snacking all day. Her peds said she was "abusing" me. Great. Our homework is to go 3-4 hours between meals. The hope is that she'll eat more and start gaining a few more rolls. Everything else is on the up and up.

Last night, we started Ariel on her first solids, aside from cereal. We chose bananas left by grandma. We don't have much int he way of mashable baby food, so I was glad to have this on hand and not have to run to the store.

My mom bought us a baby food mill, so I washed the colorful and complicated apparatus and made Ariel's first baby food. After I got the hang of what the mill was supposed to do, it was so easy. But man what a learning curve. I didn't think I was that slow.

Ariel dug right in with the bananas, trying to take the spoon from Eric and feed herself. Dinner was a very frustrating battle for Daddy and baby. I am loathe to say that Ariel might be a sensitive child and a bit of a drama queen. Just like her mother. Wonderful.

Next food on the horizon: avocados. Maybe Ariel will share an avocado or two and Eric and I can have some guacamole. Ole!

The Little One Stopped for Crazy 6

I know that 8's are crazy, but Ariel change in attitude isn't going to wait until January. So the little one is six months old now. She is now able to roll over from front to back on both sides, eat yummy rice cereal for dinner, clap her feet while grasping her toes, and sit up independently. Ariel also experienced some firsts: serious flirt session with a boy (Eric was not happy about this), snow storm, and Halloween. She's actively teething, but no teeth have made a grand entrance yet. Oh yeah, she's finally sleeping through the night. Hooray! Now if we could just get to bed on time.

Speaking of Halloween, we actually took our little Pikachu out. We went to visit a handful of neighbors (really just to show her off). Ariel had a trick-or-treat bucket and the neighbors were more than happy to plunk a couple pieces in. Now, since Eric and I are Halloween chauffeurs, we take a 25% commission each on candy. I now, we're expensive. But that includes a driver, door-to-door service, and a stellar introduction.

Here's what we're looking at in the next 30 days: baptism, 1st Thanksgiving

Here are some pics from the last month. Ooh, Ahh and enjoy
pumpkin patch

snow bunny

maniac on the floor!

no poisoned fruit here

daddy's girls

Halloween loot

puppy love

sloppy kiss !