10 Months

Siena turned 10 months old on the 14th of July while we were on vacation in Aptos, CA, and MY, is she a big girl. I rode my bike down to Mother&Baby Source yesterday and found that she weighs 21lbs, 15oz which puts her in the 82nd percentile for weight and measures 30.25 inches, which is in the 96th percentile for height.

Notable accomplishments?

- She applied for her first passport because we're going to Cancun in September with the Foresters. (Yessss!)

- She can tear apart the game chest like nobodyI've ever seen (except maybe Hayden and Halle).

-She can definitely army crawl, go from belly to sitting, and sometimes pull herself up to standing. Still no official crawl.

- She's getting some more teeth on the bottom.

- She rode her first two roller coasters at the boardwalk. The Carousel (wow) and the Pepsi Trucks.

- She loves people food and now poops almost daily. Sad times for mom.

(No picture, for your sake and Siena's dignity.)

- She has lots more hair, and it's blond!

- She said her first "word." Sounds like DUH but comes out every time we see a DUHg. (Dog.)



- She has mastered riding on the shoulders, even while sleeping, and using dad's ears as handles.

Summatime and the Livin's...

BUSY!
Siena reached 9 months on the 14th of JUNE and I have yet to update on her progress because life has been just that - busy. I weighed the blonde babe at Mother and Baby Source a few days after her monthiversary and she was right at 21 lbs. She has cut two teeth and has added a few tricks to her repertoire. Shiloh pointed out that at this point, Trouble had more skills, but we hope that Siena will pass up the dear old family dog (RIP) soon. :)

She is following in her older cousin's footsteps with the addition of "crazy head."



And recently she added "stretch."



Pulling up on things.



Toe Sucking.



She still can't crawl, but is getting closer with a funny combo of wiggling, planking, and rolling.



We've also spend a lot of time at the pool lately, and Siena stuns all the crowd when she enters with her cute bikini a-la-Bethany.



We've been to the Farmer's Market in Central Park the last few Wednesday evenings with friends.





We celebrated my birthday on the 14th (26 - yikes!) and our anniversary on the 19th (5 years - yay!).



Celebrations included pedicures in Menlo Park, softball with the Brueckners, Starbucks, swimming, CPK and a Giants game with the Foresters (where we got to meet Will "the Thrill" Clark).











The Warnes have a beautiful apricot tree in the backyard of their new house, but don't really like apricots. I gleaned way too many fruits and made jam with Shiloh's dad.



Shiloh helped cut down monster oleander bushes from the future Armstrong yard on Seine Ave.





I am possibly* training for a half marathon in October. One night I came back from a run to a baby who had woken up and was missing me and instantly turned uber-cuddly.



Gracie and Matt came home briefly to drop off their cars before heading to Canada to start the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail (CAN - MEX) on UNICYCLES. check out divideby1.com



And that's it for now. Bed time!

* assuming my knees hold up for 13.1 miles

Turning 26, Getting Drafted, and Other Adventures

The last few days...

Cody, stud baseball player, already has a full-ride offer to UCLA but was being scouted by several major league baseball teams. We gathered at the Keefers' house on Tuesday to watch the draft and I learned a lot (too much) about signability, slot money, and other MLB draft regulations. Cody got drafted by Detroit in the 33rd round (though he got calls with potential offers in the 2nd round, but the "skrill" wasn't high enough to replace the value of a college experience). We'll see at the end of the summer whether he decides to sign.



Melissa and Siena.



Kindall is home! And she's a SERIOUS baby-lover. I even got to go for a few runs sans stroller because Siena was perfectly entertained at the Keefers' house. Here Siena is meeting Kindall's baby-substitute, Chili.



Only the first round of the draft was on TV. Then the men congregated around the computer for the next 20 jillion hours.



Jeremy insisted on taking a series of pictures with Siena until he got it just right with only his eyes creeping over the crest of her head.



Granny and Papa Keefer, along with Tony Bloomfield and his son Brett, joined the drafting party. Kevin grilled up some tri-tip and made his famous garlic bread. Melissa whipped up a tasty lasagna-ish dish and caesar salad.



Day 2 of the draft was booooring. Shiloh watched rounds 4 through 30 online, so I escaped to Impossible Acres for some berry-picking fun with Bethany, Luke and Zeke. It might turn into a regular outing until the season is over. So much fun!



Thursday morning Jen and I walked over to Orchard Park to "play" with Bethany and her boys. Emma is a good little jarvae and will sleep anywhere - even right on mama's belly.



Happy mama.

Sarah joined in the morning fray before heading off to work at the public library. Red is the generally preferred work garment color.

Lukey Duke.

Luke shared his toys with Siena and showed her what it's like to be a "workman."

On our walk back home Siena was fussing so I gave her bits of her favorite things. Food (cheerios in left hand) and technology (running watch in right hand). This is what she looked like when we got home. Pure bliss.

Last night I got to celebrate turning 26 a few days early with the Sorbello and Armstrong families. They prepared a tasty dinner, but the best part was the home-made Cherry Garcia ice cream, complete with 26 cherries mixed in!

Luke brought me a beautiful flower (from Grammy's garden) for my birthday present. Siena wanted to eat it.

After dinner we had an intermission to work on the "drop kick," and art that Luke has now mastered. He's a coordinated little fellow.

Siena is obsessed with glasses as well. Sunglasses or bifocals - she doesn't discriminate. If they're on your face, she wants to grab them off. Here she got a hold of Sarah's and tried them on for size. (I'm guessing someone helped her get them on.)

The cuz, Zeke, and his beautiful mama had a short photo shoot out front.

And then it was time for dessert.

But as soon as we began singing, Luke burst in to tears, frightened by the sudden cacaphony.

Poppy comforted him and Luke was assuaged by a finger in the nose and a candle all his own.

Then it was my turn to steal back the show. So I huffed, and I puffed, and I blew out the candles.

And if you remember from the last post that a certain somebody had been feeding Siena all sorts of new foods - well, the proof is in the pudding! (Er, cobbler.)