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Lots of things to catch up on:

Bean is now feeding herself. Particular favourites are toast, cheerios, and avocado. It's actually much easier now to let her feed herself than to try to force puree down her hole.


Of course, sometimes she makes a mess of herself. Below is her first experience with curry.... she required a mid-day bath for this effort.


Another big, new skill is that she's learned to sit up on her own. This has made nap time an adventure, as we'll put her down and she'll promptly sit up and clutch at the bars of her prision, er, crib, squealing with delight. She is also enjoying the hands-and-knees position. We feel it's only a matter of a few days before she's officially mobile.


Standing up while braced against something is also a new, exciting skill. I have mixed feelings about all of this, as it was awfully easy to lie on the bed with her and watch the Tour de France. Now, I actually have to do some parenting.


When the weather is good (which is not often in this grey pit of despair), we get outside for runs or hikes. This is Bean at Duncan's Cove. Classic rugged Nova Scotia coastline abounds. Notice how introspective she looks. I think she likes the outdoors, too.




And there's always playtime with Ellie, who - for reasons unfathomable - puts up with the abuse from busy hands.



We are moving in one week, and so we'll be off the radar for a bit. Exciting developments relating to the move include getting a king-sized bed and a new vacuum, the Dyson DC 23 Animal (which is probably the best thing ever invented).

Mr Mom

Jenny has gone back to work, so I'm Mr. Mom here. Hence, not a lot of time to post pics or stories. To be brief, Catherine is infinitely more portable and she loves excursions of any kind.

Here she is in the back yard, playing in the grass before we went out. "Hurry up, mummy!"


At Point Pleasant Park, watching the dogs play


Getting ready for her first trip to the beach! Lots of sunscreen for fair-skinned babies.


"This is so much fun, dad!"


"What is this neat brown stuff? It just floats away in the wind."


"That was fun, can we do it again tomorrow, Dad?"


That's a quick summary of what we've been up to. She's also doing other interesting things like

1) passing things back to us - sharing objects
2) putting objects into containers
3) pseudo-crawling. Not really crawling, but kind of wiggling/grappling along the bed to get to where she wants to go. I have a video of this, which I will post later

One more reason why Ellie is the best:

because she is infinitely tolerant of little, probing hands. Nothing makes Bean happier than playing with her fur-sister Ellie.

So much tail-grabbing and ear-pulling.... I think kids and dogs are made for each other.

(and Ellie is 5 years old today)