fall 2008

Wow, it's been almost a month since my last post. yikes. Time got away from me again! And lots to report!
The beginning of September started off nicely with a trip to San Diego. Laurel and I drove down the first friday of the month and met up with my childhood friend, Katy, for her mom's wedding in La Jolla. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, but it really always is gorgeous in San Diego! Leora came down on the train with Ryder and we met up with Katy and her husband, John, for dinner in Little Italy. It was really nice to relax and chat. The kids were their usual handful, but it was a really nice evening catching up with them. Saturday morning, Ryan and Alex drove down to meet us and we spent the afternoon/evening with Jason and Jennifer. We attended their wedding in New Orleans in May. It was our first time seeing their new apartment. They had a barbeque with lots of yummy food! Sunday, after checking out of our hotel, we spent the day at the San Diego Zoo. And yes, it's just as amazing as you've probably heard. Easily the best I've ever been to. I've been there before, but not in a while, plus it's nice to revisit with a toddler and experience everything "new".
Laurel was very flexible on the trip and we got to experience napping in a stroller (with much resistance from her) and even a day without a nap at all...which I do not recommend! She was getting more and more confident on her feet and would toddle around on occasion. She has very little fear, of course never having experienced the consequences. We went down to the waterfront in San Diego to see the tall ships and she would charge right up to the edge of the dock and probably would've kept going if we didn't pull her back. She wants to explore every nook now that she can move at her own will.
The rest of the month was filled with studio time, gymboree classes, some time at church and a few weekend outtings. Alex and I bought a membership to Huntington Gardens. Wonderful botanical gardens. Laurel loved the koi fish in the pond in the sculpture garden. We've been to the beach and the promenade a handful of times, giving Laurel as much time on her feet as we can. She likes to walk, then gets excited or anxious and turns to be picked up. Then she squirms to be put down and we do the whole thing over again:).
Laurel has been taking a little gym class at Gymboree at the mall. She loves the little shaker toys that they have and enjoys playing with the rubber balls and running around in the open space. Once she becomes accustomed to a place, she feels more secure about walking on her own and will just take off. She loves to walk around and grab clothes in a department store. It's so funny how fascinated she is with the fabric and how she will "hug" a bunch of jeans hanging from a rack. She is definitely a girl and LOVES jewelry. She likes how bangles and pearls sounds when hey jingle together and she likes to study the little crystals and jewels on necklaces and earrings. She's very patient and gently, poking and prodding at everything very meticulously. We can almost see the wheels turning as she takes in the little details. Even today, she was walking around, holding my keys and held them against her leg, all the while, looking down, watching how the keys would jingle as she took a step.
I've been attending a mommy group at Church for the past month. It's been really nice to share time and conversation with other moms. Megan has watched Laurel while I go to the group, but once I did bring her along and stayed with her in the Nursery while she played. I'm hoping she will get used to the nursery at some point! I've also started teaching 3rd grade sunday school and our bell choir has started up again.
Let's see, other Laurel tid bits: She's not talking much yet. I'm waiting for her to grasp on to words and doesn't seem to be in any rush. She has her own "language" and loves to babble and make all kinds of noise and "words". We do believe she knows a lot of words and understands a lot of what we are saying, but doesn't repeat anything. Laurel is continuing to expand her solid food tastes. She will pretty much eat anything off of our plates now. Even if she shows a distaste in the beginning, she will eat it if encouraged and will eventually like it. She is still skinny and petite. She needs the length of the 12 month clothes, but the waste band on all of the 12 month pants are way too large. Laurel love to read! We have a book shelf in the front room that has her books on the bottom shelf. She will walk up and sit herself down and pull out the books, page through them, talk to herself as she "reads". It's very sweet. I've gotten it on video and will try to get it up online. She will also bring books to us to read to her. Laurel will bring anything to us actually, sometimes just to show it to us. :)
Alex's game was just announced as well! Check it out! http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/7-studios-teams-with-numark-quincy-jones-for-scratch-game