A Toe, A Hat, A Ponytail

Summer loves (now loved) playing with the cans in our bottom cupboard. She would pull them out, stack them, then put them back in. Sometimes we'd find a chili con carne can in our bedroom, a green bean can under our bed, or a cream of chicken soup rolling around in her room. But just last week, she dropped one on her toe. It bled a little, and we bandaged it up as best we could. It just skiffed off a little edge of her big toe--nothing too serious--and it's healing just fine.


Along with playing dress-up, Summer loves pulling all her clothes out of her dresser or the laundry baskets. Here's her "chef" hat, (the bottoms to a dress), that dad put on her head, and here's her "But mom, it's okay if I play with the clothes! I'll put them back!" expression.
And for the first time, we tried out a ponytail hairstyle. Heather was actually the successful one in getting it in. If it were just a little bit more to the side of her head, we could call it the eighties side ponytail, and we could call Summer "Deb" (from Napoleon Dynamite).

Twenty-Six Point Five

That's how many weeks I am now. And with trying to keep up with Summer, I've slacked on announcing across the blog-sphere that she's getting a new little Sister in December. This was definitely more of a surprise than Summer was, but we're excited to get to meet her soon. No names yet, but there is a lot of kicking and rolling going on. Yesterday, when I was holding Summer, Little Sister whacked Summer right in the leg. I thought, "Oh great! They're fighting already!"

Last night, Summer sat at the piano for almost a half hour just "practicing." That's the longest amount of time she's ever played for. She would stand up and turn some pages, then sit back down and play some more. Sure makes mom proud!
A little piece of her composition . . . (I tried to zoom in and get some of her curls in the back, but I don't know how well you can see it.)

The Latest Fun around Here

Last night, Dad took Summer for an airplane ride . . .

Then Dad geared her up to drive herself . . .
Crash landing . . .
Summer loves to be wrapped up tight. Here, Dad tied the sleeves of his shirt around her. She just walked all over the apartment like this laughing.And here she is, wrapped up again and loving it.

I'm not sure if this was Summer-jawea or Kung Fu Summer . . .
Dad sure loves dressing Summer up. And she loves it too!
And with so much dressing up going on, Summer feels like she needs to do it herself now. This is a picture of how she put her own shirt on (with already a shirt on underneath). I was surprised as I watched her pull the shirt over her head, then try to get her arm through the arm hole. However, she missed the sleeve and her hand came shooting up through the neck hole. She thought it was perfect and wore it for half the day. She was so proud.
And her latest favorite thing to do it talk on the phone, or anything that could possibly be used as a phone. She's used all our cell phones (our two new ones and Rhett's old one), the home phone, keys, paper, stuffed animals, remote controls, a big bowl (that was the size of her head), and now measuring cups to call who knows who! But she holds it there, cocks her head a little, then walks all over the apartment talking like crazy--but not just any jibberish. It's down-to-business talk: she lowers her voice and makes short little noises like "Yes" and "No's" that she hears from mom and dad. It's so funny.

Signing Summer

When Summer was about five months old, I was super dedicated to signing to her every day, asking her if she wanted "water," or "more," or if she was "all done." She never seemed to really respond with her hands, and so I gave up. (I know, I know, I jumped the gun at five months. That's way too young for her to expect her to respond.)

So the drive to teach her sign language fizzled. But recently, the whining is becoming a little too much, and I think, "If she could communicate with her hands what she wants, then the whining should subside." So we picked it up again. And she is responding now. Of course, the signs aren't perfect, but at least she's doing them!

Summer signing "all done." "All done" is signed by flipping your hands over and out, as if you were brushing crumbs from your shirt after a meal. Summer just shakes her hands in the air.



Summer signing "more." "More" is signed by making "O's" with both hands, and then slightly flattening them. Then you tap the fingertips and thumb together with the fingertips and thumb of the other hand. Summer just uses her pointer finger and points to her left palm.




And I don't really know if the whining is subsiding or not. We'll keep you posted on that!

Cherry Pickin'

We headed up to Greenbluff this afternoon to do some cherry and raspberry picking. Here's Summer with her bucket, ready to go.
And me picking the cherries.
Here's dad helping Summer pick the cherries. She just picked them to eat them, though. She loved it.
Our day's labors (okay, well, not the whole day, just the half hour we could stand being in the sun!).

A Nose is a Nose . . . and Summer Knows!

Fourth of July, Summer's Birthday, and Tacoma

We headed down to Idaho for the Fourth of July weekend to celebrate Summer's first birthday with the family. Summer got a lot of fun things for her birthday--and this new hat was one of them. Thanks Grandpa Barney!

Here's Summer with her birthday cake and cupcakes. The pink and yellow cupcakes were for the family--and they were delicious! Thanks Aunt Kate for making them. And the big chocolate one was for Summer to dig into. The party went a little longer than expected (too many great presents!), and people had other obligations, so she didn't get to enjoy it . . . that day. But we all chowed down on it for the eight hour drive back to Spokane the next day. It was a banana cake with chocolate frosting (tasted just like banana bread), and it was so yummy.
At one point in the drive home, we realized Summer had fallen asleep. I peeked into the back and saw this. Too funny! Had to get a picture. And the one tooth makes her look so goofy!
This is a cute picture of Dad and Summer, just after her bath. Boy does she love him.
Summer sporting her shades with another new birthday hat. Despite the tears the first time we tried it on her, she does like it, and she actually tries to put it on herself now. Thanks Aunt Ang!
Just this last weekend, we headed over to Tacoma to enjoy a fun picnic with Andrew and Maria. This was their gift to Summer for her birthday--a teepee that they had made! It was awesome, and Summer loved it. She would crawl in it, crawl out of it, walk around it, then poke her head in it and just smile the whole time. It was a lot of fun.
It was fun watching Summer interact with the kids at the picnic we had on Saturday. This is Jackie and Dallin's youngest boy. They had a fun time chasing each other, poking each other with sticks, and sharing rocks.
And, to all of our surprise, Summer's favorite person now is Uncle Andrew. Multiple times over the weekend, she would just walk up to him and give him a hug. (I think Rhett actually got a little jealous.) But it was so cute. She'd hug his neck if he was sitting on the floor, or she'd hug his leg if he was standing. And then she'd reach her arms up for him to hold her.
We had such a fun time in Tacoma--some beautiful weather, delicious food, good talks, and fun laughs. We're sad that it ended so soon, but can't wait to get together again!