Well it's been a bit too long since we last posted an update on our family. Since October (last posting) we have settled in to the city of Columbia, MD (well, its not technically a city. It's actually a combination of 10 villages. To read more about that click
here).Now on to the real reason you are here . . . to see the little Monkey in action.
Erin loves to bounce, hop, gallop and generally be in motion. Two of her current favorite things are games she calls 'push you game' and 'upside down'. 'Push you game' involves her standing on the couch and me (Pam is waiting for an injury to occur) pushing her over so she fully lays herself out on the couch and bounces. 'Upside down' usually follows wherein I grab her feet and flip her in the air so she comes back down flat on the couch either on her back or her face. It sounds brutual, I know, but rest assured she is giggling the whole time. Daddy typically has to beg off the game. Below is a nice shot of her love of bodily bouncing.
We recently visited the Rawling Conservatory in Baltimore. Its a delightful conservatory with tastefully arranged floral displays of various climates. They have a beautiful orchard room. Unfortunately to get there you drive through what must be locations used to film The Wire (if you don't know what The Wire is, check it out here. It's the best thing on TV.)
Here you can see the sensible yet uncaged artistic fervor that Erin is working herself into. This kid loves to draw (or "color" as she calls it). Give her a crayon and paper and she can work herself into a zen-like focus drawing.
This is just a cute picture of her looking rather coy. She's digging herself out from the couch cushions as her 'house' (read
couch cushion fort) just toppled over.
Recently Pam and Erin took a brief trip out to La Grange Park, IL to visit family. They visited with Aunt Judi (Pam's sister) and cousins Natalia and Jeremy. Erin is well on the way to worshiping her cousin Natalia. She is also mesmerized by the fact that Natalia goes to school. If you mention Natalia' name to Erin she will get a far away look in her eye and say 'school' (this if often followed by 'slide' - apparently a highlight of the schoolyard).
Another nice photo from the trip to the land of Lincoln.
Recent gathering at a neighbors backyard (spot the kiddy pool in lower lefthand side of picture). As the sun was setting and Erin was starting to get cold Daddy managed to get in a quick snuggle.
Same day, just prior to the festivities. Not sure if she looks like a young movie star or Elton John.
Erin loves to help doing just about anything around the house. Here she is helping Mommy plant flowers in the front yard. She was quite good at following instructions and trying to actually plant the flowers (and not just dig in the dirt).
The weekend of Erin's 2nd birthday (April 1st for those keeping score) her grandparents (Ken and Carol Dies) were visiting. We were fortunate enough to have an opportunity to meet up with Pam's Aunt Katherine and Uncle Richard (Katherine is Carol's sister) in our nation's capital. Beautiful day on the mall, really got the patriotic sentiment stirring.
