Updates: our week, 11 months, 4th of July

This past week has been such a whirlwind that I haven't had much time to take pictures and video, but I will try and update you all with this post!

Here are a few updates from the week:
1) We loved going to baby VBS this week with friends Hannah, Larkyn, and Adry.  We sang songs, did crafts, painted, ate snack, played in the water, played in the sand, and played musical instruments.
2) We loved our visit from Grandma Tommerdahl.  We went to the park, played outside, and played in the mud!
3) It was so warm out this week that we went to the beach or the splash pad many times!  Summer LOVES the water!


Summer is now 11 months old!  Quite a lot has changed in the last month.  Here are a few highlights:

*** At 10 months, she was pretty much immobile.  Now, at 11 months, she is a fast crawler and is pulling up on everything and climbing everything including stairs! 

***Summer now has 6 teeth.  Four on the top and two on the bottom.

*** She is now completely on solid foods and completely weaned, eating 3 solid meals a day.

*** She says quite a few "words" but the two that seem to carry meaning are "Ca-Ca" for Tucker (usually accompanied by a smile) and "Coo-coo" for coo-coo clock. 

***She loves to hand us things, usually accompanied with the word "unya, unya"  (meaning, take it, take it!). 

***She has always loved taking things out of baskets or buckets and taking her colored plastic rings off the holder, but this month she started putting things in the basket as well and putting her rings  on the holder. 

***She is starting to "test" us!  She knows what she is doing....because she gets a little glimmer in her eye right before she does whatever she is not supposed to do.  A few of the no-no's she tries are pulling off her velcro bib at mealtime and throwing food off the side of her high chair.  She is learning the meaning of "Summer, No." And, even though she tests us, she is definitely learning obedience.

*** She still loves cell phones, and this month she started taking the cell phone and holding it up to her ear and talking! 

***She still loves water and bath time just as much as ever.  We finally use the big tub rather than her infant tub, and she loves it! 

***She started drinking out of a real cup (with help) this month (she kept chewing on the sippy portion of the sippy cup, so we just decided to try a real cup). 

***She has a new found interest in books.  She likes to be the one to turn the pages.  She will find a book, and hand it to Paul or I to read.  As soon as we finish reading it, she will hand it to us and say something that sounds like "again".  I think the record was reading the same book seven or eight times in a row....again, and again, and again!

Our little mover:

Bubbles at bathtime...a new favorite:

 

Splash Splah

Pulling Up: a new challenge at bathtime!

For the 4th of July weekend, we had lots of fun family time!  We went to the dog park, went to the splash pad, went to the beach, went to Apple Valley Days carnival, went to the parade, and had friends over for a cookout.  It was perfect weather, and it was so much fun to be together as a family!

Here are a few pictures from the carnival.  Summer LOVED the petting zoo and her first taste of an ice cone!

Summer loves all animals...

even the big ones!

Mmmmmm!  Blue Raspberry Ice Cone

  Below are two videos.  The first video is from today, Summer's first experience with the Go-Karts at the Apple Valley Parade.  The second video is from LAST YEAR, Tucker's first experience with the Go-Karts at the parade.  Kind of fun to see side by side!

Summer's First 4th of July Parade, Summer 2011

Tucker's First 4th of July Parade, Summer 2010

 

Here are a few pictures from the parade:

Summer's spot.  Daddy went early and saved Summer a front row spot!

It was a warm day...had to stay hydrated!

Our family :-).  Do you see Tucker?...he's sitting under my chair to stay cool!

One of the floats handed out Freezie Pops/Flavor Ice.  Summer seemed to like it!

She liked playing with the plastic too!

Well, I think that is all of the updates for now!  If you made it this far in the blog post, thanks for reading!  And a HUGE shout out of thanks to all our past and present troops for their service to our country.  THANK YOU for making/keeping the United States a free nation!