It was a fluke.

remember 17 minutes ago when I told you how betty slept through the night last night? well, not tonight.

For the record

Betty slept from 7 pm to 5 am last night.

Betty is 1!!

Betty at 1: Our smiliest baby, and to answer the question we get asked all the time: yes, she is always that happy.

Gives the best tight hugs and open-mouth cheek kisses ever.

Doesn't care much for solid foods.

Seeing a dog or a balloon=shrieks of joy.

Likes to try on shoes.

Gets a kick out of sitting by herself in different chairs.

Loves other babies, especially patting them hard on the head.

Takes good care of her dolls and stuffed animals.

Does not enjoy being thrown or turned upside down at all.

Tiny.

Her new trick is zerberts on my neck.

Still waking up at night, but much better as of the last couple of weeks (only 1-2x/night now),

Hates the car, loves to go for walks in the wagon or stroller.

Party people!

She knew just what to do with this cardboard thing that came around the gapkids box

And the chocolate frosting, as well

9th Day of School

I didn't take any 1st day of school pictures. Have I failed as a mother? I'm trying to be better so I took some pics today. Her outfit was cuter today anyway. Unfortunately, it's dark enough outside when we leave that I had to use the flash. Don't know why it's showing up sideways. (also- the swimsuit competition pose is all her.)  By the time she hopped out of the car at school I didn't need flash anymore so I caught her waving at me.

Asher, not to be outdone, wanted some pictures of his letter B's today.  Actually I think he just wanted to make faces at the camera but I almost wept over the cuteness of the B's.

Looks can be deceiving

This is a caterpillar on the edge of the table in our backyard. So cute and fuzzy. You might imagine that giving it a little cuddle would be kind of like snuggling with a tiny kitten or a tuft of Patrick Swayze's hair. Not so. Ryan was cutting up a branch in our yard a couple days ago when he felt a pain in his arm. He looked down to find this little guy crawling on his shirt. He didn't immediately connect the pain with the caterpillar. Lil' Patrick Swayze was just too cute.

Swayze is a puss caterpillar, we now know, and the most poisonous caterpillar on the continent. His soft exterior hides poisonous spindles underneath which can cause pain ranging from a bee-like sting or, commonly, pain so terrible you think you are having a heart attack or dying. Ryan's pain was somewhere in-between, starting with stinging pain at the site and intense pain radiating up his arm and concentrating in the lymph nodes in his armpit.

So today when we saw one of these guys in our yard we did not go near it. Turns out he's harmless, of course. But ew!

Then I found a partially devoured grub, still alive and wiggling while ants were eating it. I'll spare you the picture of that one.

Ahh, nature.

In all my years of NC living I have never seen anything like either of these until this week!!