Back to Reality

We've been on a little hiatus over here recently. The leaves have changed and most of them have already fallen. Violet and I spent a week in California followed by a week in Hawaii with Marc and the rest of my family. 

Now that we are home we are trying to get back in the swing of things. Violet is battling the tail end of her first cold and Marc and I are busy preparing for the change of seasons. 

Today Marc climbed up on the roof and together we cleaned the chimney. It looks like next week's weather will require the wood stove to be working. While he was up there Marc also swept the roof of pine needles and cleaned out the rain gutters. 

While he was on the roof Marc suggested I sweep the deck. I decided to do one better and pulled out the leaf blower. Now I know why my dad thought it was important we had one ... that power tool is fun!! 

I'm hoping to get a chance to catch up on some posts this week as there is much to share. Violet has turned 8 months and we all had a fantastic family vacation to Hawaii. 

Violet - 8 Months

Weight - 19 pounds 9 ounces

Dear Violet,

I started drafting this letter to you on my iPhone as you were sleeping in my arms on our flight from Vermont to California. It wasn't the first time we had flown without Daddy but it was the beginning of our first week without him away from our home. Together, you and I spent one week in California with Nana and Granddad. Then Daddy joined us for a week in Hawaii with the rest of my family. Although I haven't been jotting down copious amounts of new moments with you, I really feel that during these two weeks you grew up. A lot. We've definitely hit some big milestones this month with teeth and crawling.

This month we had to give you your first dose of Tylenol. You had woken up at 11 pm after being put to bed at 7 pm and just screamed until 1 am. There was nothing your Dad nor I could do to calm you - not rocking, not turning the lights on and not even nursing. It was at this point that we decided you must be really close to getting a tooth. The Tylenol helped you and, let's be honest, us get some rest. But in the morning there was still no new tooth. Four days later we found ourselves in the same predicament, but still no tooth. Finally a week after the first screaming incident your second bottom tooth (right center) made its appearance.

The downside to teeth is biting. As I watch you play sometimes I watch you bite things you shouldn't be - the brick fireplace, the wooden coffee table, the metal chair and even daddy's shoes. Three times you have also bit me while nursing. I think my response is as equally surprising to you as the bite is to me and neither of us seems to be happy after you've bit me. Hopefully this will be a fleeting experience for both of us.

During our vacation in Hawaii you finally met your Uncle Andrew and Auntie Carly and spent a lot of time with your 2 year old twin cousins, Josephine and Nixon. It was your first time to the beach and the most time you have spent in a pool. I think it was the twins running around that encouraged you to really get a handle on crawling. Not only can you get where you want to now but you can also transition back and forth between sitting and crawling, which makes watching your cousins run around or checking out where Mom and Dad are even easier. It's been really fun to watch the things you will crawl after but it also came with the realization that we probably should have already baby proofed some of our house.

Your new word this month was "up". You have no idea what it means but you have definitely said it over and over again. You are also getting better at waving. If you are in the right mood and provided the right encouragement you will wave to other people. Your timing is still off for the "hello" or "goodbye" wave but you do enjoy a good middle of the conversation wave. And when you are really proud of yourself you have even started clapping. We can't wait to see how you master these skills next month.

Love,
Your Mom and Dad