hello?

isla right now

* says "uh-oh," "ma-mum," and "up." "uh-oh" usually accompanies the throwing down of her pacifier or a snack she's done with.
* signs "milk" and "more," but only when she feels like it.
* scoots all over the place, on her bum with one leg in front. is beginning to pull herself up on furniture.
* follows me and/0r noah around the house. is literally underfoot most of the time. (i have to be careful not to step on her!)

* mastered the "snack trap" in a matter of seconds. munches thousands of veggie booty puffs via said snack trap.
* goes through about five outfits a day.
* is very interested in books. turns pages and says, "oh!" (the cutest thing ever.)
* loves the coffee grinder. bops and claps when we grind coffee.

* loves the beach, and water of all kinds. crawls right up to the sprayers at the spray park.
* loves beach sand, sandbox sand, and dirt of all kinds. also leaves, sticks, grass, rocks.
* loves the bath and focuses on trying to drink bath water.

* has seven teeth, one of which still looks a bit like a fang.
* eats everything she can get her tiny hands on. except shredded spoonfuls cereal. these she does not like.
* loves her new sippy cup, and drinks with gusto. then coughs.
* has probably eaten about a thousand blueberries this week alone.

* loves to unpack the diaper bag, the laundry basket, noah's shoe box, the book shelf, etc.
* does not want to sleep anymore. especially if noah is not in the room.
* loves balls. taps them together, rolls them to noah.
* loves her daddy and claps and waves when he comes home.

lately

spray parks:

berry picking:
munching:

and digging:

mid-july

means:

the freezer is full of strawberries.
raspberries are on the counter in bowls, ready to be processed.
blueberries are ripening.
we have peas on our vines, finally.
the cilantro has gone to seed.
the green tomatoes are heavy.
the lawn needs to be mowed.
we are jet-lagged.
our dear friend steve got married.
we had lots of fun in new england.
our suitcases are still packed.
clean laundry is piled up on the living room rug.
isla says "uh-oh."
she scoots everywhere.
she wrecks noah's train set-ups.
she sits up in bed.
she eats tons of food.
noah does not wear diapers anymore.
he spends hours every day reading quietly.
he loves the beach.
he can't wait for preschool this fall.
trees have been chopped down in the backyard.
plans have been approved for the garage.
this weekend we'll dig.
the sailboat has been sold.
now we kayak.
and walk in a stroller with lovely seat covers.
i dream of many creative projects...
and fall asleep at 8:30pm.
i am slowly uploading pictures to flickr.
and trying to blog less, write letters more.

happy summer to you all!