Will wonders never cease?

Sorry for the blurry shot: I didn't want to risk waking her with the flash.

 OK, so it's a small wonder here.  This is the 2nd time Robin has accepted a pacifier.  We're not an anti-paci family; whatever tool works is the right tool, especially when it comes to soothing a baby.  Robin is just not very accepting of non-human pacifiers.  So today is a special occasion.

Erin used to be the same way.  The only time she'd take a pacifier was when taking naps at her awesome PDX daycare.  And she was always in one particular swing.  They had to go buy more swings because Erin would commandeer the swing every day.  Confession time: sometimes when I picked her up, the only way I could tell, at first, which one was my baby was because she was in the swing.  Most days she was in different clothes from when I dropped her off, and really, babies do all kinda look alike, right? I felt totally bad about it until I saw a mom during pick up look questioningly at the teachers, and the teacher pointed out which babe was hers.

Oops, digression.  This post is about Robin.  So, let's speculate.  Since she took the binkie once before and seemed to accept it once again, maybe she'll accept a bottle, (which she also has only taken one other time).

Let's hope. 

Erin on reincarnation. Or on time. Or on a deeper truth of the universe that I can't yet grasp.

Erin to me in a quiet moment right before bed:


"Dad?  Next time I'm going to be a boy.  And a girl.  And a cousin.  And an adult.  And a woman.  And a chocolate bar.  And a ladybug.  And a poop. And a wall. I'm going to be all those things."

Fashion Friday - Mommy's Shirt

From the video archives, Erin shows off one of Mom's maternity t-shirts.  This was nearly 1 year ago, when we had just moved into the house. My how things change in a year.

Robin 0.5 year stats

Height: 27 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 17 lbs, 7 oz (75th percentile)
Head Circumference: 44 1/2 cm (95th percentile)

Here's Erin's 6 month stats, for comparison.

I remembered the E being much ... um, wider than Robin, and my memory stands firm - at this age, the E had 1 1/2 lbs over her little sister.  But height is the same.  So Robin is still our "skinny" baby.  And her head is a wee bit smaller.  Though I swear the nurse is measuring her head wrong.

Since 6 months is all about the swing......

Wordless Wednesday - Robin 26 weeks!

August Absence

Uncle Jim commented tonight about the absence of updates on the McMiller blog lately.  Well, folks.  I'll sum it up with two words:  Summer Break.

Erin's preschool takes the month of August off. Remember this?  That was one week with a 2 1/2 year old and sleepy sleepy 2 month old.  We're now week 4/5 with an almost 3 year old and very alert, very busy 6 month old.  So it's spring break times about ten.

We'll be back to our regularly scheduled family updates and gratuitously cute baby pictures in a few more weeks.  In the meantime, for your amusement, here are some pictures Erin took recently:

Fashion Friday: Fruit

Here, Robin is showing off the latest in fashion trends: wearing your dinner.  Tonight's fare: Mashed Banana.  She ate a few tastes and we think she liked it, but in review of the photos her face maybe says she isn't sure about the whole solids thing.  

Erinisms

Just a few things in Erin's world I don't want to forget.

New words

Crossing street:  "We have to hold hands in the crossing street."

Shooting fighting:  Unfortunately, self explanatory.  She makes these out of sticks, leggos, sometimes just her pointed finger.  Sigh.  Guess it's not only little boys who are fascinated with this yet-to-be-properly-named object.

Insights

Measurements:  Erin took a tape measure to her sister and declared: "Robin is 2 miles wide"

Anatomy:  "Daddy, I have bones in my neck, in my elbow, in my fingers, in my tummy, in my neck..."

Time: "Mommy, what time is it?" "It's 9:35."  "Oh, then it's almost 2!"  (all while she adjusts the hands of the clock on her play kitchen.) 

Robin June 24 weeks

New this week: she's discovered that her tongue is a toy and often has it sticking out of her mouth, to the right side of her mouth.  It's pretty cute.  She continues to be intensely interested in everything, particularly whatever Erin is playing with.  Erin is getting good at "taking turns" so hopefully this won't become a big issue until they're preteens. Robin also has a strong desire to move.  She really wants to crawl, walk, wiggle, anything.  But the muscle coordination is not quite there yet.  And she remains a happy, happy child.  I don't think I've ever seen a baby smile and laugh so much.

Cooking Show

Did I ever mention that Erin loves to do "cooking show"?  (Toddler speak for baking/cooking.)  I encourage this because it introduces her to new flavors.  She'll often taste each ingredient, and even though she'll rarely eat the final product I have to believe it does her taste buds good to get some stimulation other than "tofu" and "buttered noodle".  Today, we had to institute a new rule: taste things in the designated tasting bowl, leave the mixing bowl alone.  Erin took every advantage to experiment with the tasting bowl, including the cause/effect of blowing on the little pile of flour in her bowl. . . .

Just a side note: the buttermilk coffee cake was delicious.  Erin has eaten 2 bites.  

New Seat

We saw one of these in action by another family in Yosemite - they clipped it onto the picnic table and viola!  Instant camping high chair.  So of course, we had to get one for our little Robin.  It came today and the verdict is.... total win!




A bit hard to tell from the photo, but we have it clipped onto our countertop.  Erin is in her Learning Tower.  The three of us did a "cooking show" (made some baked goods) and Robin laughed and chewed the measuring cups the entire time.  This is gonna be great.

Which brings me to the soap box portion of this blog post.  There's constantly new innovations in baby gear (and everything else too).  Most of the new products are unnecessary, but sometimes something comes along, such as this little seat, and it's just radtastic.  These probably were around when Erin was a baby, but we were unaware.  I know we'll get lots of use from this.  And for those people who are on the fence about having a second child (I'm tempted to post a link, but I'll respect your privacy.  You know who you are.) just think about the new, interesting, beautifully designed, wonderful things have been put on the market since your first little one was a baby. Just sayin'.  Shopping opportunities abound.

Fashion Friday - Haircut!

Erin's second haircut was a roaring success.  Miss Karen cut and cut and cut. Thankfully, because it was getting quite knotted at the ends.  Then came the post-haircut primping, including three ponytails with bows, glitter in the hair, green stick-on earrings, a matching green necklace, a bracelet, a balloon (pink, of course), and a really big lollypop.

Ignoring the catsup all over her face, I think this picture makes Erin look older.  Sigh.

Robin June - 23 weeks!

Our littlest girl is becoming a person, faster than we're quite ready for.  Robin is totally engaged with the world these days, and spends much of her time trying to grab everything in sight and test it in her mouth. She also adores shaking a grabbed object, banging, switching hand to hand, and conducting all other types of baby experiments.  It is such a joy to watch this little one observe, detect, and be delighted with the world around her. 

Wordless Wednesday:Bandaid

Yosemite!

We spent a long weekend in Yosemite with Grandma and Grandpa. The girls really liked camping: Erin liked hiking every morning and Robin liked the surreptitious fistfuls of dirt in her mouth.

Of course, there were pictures.

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