practicing those steps...

Meredith has been having some exciting practice time with her fun new game - walking!

Here she is on the verge of a few strides...

She made it!

Later...when Daddy's home, they had another practice session.

(first - some tickle time!)

Gearing up for the course - pacing out the race in her mind. ;)

And, she's off!!

words

Meredith has been keeping us on our toes this month - saying a new word or two every few days! For a while, earlier in the summer, she had kept up her favorite "uh-oh" and the usual Mama and Dada.

Then she moved on to:"okay" ("o-tay")...and recently she's added this variety:

1. choo-choo (when she hears a train passing at the station down the street)

2. car ("caa" - she says it with a Bostonian accent!) ;)

3. shoe (sounds like "do")

4. cracker ("ca-ker")

5. bye bye ("ba ba")

6. all done ("a da")

7. hot ("ot") - she says this about whatever we are eating...

And, this Sunday, while we were singing Holy, Holy, Holy during family worship, she joined us on the first three words... "Oooo-ly, aaooly, oly" It brought tears to my eyes - can't believe that she's growing up so fast. :)

News Flash!

It has happened...

Meredith took her first steps on her own this week! :)

A little girl couldn't have been prouder - giggling and glowing in the praise (hip-hip-hoorays!) of her parents. She took several steps in between us on her own - back and forth, and back and forth - loving it (and all the commotion we were making). :)

You Go Girl!

The next day MJ and I made a trip to the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia with friends. It was a great outing for MJ to with her new-found independence and an opportunity to get some serious practice in...

First a stop in the transportation area.

This little girl can never have enough time with trucks these days :)

Then, on to shopping!

This little kiddo got it down pat pretty quickly with an attitude that said, "I can totally do this on my own." And, she did. (Mama is thrilled!!!)

freshly baked bread - an excellent choice.

shopping buddies. :)

Anna Kate sweetly shared her pineapple with MJ

...since she noticed MJ was a bit heavy on the canned goods inventory. ;)

Harvest begins...

Erik tackled our overgrown squash patch last night in preparation for our upcoming move. Most of the squashes and gourds were full size and beyond already! I am thankful to have the harvest done - who knows what kind of 20 pound monster squash we might have had hiding beneath the leaves if we waited any longer!!

And...canning! :) A few weeks ago we did a round to tomatoes in prep for winter soups. Last week Jane picked up a bushel of delicious peaches from a nearby farm and we went to town putting them up.

peach and lavender spread

Erik's one-of-a-kind peach salsa :)

whole peaches

...and, grilled peaches with dinner one night - yum, yum!

don't worry...we are taking moments here and there to relax. :)

saying farewell...

This month we are saying farewell to our dear home in Jenkintown. We plan to move into a new home in Philadelphia on September 5th.

(more photos of the new place to come in a later post later)

Before packing the first box, I took photos of all our dear nooks to remember and record how much we love this home on West Ave. So many sweet memories and so much life has happened in this happy place -we are so thankful for this wee house, and all it's given us over the past 2.5 years. :)

Shades

On our errands this week, I happened to notice a Meredith - sized pair of sunglasses in the "75% off" section of Walgreens.

44 cents for sunglasses? Yes, please. :)

"cracker"

Meredith added another word to her vocabulary this week.

It's awfully convenient to be able to ask specifically for the favorite snack now... :)

Tomatoes! (and a garden update)

We held our first round of canning this weekend putting up around 100 tomatoes. Winter soups we are gearing up for you!

Jane went out for a rainy afternoon of foraging in our tomato patches... :)

Gray days bring more red tomatoes - that certainly was the case this afternoon!

These two win the prize for the biggest at 5 inches across!

Our squash patch is exploding with a variety of winter squashes growing beneath the green leaves.

...and...yes, the squash vines are taking over the yard! :p

wee bicycle

Jane has had some fun thrift store scores this summer (woot!). One of MJ's favorite "new" toys is a wee bicycle - just her size!

silly fun

At Granna and Grandaddy's house this week there's been lots of play time.

silly faces are a favorite all around

games with Uncle Will

eeeek!

Mini Mozart ;)

Meredith loves playing the piano - especially now that she's pulling up and able to reach the keys. Everyday she wants to 'play piano' several times.