8 months

Miss Cassie Lou you are 8 months old today!  Full of smiles and giggles you are sweet as can be, wee one!  Your sisters adore you and so do your parents.  You are strong, lively and excited to be a part of things, unless it's nap time - then, you love snuggling down with your special blanket and nuk in your crib.  Exploring different foods intrigues you and yet you still consistently dislike all fruits and prefer olives, corn, pickles, rice cakes, crackers and all meats.  I've learned to skip purees with you - who needs those anyway!?  :)  You are showing signs of movement, although no real excitement to push yourself along.  You enjoy sliding around in circles on your belly or moving yourself backwards...and often getting stuck under chairs.  So from your perspective, it seems inconvenient to move  - that's okay with us, take your time, little one. :)  Each day is a gift with you - we're thankful you've made our family five.

 Play time at the garden with a wee friend!  I'd love to have these two regularly play together, but sadly we are a few states apart.  

We had a fun visit in June at a garden picnic.

 Cassie's smile overflows into a little wiggle and hugging herself.  Just can't contain the joy!

Yummy spinach - fresh from the garden!

garden bounty

We are picking veggies from our garden by the pounds!  

The girls have carrots coming in - even the small ones are rejoiced over and gobbled up!  :) 

'Tis the Season

It's hot in Philly now.  So...we are doing what all smart city-dwellers do - go to the splash parks!

Summer Solstice

We continued our tradition of holding a summer solstice celebration at the community garden with our neighbors.  The evening began with a delicious potluck and good conversation and ended with a rollicking dance around the maypole!

Madeleine and John's wedding!

Our dear friend, Madeleine was married to a wonderful man this past weekend.  Erik and I were very involved in the wedding preparations, ceremony and reception.  Erik played his violin for the ceremony and I arranged all the flowers.  Super fun for us both!

our dining room table was a garden for most of Saturday!

7 months!

Cassie Lou is 7 months old!  On the 27th (her birth date) we spent a lovely morning and afternoon along the Wissahickon creek.  We hiked and played in the water, enjoyed a picnic lunch and had a lovely visit for a family of ducks.  Cassie Lou loved it all - watching her sisters, sticking her toes in the water and cuddling up with Mama for a nap in the woods.  What a joy you are, sweet wee one!  

reading :)

Reading is really starting to click for Meredith.  It's been such a fun year to see her work at it and for the elements to begin to make sense.  Lately she's been making leaps and bounds in her progress!

I love this moment! I suggested we take a stack of books outside to read during our afternoon quiet time.  While I put some groceries away, Meredith got all the supplies, and settled down with her sisters to begin....and they added some extra snuggles and giggles for good measure. :)

three little ducks

All three girls fit into our bathtub this week.  They LOVED it.  Clean, happy sisters!

snuggling

Cassie Lou was gifted this beautifully handmade blanket when she was 3 months old.  Erik and I are thrilled that she has a special blanket like her older sisters, and we're glad she's starting to get attached to it...just like they did at this age.  We are big fans of the "lovey" around here. :)

first foods

Since Cassie Lou is 6 months old now, we've started some foods.  So far she's had sweet potatoes and pears.  She's a fan of both!

Raw Asparagus!

Eliza Wren is our snacker.  Meals continue to be laborious, but if you mention a snack this little one is right there with you to gobble it up.  Our community garden is great place for snacks and as always, Eliza Wren is an enthusiastic participant.  Raw asparagus as a snack - woohoo, bring it on!

I stopped her after five stocks this size - we needed some for dinner! :)