Ballard Banter

Gracie goes Goth

Just before family night Gracie was throwing a fit. I don't remember what the plot was but the result was this. She put on all black clothes, ratted her hair, covered her face in dark make-up and tried to sulk. She made it quite difficult to get a picture.

I think my favorite part about the entire thing was how hard she had to try to be snarky. It was all she could do not to giggle. She is just too delightful to be goth.

She was so bad at it, she fully participated in family night.

11 Months

This handsome litte guy is 11 months. He is crazy spoiled. He has learned to work the system. When Barbara, from Early Intervention, comes he puckers his lips, turns to me and makes a whining sound to tell on her. He knows she is going to make him work.
He doesn't do the caterpillar anymore, he crawls. He is cruising furniture and has learned to get down without falling. He loves to hang out on the edge of the tub. I am sure it won't be long before he falls in. It makes me so nervous.
He is eating a variety of things. He uses his little fingers so well. He will eat until he is done and then that bite comes out. If you try again, it just comes back out. He doesn't like sippy cups. If you make him a bottle and then walk to his room he will follow you fussing. When you get to the crib he will stop about 2 feet short roll over and cry. It is very dramatic.
He doesn't like it when he is blocked from getting where he wants to go. The kids tease him by laying in front of him so he can't get somewhere he isn't supposed to be. It makes him crazy.
He points to the pheasants in his room and makes noises. He says momma and dada but uses them out of context as well.

Reflections 2014 - The World Would be a Better Place if...

This year Gretchen entered the school reflections contest. She wanted to draw something amazing. She worked hard to make it happen and even had to start over. I was proud of her because she stuck to it and even got her dad to take her to get the poster paper.

Her theme was The world would be a better place if there were more teachers.

She drew a teacher at the front of the class and several students learning.

This is her full poster.

...a close up of her cute students

...a close up of her cute teacher

Jake took advantage of the disguarded poster and added his own details.

This is his full poster.

...a close up of his students?

...a close up of his teacher?

I can't say I was proud, but I didn't think it was quite funny.

Max @ 10 Months

In the last month Max has learned all kinds of tricks. He can crawl, he pulls himself up on his knees and just today he pulled himself up to the couch at Leslie's.

He has had four teeth come in throughout the last month.

He was 29.6 inches tall and weighed 19 pounds on 9/3/2014.

The teething has been okay for me, he lets me hold him in the tub while he sings himself to sleep.

His crawling is a lot of exercise. He does the caterpillar when he needs to go fast but he can actually crawl. He will do about 1/2 and 1/2 unless he thinks you are chasing him, then he just spins around on his tummy as fast as he can. He likes to be chased and screeches the entire time.