10 months

it was
a beautiful
sunny july day
when vee turned
10 months old.

as we approach
her one year
birthday
i cannot
help but get
nostalgic
for those
last
months
before
she was born...
the warm
sunny days
in neuchâtel
when
grub and i
would eat
dinner
on the balcony
and
take
early evening
dips in the lake
and wonder
how our lives
would change
when vee was born.

that was
a year ago.

. . . . . . . . . .



vee had another
eye appointment
on her birthday.
so we
spent most
of the morning
in lausanne.




in the evening
we joined
friends
by the lake
for
an apéro
and
pétanque.
vee hung out
with her favorite
frenchman, antoine.

. . . . . . . . . .



. . . . . vee's 9-month present from grub gets deconstructed . . . . .


vee is becoming
more mobile,
more curious
and more
determined.
she must grab and
deconstruct
everything
she can get her hands on...



she plays by herself
and often
seems to be reading
her stories out loud.

. . . . . . . . . .

this month
we started taking
her around in
the stroller
but due to
the chore
of getting
in down
the many stairs
in front
of our building
we quickly
gave up on it.

. . . . . . . . . .

our friend
derrick
visited
from
n. carolina
and vee
was very fond
of him.



he sat
patiently with vee
and played
coasters
and made her
laugh a lot.
he nicknamed her
lil' puddin' foot.

. . . . . . . . . .



i spent my
first birthday
with vee...



and she
had her
first
4th of july bbq.

. . . . . . . . . .

we had our first
"accident"
this month...
our pediatrician
warned us 
that we were entering
the age of accidents...
we were careful...
but
one morning
vee was on our bed
and
grub had gotten up
to make tea & coffee...
he had put up
a pillow barrier
on his side of the bed
and i had fallen back asleep...
and suddenly
i was jolted awake
to
t-h-u-m-p
and
W-A-A-A-a-a-a-h-h-h.
we don't know how
she did it but
we were lucky...
she just got a tiny bump
on her head
and she quickly
stopped crying
but
boy oh boy
we felt bad
(especially me,
since
i was sleeping
on the job)...
we now refer to
the incident
as
the day
we "broke her in."



. . . . . . . . . .

vee is not
really crawling
or walking yet.
she is an excellent
backward crawler
and wants to
"walk"
everywhere.
our
pediatrican
kindly corrected us
when we said
she was
walking with assistance.
apparently
what she is doing
is not considered
walking.
i am in no rush.
crawling and walking
means
nothing is safe
in our home
anymore...
it's like
when
we had a kitten
but worse.

. . . . . . . . . .

otherwise
we are
having a good time
with vee...
she is
harder
to keep up with
every day
but she
is always
easy-going
and smiling.
people remark
on it every time
we have a get together...
they always
tell us
how much fun
it is to have
vee around
because
she likes everyone
and smiles a lot.


(click on image to see video)

she certainly
makes us
laugh a lot.

. . . . . . . . .

next month
will be a big month
for vee (and us)...
more on that later.

for now
we are
enjoying
the summer
and
all the adventure
vee has in store for us.




xo