Fall is Here!

Scarlett is eleven months old now! She is seeming much more toddler-like these days too. As of the last post, I was coming off the tail end of my "staycation." Ah, those were the days! On the last day (last Monday) we bought a new (to us) car. We were originally going to get rid of my BMW because it's a pretty tight fit with the car seat and since it's so low to the ground I have trouble getting her in and out with my back, but just as we were about to sell it, we had more problems with our SUV again. We'd already dumped 3 grand into it over the last three months and it was going to be almost the much to get it fixed again, so we decided to re prioritize and trade it in. I'm just glad to be rid of it at this point! So we ended up getting a 2010 Acura MDX. They get great ratings and everyone I've talked to who owns one loves it. So far, so good. It's much roomier and I like the ride a lot better. Until we can sell the BMW (not until spring at the earliest), Paul is going to drive the BMW and I'm going to drive the MDX.

Scarlett had swim lessons again on Tuesday. I got out of work late so I met Paul and Scarlett at the pool. It was kind of cool to walk in and surprise her. She was doing so well!! I'll let Paul say more about her progress since he was in the water with her, but since I had been out of town the week prior, it was night and day from the last time I'd seen her in there. She was actually SWIMMING! The best part was that she seemed SO happy in the water. She was smiling, clapping, cheering, splashing and just having a grand ol' time. It was a funny contrast because the other babies seemed to be enjoying the water, but in a very leisurely way. Not our baby. She was moving nonstop. At the end of class they were teaching them to pull themselves out of the pool by putting a rubber ducky (her favorite!) on the ledge. She pulled up, onto the ledge, and crawled right past the rubber ducky and straight to me. It wasn't exactly what she was supposed to do, but it definitely melted my heart to know that she was anxious to see me after a long day as I was to see her. Paul said that maybe I shouldn't show up at the pool anymore! Tomorrow I'll try to get home before they leave so that we can get our hellos out of the way before class!

Wednesday and Thursday Paul was out of town, and in typical Scarlett fashion, she had a rough night (and therefore I had a rough night). Wednesday we had gone to Bethesda to meet my friend Scott for dinner. We got stuck in traffic and a poor GPS route choice on the way out, so it ended up being a later night than we planned. It was after 10 when we got back so it only took me about 5 minutes to put her down. Very unusual, so I was pretty hopeful for a good night! On the contrary -- she was up every hour from 1 am to 4 am, when she finally slept until 6:30. I think she tries to tell us that she prefers to have both parents at home!

I had to teach on Saturday but then Scarlett and Paul met me at Octoberfest at Rustico in Alexandria. It was fun and we met up with some friends there before splitting off for Scarlett and I to go to Jacy's welcome back party and Paul and my friend Matt to go to the Caps home opener. Scarlett and I were both in bed by the time Paul got back from the game. It had been a long day! On Sunday we went to the corn maze (http://www.cornmazeintheplains.com/) with Jacy, Joel, Liam, my cousin Dan, and his daughter Eve. We had a great time! Scarlett LOVED the slides, the pumpkins, the tractor (plus the bark, the hay, the grass... just about everything). She was smiling and laughing the whole time. When we first got there it was just us and my cousins but Eve and Scarlett were content playing in the piles of pumpkins for quite a while. Scarlett was loving the pumpkins. No, seriously... she kept giving them kisses. Lots of kisses. She patted them, kissed them, rolled them, and even got a bruise on her forehead from trying to play peek-a-boo with one of them. Who knew pumpkins could cause so much joy!

Scarlett not only got a bruise from a pumpkin, but she got a bloody gum (tooth maybe?) from a butterfly! I'm not even 100% sure how it happened, but she was trying to do pull ups on the wooden cut out when Paul noticed that she was bleeding! Kind of scary since she has never bled before, but she was fine after a minute (and she never even cried).

After about 3 hours on the farm, the babies were getting tired so we picked out some pumpkins to carve next weekend and hit the road. Scarlett got 3 pumpkins -- one as big as she is (we have plans!), a normal carving pumpkin, and a white pumpkin that she can paint herself. I think we're going to be making a lot of pumpkin bread!

Today was Columbus Day -- one of the few holidays I do not get off of work. Unfortunately we didn't remember until yesterday that our daycare provider doesn't work on Columbus day, so Scarlett came to work with me this morning. She was really good though! I set up a bunch of toys for her and her travel crib and she played quietly most of the time she was there (9 - 2). She visited with many of my coworkers who all commented on what a happy baby she is. She refused to nap with all of the excitement of a new place, but she never fussed or cried while she was there, so it could have been worse! Paul picked her up at 2 PM after he left the office so that I could have a few more productive hours. Tonight we tried to go to Roosevelt Island for walk, but it got really dark, really fast! We made it around the island, but it got pretty creepy, so we won't be doing that again unless it's a weekend when we can go during the day! All-in-all, we've had a fun few days! We're looking forward to pumpkin carving next weekend and getting ready for halloween and Scarlett's first birthday!

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Funny how every time one of us is out of town, Scarlett decides to be difficult at night. Its definitely a trend and not a coincidence. I would say that when we are both home and we sleep feed her, chances of her going to sleep before 10 and waking up after 7 is in the 90% range (and most of the 10% is remedied by a simple 4am quick feed). When Shonna is away, its about 50% (I think its 2 out of 4 nights), and when I'm away it seems like 25% (I've been gone at least 8). She has this sense about her. In addition, when I have an early meeting or have an early flight, there is a good chance she is going to be trouble... Think she is trying to tell us something?

But on to the good stuff. Tuesday's swim class was a blast. The second we walked into the pool area, Scarlett started giggling and screeching. While I was holding her, she would twist her body towards the pool and push her arms forward like she was going to grab the water. Grinning from ear to ear and laughing, Scarlett caught the attention of a few mothers. They would smile at her, smile at me, and basically were in awe of how excited she was. I told them this is how she acts before getting in the bath, but this is a HUGE bathtub so the response is even bigger. As Shonna mentioned, her energy didn't end outside of the pool. When we started class, she was ready to swim. The instructor started class in the usual way beginning with the basics. This is the same routine from week 1 including stabilization techniques and preparing the baby to get adjusted to the movements. Well, Scarlett doesn't have time for the simple stuff. She wants to go faster, glide, lick the water, and get her face wet. These are things we ended up doing later in the 30 minute class anyway, but I went with it during warmups. The instructor started walking over and I was ready for the "you can't do that" speech, but he actually said "wow she is doing great!". He singled us out a few other times as well. One was because I wasn't holding her properly when gliding her on her back, but still... :) The other games she excelled in included: placing a duck just outside the pool so that she would reach with her arms and kick to arrive at her destination; and placing a duck 2 feet outside the pool so she would again reach, kick, and then climb out of the pool. One of the fathers who's kid was next to us gave us the nod and thumbs up a few times. The coolest non-swimming trick she did was, after grabbing the duck from the ledge, I said "touchdown" and she preceded to raise her hands in the air, then she threw her hands down and spiked the duck. I was one proud papa :)

Scarlett was a little social butterfly this week. Shonna mentioned her dinner Wednesday, Octoberfest, Jacy's, and the corn maze. As you can see by the pictures, she hated every minute of it. We also went to dinner last night on our way back from the maze (by the way, the "maze" was a mini maze this year due to the late season drought, so unless you were under 4ft in height, it wouldn't have been challenge. Not a maze like the Shinning if you know what I mean.) We couldn't decide what to eat, but for some inexplicable reason, we both craved fried chicken. Real fried chicken, but what non-diner has fried chicken? Probably Cracker Barrel, but we were in Arlington. On a whim, we decided to stop in Clarendon and parked near Liberty Tavern. Our strategy was to walk down the sidewalks, look at the menus, then decide. The 2nd menu we looked at was Spider Kelley's, and wouldn't you know it... FRIED CHICKEN!!! 4 pieces and a side for $10. That's barely more than popeyes or KFC! But that's not all we discovered. We also found out that they have GREAT crab cakes! Almost all meat, barely any filler http://www.spiderkellys.com/. Scarlett had crab, mac and cheese, and potato. Fantastic food for a bar/restaurant. As you can see by the website, its a little crazy on weekends and happy hour, but we were there on a slow Sunday night.

Just for the record, Scarlett's diet this week consisted of chicken, crab, cheese, lima beans, green beans, broccoli, pumpkin, carrot, peas... she is turning into a foodie before our eyes! And of course we paired her courses with the finest formula (now mixed with whole milk), water, and liquid yogurt money can buy!