A mover and a shaker

Take a look at any picture taken recently and you will notice one constant. Scarlett is in continuous motion. If she isn't sleeping, she is moving. It is fun to watch and exhausting at the same time. Good thing there are two of us for the most part! We realize that babies move quite a bit, especially when trying to master walking, but we have been hard pressed to find someone with this much energy and staying power.

On Tuesday she went to her 4th swim class and by the end of the 30 minute class, Scarlett had even more energy than when she started. I will say that she started the class a little slower than usual. This was the first time she seemed a little overwhelmed that there were 30 other humans swimming around her (half adults). It reminded me of her first few Gymboree classes where she looked shy and uncomfortable. Well, half way through the class she was back to normal, splashing, kicking, and yelling with excitement. During the class, we went through the same basic routine that I outlined in previous blogs. She is adding more and more kicking into her motion and is able to tread water ever so slightly. Her favorite is still kicking towards an object with arms outstretched, and climbing out of the pool (with a little help of course, but not as much as you think). The biggest problem with her energy level after swimming is that it continues for HOURS afterwards. Yes HOURS. This past Tuesday she went to sleep just after 1130pm, and her class ended at 7. Of course we did call in a babysitter (our neighbor Abigail) for 3 hours (730-1030) so we could have dinner with Shonna's MN co-worker and friend. When we returned home, she was still bouncing off the walls. This has been a pattern on Tuesdays, so it definitely wasn't Abigail's fault!

Besides swimming and dinner Tuesday, it was a pretty uneventful week until the weekend. We went to the outlets Saturday and stocked up on clothes for Scarlett after a fun lunch at Cheesecake Factory with Jacy and Joel. I've come to realize that Cheesecake, while it has a ton of food options, and of many different types, 90% of the food is greasy, buttery, and Friday's-like. Good thing the other 10% is just enough to have a good meal... and of course they have great desserts ;) Sunday we had brunch at a local New Zealand joint before the big carving day. Cassatt's www.cassattscafe.com/ has great food for a little neighborhood cafe, and we really don't eat there enough. Scarlett had breakfast earlier at the house, but it didn't stop her from eating half a fruit plate. Her new favorite fruit? Move over strawberries, its now honeydew melon. Not even close. She was pushing away her old favorite for this sugary green heaven. At one point, she stuffed a big piece in her mouth, and before her first attempt to chew, she grabbed a similarly sized chunk and tried to shove it in her already packed mouth. I attempted to stop her, but she knew what I was trying to do, so she turned her head away from me and tried to stuff it in anyway. I was able to stop her and she dropped it on the floor. At least she isn't stubborn? Yikes I hope she changes a little before she gets older....

After brunch, we decided to go next door to get Scarlett her first pair of real kicks. Up to now, she has only worn shoes without tread, essentially moccasins that are dressed to look like real shoes. Does she walk better in the new thicker shoes? Well, uh, she'll get used to them.. After shoe shopping we went to Arrow Wine for some beer, stopped at the local Lebanese Taverna market http://www.lebanesetaverna.com/market/ to pick up some excellent avocado salad and hummus (and the cashier gave Scarlett a balloon, which is always a good thing), and Shonna went to La Union for the final pieces of the cupcake puzzle (did I mention we got carving utensils the night before, which apparently included cupcake batter?). Anyway, I finally made it back to the house with 15 bags of stuff. The carving day started out with guys watching football and girls using 6 sticks of butter and 2 packages of confectioners sugar to make 24 cupcakes. Well... a few beers, lots of pumpkins, and many goofy pictures later, it was time to light the pumpkins with a remote control (you read that right), roast pumpkin seeds, and sleep.

Carving pumpkins was lots of fun! We had picked out a Scarlett-sized pumpkin the week before so we decided to carve it up and see if it fit. She was having a lot of fun in the pumpkin at first, but then she seemed to realize that she was in fact inside of a large vegetable. She seemed particularly annoyed when she realized she couldn't move around in it very well. She tried to bend over to pick up her yogurt snack that fell inside when she realized there wasn't room to maneuver. We could keep her happy for a while longer by clapping and laughing but eventually she was ready to get out of that pumpkin. Luckily I've read that babies don't form real memories before the age of four...

I was also determined to get Scarlett involved in the fun. Since I couldn't very well give her a carving tool, I decided that she was going to finger paint a pumpkin. We bought a little white pumpkin, a big can of finger paints compete with rollers, and a smock. As it turns out, it's kind of tough to get an 11 month old to do much with paint other than sticking it in her mouth. She did help me move the blue paint around on the pumpkin and she did a good job painting my shirt and jeans, so we'll call it a successful first try. Maybe in a few more months.

Poor Liam was battling teeth so he wasn't in much of a pumpkin carving mood. Scarlett only has one coming in right now and we can tell that it bothers her. Liam seems to be getting a bunch of them all at once! Dave, Matt, and Amanda also came over to participate in the fall fun. I'm looking forward to costumes in a few weeks and carving pumpkins again next year when she has a better idea of whats going on! It's gonna be tough to find a pumpkin big enough for a 2 year old... and it's gonna be even harder to get her into it!

Scarlett has been incurring a lot of injuries lately. She has war wounds all over her head. Bumps, bruises, and scratches. It takes a pretty hard fall to make her cry, but there have even been a few of those in the last week, including a run in with a bookshelf and falling off of the couch. Sigh. Sometimes I wonder how she'll make it out of toddler hood. Other than her injuries, she is doing pretty well. As Paul said, she is a very busy bee. She also seems to get more and more social every day -- getting even more determined to get the attention of whoever might be near her (including demanding that cashiers and salespeople hold her). It's Scarlett's world and we're all just visiting.

On Friday Scarlett and I went to lunch with my friend and client, Pat, before we stopped at the bookstore and headed up to the University of Maryland for another study. We got stuck in horrible rush hour traffic through the city on the way back (16 miles in 90 minutes) and Scarlett screamed (or should I say screeched) for the last 25 minutes. She really hates the car seat these days if it is for more than a half hour. I think she is too tall to be rear facing, but they say to wait 2 years now. We need to do some investigating though, because making mommy and daddy a nervous wreck while driving cant be very safe either! She looks pretty uncomfortable since she basically has to do the splits while she's in her seat. I guess I cant blame her.

As for new tricks, Scarlett has learned how to blow kisses and she is mimicking us more. She puts her hand up to her ear when we answer the phone and she "helps" me put her food back into her bowl. We're sill having trouble transitioning her off of her bottle and onto a cup, but I'm expecting that will be a long battle.