Linden is 11 months today. That is so wonderful and a little sad. She's getting so big so fast. I am really going to miss her babyhood.

Thanks to Beth Frilingos for this picture.

Eli and I planted a garden today. There is a sunny patch of dirt between our house and the neighbors house. I bought a small electric tiller and dug up the dirt and mixed in some good organic compost.

Went walked our wagon up to Garden*Hood, our local gardening store and bought two blueberry bushes, some Celebrity tomato plants, jalapeno plants, anahiem chili plants, and this year, I'm going to give okra a shot.

Eli loved digging in the dirt and searching for worms. He stomped on a couple of our newly-planted crops in his gardening excitement, but all-in-all, it was a great adventure.

Apple eatin' buddies.

Eli made a fun snack yesterday, ants on a log. Here's how it went...


The ants (raisins) lined up to march across the log (peanut butter on celery). We counted them. There were 19.


As the ants marched across, they got stuck in the peanut butter. Oh no!


Mmmmm...


Delicious!

Easter was lovely, as were the kids.


Linden and Mommy


Double E's: our lovely friend Esther and sweet Eli in their matching Easter duds.

And climb...


and climb...



and climb!

And Eli loves to climb.

The weather is finally amazing here in Atlanta and we have been taking advantage of it to spend time at the park. Linden loves the swing, just like her brother did.

Dinosaur dress! Our friend Della made this dress when her daughter, now in high school, was a toddler. It is just right for Linden, a little girly, a little tough. Totally cute.

I was mother of the year for about half an hour this morning and I'd like to share my triumph with you, internet world.

After putting the baby down for her morning map, Eli and I cleaned the bathroom (one of his favorite activities). Then I moved his kid table into the bathroom and put a giant dollop of shaving cream in the middle of the table. He was in heaven playing with it and I had half an hour to myself to shower.

Bliss!

Linden (recently dubbed "Moon Pie" for all of her deliciousness) did not get to play in the snow. She liked watching it fall, though! And good heavens, friends, she is pulling up on everything. She is even able to keep herself upright for a few moments without hanging on to anything. Walking is next and we are so doomed!

I'm a little late in posting these since our snow day was a few weeks ago. The truth is, I really hate snow. A lot. I had plenty of it in the few years we lived in New Haven and I'd be happy as a clam if I never encountered it again. Ick. But even I will admit that this was a fun snow day. The park near our house was absolutely gorgeous. Eli, Arthur and Anna and I were among the first people to come sledding (on a cafeteria tray, of course) so when we arrived, it was still pristine and quiet. By the time we left, 45 min later, it was full of happy sledders and snow-people. Eli had the best ride home, wrapped in a waterproof blanket bundled into the wagon eating a chunk of snow (his choice, I thought it was weird!). Who needs a one-horse open sleigh when you have a one-mommy open wagon?

Baby's got berries!

We've had some new adventures in eating around our house. Linden is trying finger foods. She's hilariously bad at it and Tabasco gets some huge meals from cleaning the floor. Occasionally, though, she'll get a food she really, really likes and then she is very careful to get each piece into her mouth. She still misses half the time, but it is fun to watch! Here's Baby Sister and her newest love, blueberries!

Look out everyone!

Linden went in for her almost-nine-month pediatrician visit this morning. She is 20.5 pounds and 27 inches. Her weight gain has slowed down a little (she's now in the 80%) but she's still tall (95%)!

We tried putting both kids in the bathtub for the first time. They both loved it. It is a big old clawfoot tub with room enough for both of them. Linden is still a little small to be left in that tub without some hands-on attention. She's slippery and her little tush slides all over the bottom of the tub. But this was a big hit and we will definitely be doing it again soon!

Eli got a guitar for Christmas. It is a kid-sized guitar, nothing special, but he loves it. He can't really play and nobody in our house knows how to tune the thing, but he plays it every day and makes up songs about any and everything. He knows how to hold it and even scrunches up his face in concentration like a real rock star. Unfortunately, he sounds like Bob Dylan being attacked by angry cats in heat. Not sure how the superhero costume plays in to the mix, maybe there's a Ziggy Stardust thing going on. He's such a little weirdo!

As usual, I'm having problems uploading video. Here's the first, trying to decide what to sing. I hope I can get the second one up, of Eli singing his "helicopter song".

Sweet beach baby. I snapped these shots in between fishing sand out of her mouth. Mmmmm... sand.

While we were in Florida last week, Kevin tried to teach Eli how to do the Heisman while they were playing football on the beach.



Let's be honest here, it looks a bit more like interpretive dance. Daddy was a little disappointed that this didn't pan out. Mommy, on the other hand, was thrilled that Eli seems to show no penchant for football culture.