18 Months

At 18 months, Ingrid is: 

• Funny. 
• Talkative. 
• Into the show Bubble Guppies. 
• Really into books.
• Really, really into babies. 
• Gaining control over herself when she spots a yogurt container (opposed to pointing and grunting uncontrollably).
• Taking a movement class (aka, spinning around with other 18 month-olds).  
• Into looking at pictures of herself. 
• Frustrated when you don't know what she wants. Understandably so.
• Turning to a bit of a snuggler. 
• Rediscovering bananas.
• Going through a weird hair stage. 
• Developing a "real" laugh. 
• Is growing up. 

Here are a few snapshots of Ingrid at 18 months. Hey, I can stop saying months and say 1 1/2! Or 1.5 if you want to be silly about it: 

My friends, Ingrid and I attended a local Harvest Fest for good ol' fashioned fall fun. Sure, there was a turtle in the petting zoo, crawling next to the goats. Sure, there was a playpen full of dried soybeans for kids. Why not? Ingrid had a blast. We had some fair food, saw some cows and left with apple pies. 

Faves. 

Awkward squat. 

Dan and I enjoyed our friend's birthday celebration with dinner and drinks. And we had some confusion with cameras: 

Ingrid has always loved the great outdoors, a ball and Harper. Put them all together and you have a hilarious combination. Throw ball. Watch Harper run. Laugh hard. Fall to your knees. Repeat. 

Ingrid also loves trees. Loves as in literally hugging and kissing them. So sweet it makes my heart hurt. 

September, You Just Arrived.

Do you have to leave so soon?

With Dan starting school, his internship - and his business picking up steam - we've had a hectic month at home adjusting to a new schedule. Isn't organization a wonderful thing? If only someone else could arrange everything and I could just reap the rewards of an organized schedule, closet and life. 

With schedules being more structured than we're used to - I've tried to make an effort to be more easygoing. To sleep in on the weekends, have two beers on a school night, stay in bed and watch cartoons with Ingrid and forgo lunch in favor of baking cookies. 

Let's not lie. This isn't really a huge departure from my "normal." 

Anyways, here are some September highlights from my iPhone (sidebar: any recommendations for a decent non-point-and-shoot camera?): 

Celebrating my best friend's 30th birthday with cocktails (and later over manicures.)

Watching Ingrid's face light up as she watched the kites takeoff from Milwaukee's Lakefront Kite Festival. 

Ingrid's love for babies continues to grow. She tests our swaddling skills and insists on giving them a bottle and "pupcakes" (aka, plastic cupcakes.) 

Savoring lemon cucumbers. A cucumber with the zing (and shape of) a lemon. Seriously amazingly good. 

You can bet that I stuffed those figs with (Kirkland) goat cheese and called it dinner too. 

Never one to say no to anything free - I gladly took this hand-me-down car from a coworker. Ingrid has mastered backing up and is trying her best to move forward. She has mastered the art of turning the wheel - and the horn. 

One of my favorite ways to start the day: a long walk to the park with Harper and Ingrid. 

Hoping there is some sort of nutritional benefit to pumpkin-flavored things - because I've consumed a few pumpkin-flavored things. 

Children's literature just gets better and better. Ingrid has a thing for The Foot Book and "Moo Baa, Lalala" - and loves to recite her favorite phrases. 

Regardless of political affiliation, taking Ingrid to see the President, was memorable, inspiring and uplifting. 

Ring ring! The phone's for you and it's probably Henry from daycare. Or grandma. 

It doesn't get anymore Wisconsin than spending a day at the fair: eating cheese curds, getting an Apple Pie Baked in a Paper Bag from The Elegant Farmer and - gazing at cows: 

A sweet end to a sweet month. 

This month I'm looking forward to welcoming fall, carving pumpkins and taking Ingrid to go Trick or Treating for the first time. 

What are you looking forward to this month? 

A Day at the Fair

After last weekend, I'm a firm believer that the Wisconsin State Fair - like Christmas and ice cream cones - is best enjoyed with a small child.

Ingrid didn't know what to do with herself when she saw her storybook characters in person. If you think about it, she really had no idea that bunnies were that small and that cows are seriously that large.

After applying a liberal amount of hand-sanitizer, we did what we came to do - eat a cream puff. And a corn dog. And some mini donuts. Ingrid liked watching the cream puff assembly line - but she loved fork-fulls of that filling even more. 

Later, we discovered the Natural Resources Park where Ingrid played with sand. Then, looked at a turtle and then played with sand again...for a long time. And finally we forced her to walk away, while she shouted "buh-bye! buh-bye!" and waved furiously at the sand - while looking back at The Wonder that is Sand longingly. 

As Ingrid was playing with the sand, I was eyeing this large wooden Smokey the Bear photo-op...thing. I had visions of a kitchy, frame-worthy family photo. Ingrid as a fox, Dan the raccoon, me the deer (see, the sand portion of day was pretty lengthy, a had a few minutes to dream up this scenario up). This is as close as we got: 

Ingrid didn't really get it. 

All in all it was a low key morning filled with simple, sweet memories. She's so friendly - saying hi to nearly everyone that passes. And, she's so smart - answering all of our annoying requests to tell us "what a cow says." It's days like these that make me sentimental for more "first" days to come - first haircut, first day of school - but for now, I'm happy with first trip to the State Fair.