best furry friend

The love affair continues...but the love is no longer so one-sided. Magic is now starting to see the upside in the furless addition to the brood which we are sure comes as some relief to him since his parents have been a little neglectful since Schuyler came along (sorry, Magic... we will take you for a walk tomorrow - we promise!).

bouncy castle

Eli's Dad (codename: "Chris") kindly brought Eli's bouncy castle to Schuyler's house where she and Eli expended excess energy... much to their parent's relief.

growing up!

Schuyler had her 18 month check up today and the stats are in:
33"
25 lbs
18.5 head circ

yoga moves

Schuyler likes to help Mama perfect her downward dog ("Legs straight, Schuyler!"). Fortunately, she is still flexible enough to put all of us aspiring yogis to shame.

hair clip

One of Mama's jobs is to ensure that our little bear gets training in the girl stuff that dada doesn't understand. Here Schuyler tries to master Girl Stuff 101 - The Hair Clip.

Eli!

Eli came over and Schuyler was able to show off her bountiful ability to fall from things including the slide, climbing frame and even a simple chair. Still, i think Eli was secretly impressed.

checking in with la poupee

I think Schuyler will be a pretty good Mum. La Poupée never goes without her share of milk, water and crackers... much to Schuyler's parents' chagrin.

witch one (and half)

We don't go in for fancy dress and exploiting our child's comfort for our own cuteness gain. Fortunately, Lucy borrowed a Hallowe'en costume for Trystan and Schuyler and did it for us. Guilt free cutenesss (sorry, Sky!).

milk and cereal

Schuyler kept using her new verbal skills to ask for milk in the morning as soon as we plopped her on the changing table. She had also lost interest in Cheerios. This gave her Dad a you-dropped-your-chocolate-in-my-peanut-butter moment and he tried giving her real Big Girl cereal like Dad might eat. The result is written on her face. Apparently, adding more Cheerios into the milk when they get low is the best thing that has happened to Schuyler EVER.

coffee girl

Never missing a chance to plug her Aunt and Uncle's business, Schuyler proudly wears the Campos brand.

wheee

A second hand purchase from e-moo provides Schuyler and her handlers with a welcome way of burning off that excess energy. Sure the box says ages 2-5 years and Schuyler almost fell from the top twice but she loves it and so do we. The danger is just part of the thrill.

ocean-going

[sort of] ready for my close up

Trapped behind the bars of the stairwell, Schuyler perfects her I-didn't-do-it face.

mama's girl

At some point... well, several points during the day, Schuyler will grab a book off the shelf and take it over to the coffee table, pull out her little stool and start reading (often accompanied by La Poupée). I wonder where she gets this keen interest in books from?

mell

It's strange the little milestones that pass quickly as a parent at this age. Schuyler is almost eighteen months and blooming each day into a more complex, interesting and interested little girl. The bottles are now all cups. The morning nap is now a resting session where she talks to her animal friends in the dark for 45 minutes. The breakast cereal is actual cereal: no more rice cereal, now actual Cheerios in milk like a real kid. The words she uses are almost real words ("mell" for "milk", "nah nah" for "night night", "flower" for... well, "flower"). As she understands more and more, it sometimes makes me a little sad that the little baby who understood only the basics of life (eat, poop, sleep) is now a sleep deprived past life.

I think this is why people have more babies - it is a way of going back in time to relive that past again only to find it coloured and transformed by the personality of the new little being. I wouldn't change this though. I wouldn't change the miraculous laughter and the mental blossoms that burst out of her every day and paint the evolving portrait of Schuyler and our family. So chill with your milk, Sky. And just don't grown up too fast.