Salome On Halloween...and in Maui

We've had Halloween and been to Seattle and Maui since the last photos...and it was fun.

Salome was a scary lion for Halloween.  She wore her costume from morning till bedtime and brought out her roar several times - she'd been practicing.  We discovered at our last trick-or-treat visit at her friend Echo's house that they had coincidentally worn identical costumes. Salome's had been previously used about 8 years ago so it looked a little shaggier though.

In Seattle, Salome had a good time at the Ray Lamontagne concert and loved seeing Uncle Mo and Aunt Sherry who met us there to play for the weekend.  Then in Hawaii (besides a yucky bout of carsickness due to windy twisty roads), she had the time of her life.  She was in heaven: her mama and papa at her disposal 24/7, warm weather, lots of fruit, and the beach nearby kept her happy as a clam.  

We took a photo reminiscent of one taken 16 months earlier at a different beach - and Salome's physique seems to have changed drastically.

As Salome's second birthday draws closer (February), she seems to be learning by leaps and bounds.  She refers to me mainly as "Romy" or "Romy Bay" and Suresh is now exclusively "Papa Bear".  She is a whiz with puzzles, and letters too, so she now goes around naming letters on signs around town.  We're just trying to keep up...

Salome in the Fall

Salome got to meet even more animals in person this past month.  We went to visit friends who have a farm with goats and llamas and horses and lots of dogs.  Salome got to play with their daughter Elise and feed goats and pet dogs...she was in heaven.

She also had an extended interlude with a ladybug and was entranced as it crawled all over her. 

She's still way into Bambi and when I re-discovered the old Bambi pillowcase from my childhood, she latched on and sleeps with it every night.  She also brushes Bambi's teeth, as well as Bumper's (Thumper), Wower's (Flower) and Bambi's mama's.  It helps her voluntarily get her teeth brushed when her friends have to go through it too.  

She's been obsessed with two books especially lately - her new one from Auntie Hilly called "So Much!" and an old one of hers about a lion who is looking for Little Bird to get the thorn out of his paw, and since he has a  "poky" in his paw, she calls that book the "poky one".

She's really into fall now, and loves the colorful leaves on the ground and the pumpkins everywhere.  She likes the little leafy things that she can put on her nose and be a rhinocerous too.  So many fun things to do in the fall...

Salome In Florida

Salome got to see her Ammachi and Appachen twice in the last month - once here and once in Florida.  She loved showing them her toys in her own house (Ammachi even added to her collection by getting her a much-coveted baby stroller with a talking baby to go with it), and loved even more playing with the toys at Ammachi and Appachen's house, and looking for "didderds" (lizards) outside.  

Her other favorite parts of her trip to FL were her first viewing of the movie "Bambi" and her discovery of a papier mache statue of Gandhi.  So "Bammi" and "Donny" were constantly being requested.  She was given the statue of Gandhi by one of her many adoring uncles during a visit on our way to a trip into Orlando, and after a visit to the Lego art in Downtown Disney, she fell asleep still clutching "Donny."

She's talking more and more; putting more words together, and doing tricks preceded by the command, "Watch.  This!"  We've been teaching her to say her (very long) name and so now when she's playing by herself she'll randomly say "Ammamma" (Mariamma)  "Bizzbiss" (Elizabeth)  "Nanyo!" (Daniel) - still skipping right over McGahan.  I guess she's hinting that she has enough names to memorize.

Next time, fall pictures...

Salome and the Animals

Since you heard from us last, Salome has had lots of fun with "aminals."  She got to hold a fish that her papa caught, which she found fascinating.  "Mish!" she said. "Hold it!"

We also visited the petting zoo at the Western Montana Fair where Salome got to pet various very tame farm animals.  Three weeks or so later, and she is still talking about the "aminose".  She sometimes just says that word to random people in the grocery store.  Then she lists off as many animals as she can think of and their noises.  

She has an insane shoe fetish and wants to put on several pairs of shoes each day, and they can belong to her parents too, that's just fine with her.  Size is no obstacle.  Her pink cowboy boots are 2 or 3 sizes too big, but thats a little more doable than her papa's work boots.

She's 18 months now and she's learning something new and funny every day.  She seems to absorb everything, even things I don't even realize.  She has learned the colors yellow and red pretty well and loves for me to draw shapes for her, especially suns, and when she scribbles, she says, "Nun!" to show me that she drew a sun too.

Her Papa was gone for almost two weeks in Europe on business and she missed him a lot - when she would pick up a phone to play with and I would ask her who she was calling she said "Baba."

She also misses her aunty Hilly and yells for her a lot, especially when she sees her bike.  She pats the seat and says, "Haddy."  

Salome Reunites With Family

Salome has met all sorts of family these past two weeks.  We've had two family reunions, one on her maternal grandpa's side and one on her maternal grandma's side.  One get-together was up at Flathead Lake so Salome got to go in the (cold) water and wander around outside in the nude.  

She was also in a baby fashion show at a local block party and got to walk down a runway with a few of her friends wearing an outfit from a local kid's shop.  Once we got to the end of the runway, she didn't want to go back. She just wanted to stare at all the little kids in the audience who were watching her.  

We had an interesting moment on our porch the other day when Salome discovered the electrical outlet and after being told not to touch it, she decided to see how far she could push her luck.  She just sat there touching the outlet cover and not opening it, just touching it and looking at me to see what I'd do. She probably didn't expect me to start taking pictures.  But I was having a hard time not laughing as I reprimanded her, so the camera diffused the situation and she finally wandered away.  I sense that this won't be the last of our battles of the wills...

More photos of the other reunion will follow soon...

Ok, I added the rest.  Now I'm caught up with the past 2,3 weeks and both reunions.   Salome had a ball last weekend.  You can tell by the vast number of people that she was seriously entertained and thoroughly paid-attention-to.

It was just about as perfect as it could have been - great weather, great food, and family all on one place at once.  

Salome got to enjoy her first lollipop on one of the car rides out to Arlee, courtesy of Auntie Hilly (who, by the way is in India, but that doesn't stop Salome from hollering for "Heddy" every morning).  You'll be glad to know it was an organic lollipop though, Ammachi and Appachen.  Can you believe they make organic candy?

The photos of Salome in the garden wearing her bonnet are from today's trip to Caras Nursery.  At one point while we looked at fruit trees, Salome disappeared into a cluster of rose bushes and it took a minute for us to spot her.  She had already managed to smell half the roses in the garden by the time we found her pink bonnet bobbing around among the flowers.

Salome in the Yard

Salome loves Grandma's baby robin.  She tries to set it free from its cage and constantly wants to feed it worms - "ooms".  She even got a few in its very excited mouth and was so pleased about that.  She looked a little unsure at first when the bird perched on her arm, but then didn't want to let it go. 

We went to the water park again with almost the whole family and all the kids had a spectacular time going down slides and splashing around.  Salome takes a little while to acclimate to the water, but then she's walking in by herself and falling down and laughing.  As we were leaving the park, Salome thought it would be fun to hang on and cling to the wave-shaped bike racks.  She shouted "Munny!" (monkey) when she would hang or wrap her arms around the bar.  I've been asking her if she's a monkey when she climbs things.  She says "munny" for bunny, money and monkey.

Then she got to try out her new garage sale toys and wear some new (to her) duds.  I found 5 pairs of shoes for her that morning and the ones she chose to wear were the bright red patent leather girly shoes.  

Her friend Mila came over to play too, and they had a good time.  They alternately played cooperatively and yelled at each other and shoved each other a few times.  Babies have their own way of "playing" together.  They did kiss each other several times before Mila left though.  

Salome has been having a BALL playing in the front yard now that it's fenced and we have an array of fine plastic toys to play with.  She cooks, drives, slides and gets inside the fridge.  

But her favorite thing of the week has been her visiting Appachen, who she has dubbed "Appa".  She is his little sidekick.  She is looking forward to seeing both Appachen and Ammachi ("Ammi")  in August...

Salome's Playmates

Salome has so many good playmates.  Her cousin Cortney has been visiting often lately because she takes Driver's Ed in Missoula, so Salome is thrilled with that.  They took a sweet nap together one afternoon and I documented it, of course.  Salome is also overjoyed to have Auntie Hilly ("Heddy") just downstairs at her beck and call.  Her Auntie has been teaching her lots of new words, and now she is learning to count to 10 in Spanish.  She has very good pronunciation, but kind of gets distracted right around 6 or 8 and then finds something else to do.  

Her Appachen is also in town for a couple weeks, and she couldn't be more happy about that.  She calls him Appa and lets just say he comes when she calls.

One of her latest things, as you can see from the last few weeks, is the desire to be nude as often as possible.  When bathtime comes, she seems to sneak right out the door, out the fence and down the sidewalk.  Another new thing she does is to show us how strong she is.  She grits her teeth and grins and turns red and quivers while she clenches her hands into awkward positions.  She also has been giving us some very strange looks and then pointing at her eyes to show us with which she is able to make those strange looks.   She is learning all her body parts and can list them off - my favorite of the moment is when she points to the mole on her arm and says "MOOOWW"  with a long face and an "O"-shaped mouth.  

She loves the water so she had a great time at the water park and is also just satisfied to play with a trickle of water from the hose.  

We were in Arlee for the 4th and Salome got to sit astride the huge fish that Grandma will be painting.  I think her papa wished he could have ridden it.

Salome's Belly Button

We went to Billings this week so that Salome's Auntie Hilly could see Grandma Alice and the rest of the family for the first time since her return from Guatemala.  Salome's favorite thing of the entire trip were the bunnies who lived in Aunt Patti and Uncle Mac's yard.  She relentlessly searched for the "munny", only allowing herself to be distracted by a duck or squirrel that popped out to say hello.  She loves nature, that baby does.  

We got a great photo-op at this week's playgroup too - harder to line the babies up now that they can take flight with more ease, but it makes for a more dynamic photo perhaps.  Salome sat surprisingly still and proper for all photos.  You might recognize Larkin from photos of him and Salome at about 4 or 5 months when they first started playing together.  

In the potty photo, Salome had been holding a gigantic dead beetle we found outside and she accidentally gave him a water burial.  Besides bunnies, she can't get enough bugs in her life. Alas, even huge dead ones.  (Her papa was kind enough to inform us of the scientific name for the bug- maybe "coleoptera" will be her next word.)

Yesterday we had a nice time at Salome's Uncle Gabe's graduation party, where she got to play with some of her favorite honorary uncles, Gabe, Kyle and Shane.  Uncle Kyle was happy to let Salome beat him at croquet.

Naked or not, Salome likes to make sure her belly button is still attached at all times.  Three different angles on that give a good illustration of her "buppy" fascination.  She seems happy to find that it's still there.'

Salome and Her Auntie

Late again,  I know...

Salome got her Auntie Hilly back a couple weeks ago and it's been so nice to have her around.  Salome really likes when Auntie goes under the kitchen table and pretends to be Salome's favorite dog, Arlo.  She has even abandoned the name "Heddy!" and called her "Awwo," a couple times.  Salome has been shouting Auntie Hilly's name every time she leaves the room and has even taken to shouting for her Papa by his first name, "Aysh! Aysh!" and then if that doesn't work:" Baba!"  Sometimes if her Papa calls for me I hear an echo shouting, "Wony!"  She is of the belief that everything sounds better if you shout it. 

We went to her Grandma and Grandpa's for Father's Day and she was in heaven in the pretty yard playing with her cousins and swinging and trying to give Arlo umahs.

We were given a monarch butterfly cocoon to hatch and it came out and lived on our window for a day or two before we set it free, which Salome loved.  She has a thing for bugs ("buh!").

She has been very maternal with her babies lately and even tried to nurse one herself.  Wearing them is also fun - she likes to reach back and pat the baby once in a while.

Salome Walks For Blocks

We skipped a week (oopsie - sorry Ammachi!) because we've been busy since Salome's Aunty Hilly returned from Guatemala, so these are from the last week in May.  We went out to dinner downtown for her Grandma's birthday and afterwards Salome insisted on walking from The Higgins Alley restaurant at one end of Higgins all the way down to the Higgins bridge.  It was probably 6 or 7 blocks of solid walking and she was just psyched about it.  

It was a beautiful couple of days so we got to spend a lot of time outside walking and riding bikes and playing.  We're looking forward to much more of that with Aunty Hilly once this weather starts to heat up again. 

Salome is 16 months now and walking and talking up a storm.  She has a very strong opinion about things too.   Whooee, especially lately - she's teething some nice molars so she's a little sensitive and is easily set off by very small things.  But as a whole, she is funny and silly and affectionate and much like these photos show her to be.  Hope we get to spend time with you all at some point this summer and Salome can expand her circle of friends even further...

Salome and Her Little Buns

Salome got to enjoy many days of beautiful weather all in a row this past week.  Which means she was sparsely attired, especially that day on the swing at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  She was full of love too, and was kissing all sorts of things, including an angel and a buddha and she also attempted to kiss Arlo the dog. (p.s. every dog is now Arlo -"Awwo!")

One afternoon Salome wanted to give the kissing iron monkeys that live on the kitchen sink windowsill a bath (something that Grandma started with her), and I was tired of holding her up over the sink so I just set her inside.  She was delighted but then started getting her dress wet, so I took it off and she was all set for the next 20-30 minutes.  She gave many things a bath that day. Now I have to be careful when we walk by any sink, anywhere, because she wants to give her hands a "bah" for a verrrrry long time.  That kid loves the water.

Salome had a wonderful time at her cousin Colton's birthday party, where she got to play with lots of other cousins too.  They all have fun trying to pick her up, even if they are not much bigger than she is.  Charley was so proud when she sat on his lap, and even more proud when Isa got up and he had two girls on his lap.  And Salome was in heaven with the big kids, putting pennies in the piggy back. But none in her mouth I hope... ;)

Salome In the Summertime Weather

Salome got to play with her twin cousins, Jerny and Rheid, who each tried holding her.  She had requested to be picked up by Rheid, who is only 3, but she did and Salome patiently dangled from her arms as long as Rheid could hold her up.  And then Jerny took a turn.  Another of Salome's friends, the youngest of the bunch, Baby Kaitlyn, came over and Salome took liberties at giving her all sorts of umahs and hugs and "pointing out" her eyes and nose and mouth.  More like poking her finger in, but Kaitlyn was a trooper.  

Her new things lately, besides putting on glasses, are smelling things like candles and flowers, and also putting chapstick or any other kinds of "pretty" on her lips.  She asks to smell all the candles and lotions that we pass by in the store: "Mehw!" And of course if there are flowers on the table, she has to smell those too.  

It has been hot lately so she's been wearing little to no clothing, which is great for her.  She's happy as a clam to have bare buns all day long.  She got some (too big) pink cowboy boots from a  garage sale and immediately asked to put them on.  So she does like wearing some things.  

p.s.  Thanks very much to those of you who wrote such nice words to us after hearing of India's passing.  We appreciate it.

Salome Rides Bikes

Big stuff this week.  Salome has moved on from going "dide" (outside) to take a "wah-wah" (walk), to going for a ride on the "bi!" (bike).  She got a helmet with bunnies on it that she calls a hat.  She squealed and grinned and insisted on putting her "hahh" (hat) "ah!" (on) over and over. She loves going for bike rides, needless to say.  "Wheeee!"  she says.

She also wore a great schoolgirl outfit with suspenders that was really cute and entertaining to me.  Her Appachen was in town for just a couple days, but Salome was so excited to see him and he is pretty  much wrapped around her little finger.

We had a fun Mother's Day out at Salome's grandma and grandpa's place in Arlee, where the swing is a big new discovery.  She is a fun kid to give her mama reason for Mother's Day.  :)

Salome In May

The past two weeks have been something.  India's death made us so sad.  Of course.  It's hard to lose a dog.  And India was such a lovely gentle girl.  She is buried between a plum tree and a grapevine at my parents place in Arlee and we can think of few places that are nicer to be laid to rest.  

As for Salome, we know she misses her dog being around to love on.  We're just glad that she got to have India for this long.  

Salome's been walking lots more - actually insisting on it:  "Wah-wah!" (walk-walk)  She still crawls to get places superfast, but as also adopted a bearcrawl that seems to be graduating towards complete upright-ness.  She's learning more words every day and is pretty fun to be around.  When she sees dogs anywhere, at my sister's house or on the sidewalk, she wants to give them an umah (kiss).  Not that we always let her.  She spent quite awhile in a store today giving a wooden dog multiple umahs, and then periodically sitting back to smile and say, "Nigh!" (nice)  She also likes wearing adult-sized hats and sunglasses these days.

Last weekend we went to Billing to see Salome's great-grandma.  It's pretty neat to have four generations in one room together.  

Salome Weathers the Weather

We've had some ups and downs with the weather these past couple weeks - Salome wore both shorts and sweaters.   We've had a lot of fun playing outside in the 60-70 degree weather, and then a greeeeat time indoors while it has been snowing in 30-40 degree weather.  Super April weather we're having.

Salome is a professional pottier now, just in time for spring, and much to her parents' delight.  We're glad to be done changing diapers.  She enjoys a good read on the toilet, too, just like anybody would.  

She's gotten to go to two birthday parties in the last two weeks - one outdoors in the park and one indoors while it was freezing inside.  But she liked them both equally.  Other kids' toys are so much more fun.

Salome in Puerto Rico

Hope you enjoy our Puerto Rico pictures.  We had a great time at Salome's Uncle James' wedding to Dory.  It was outside on the beach and it was just beautiful. The strong winds made the sun seem much more friendly and harmless than it was, and I got toasted.  Salome and her papa were just fine though.  Although the wind took its toll on her papa's hairdo...

Salome took her first steps while we were in P.R., thanks in part to her squeaker shoes.  It's fun walking when you squeak wherever you go.  We'll see how long we can go before taking the squeakers out of the soles...

Salome the Little Blogger

Salome is now a blogging baby.  This is probably the best way for people to view photos of her- I don't have to clog your inboxes now.  Hope this works for everyone.  Salome is thrilled to be on the Internets.