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... ;)