puddle splashing.

Yesterday, I brought Iris outside to walk and play in the rain. We got to see her very first rainbow! I'm not sure that she really acknowledged it, but she did discover a large muddy puddle in the road at the base of a hill.

slide.

Today, Iris started going down the slide all by herself!

autumn sensory bin.

Dry oatmeal, an avocado seed, and a collection of dried leaves and seeds.

It was really quite aesthetically appealing...

First, dump it all out.

"Whaaat is this stuff Mama!?"

"I don't know about this..."

"I guess the bin seems pretty harmless..."

Tentatively poking at everything.

Deciding on the twig and the avocado seed.

Exploring texture.

"You want me to play with that stuff? Fuggedaboutit!"

Found her teddy bear!

Giving him a big hug.

"Mr. Bear is going to help me!"

"Mr. Bear, you sit next to me, right here."

"Now help me spread this stuff everywhere!"

All done!

new shoes.

Hello there, my little blog has gotten a makeover! Sort of a starting fresh thing. Now I will be able to post larger photos and everything should look less cluttered around the center of the page. I've been able to talk to Marius almost every day he's been away, so rather than posting updates about Iris here, I've been sharing with him in person (as in person as the internet gets, anyway). I must get this blog up and running again! I was inspired today by a member of Marius' family asking me about baby carriers, so I have all sorts of new posts in mind. I'd really like to bring more balance to what I write (or post pictures) about, in terms of my thoughts on parenting. Not just write what Iris has been up to, but more about my life and ideas as well. 

My sweet friend Kelly over at The Teeny Tiny Mommy, recently emailed me asking if I'd like to do a guest post for her! So that will be coming up this week, for one thing! I want to maybe do some tutorials on baby wearing and using baby carriers as well. Not long ago, I emailed Marius with excitement over the fact that I made myself say "no" to buying a woven wrap for myself and Iris. Well... that wrap sat there, mostly ignored, on the baby-wearing forums for a while before I decided the price was right and I was going to go for it! I've been wanting to try one for a long time and I'm so excited for it to arrive at the end of the week! I definitely want to document my learning experience with the wrap!

We went out for a walk this evening and Iris proved what a difference a week of practice can make! Wearing her new boots which I thought were too big but seem to be perfect, she really went for it today. Go baby!

our cool, sunny morning.

walking baby!

Today was gorgeous, so we decided to walk to the little playground down the road. Iris put her shoes on for the very first time and walked all the way down and all the way back. While we explored the outdoors, she got dirt under her finger nails, chewed some mulch chips, put bits of grass in her hair and even found a kitty on the slide. We'll definitely be doing this daily, now that it's cooled down outside!