Weekend Update: Fall Family Fun

"When you look at your life,  the greatest happiness are family happinesses” - Dr. Joyce Brothers

Fiona in her Baby Tar Heel t-shirt, excited that the Tar Heels won on Saturday! Or..laughing hysterically after biting the heck out of Mom's finger. You decide.

Fall is here -- and helped make this past weekend a wonderful one for family fun.

Ryan's parents came to Durham for a visit.  Throughout the weekend we enjoyed great food, dining outside, and lots of outdoor playtime.  Some highlights:

Playing at Duke Park on Saturday and Trinity Park on Sunday.  Fiona loved exploring on her own at both parks.  We also met 2 other Fiona's while we were playing! We're so lucky to live in a neighborhood surrounded by wonderful places to play.

Three generations of Fehrmans at play.



I love going down the big girl slide with Mommy!

Riding on the firetruck with Grandma Fehrman.

Miss Independent. 

Saturday afternoon, Fiona and I showed Grandma our favorite place at the NC Museum of Life and Science while Ryan and Grandpa kept the home fires burning and the football games on.

T-Rex? Eh. The other kids here are much more interesting creatures.

After Fiona went to sleep on Saturday night, Ryan cooked an amazing fusion dinner for us: Caribbean Tuna Tacos with Coconut Rice, Cinnamon Black Beans, Pineapple & Mint Salsa, and Guacamole Salad.  The food was delicious beyond words.  The company and setting - tiki torches aglow - could not have been better.

Sunday we all enjoyed a jazz brunch, I treated myself to an 8 mile run in Duke Forest, and then ran errands, before Grandma & Grandpa Fehrman gave us the wonderful gift of a night out! 

Ryan and I celebrated our 5th anniversary a couple of weeks early with dinner at Buku and watching Vampire Weekend under the stars at downtown Raleigh's new outdoor amphitheater.  We danced pretty hard for an old married couple!



14 Months: Walkin' & Talkin'

"To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.”- Anthony Robbins

Daddy and Fiona enjoying the morning together

Fiona is now 14 months old! 

This month, her biggest developmental leaps have centered around walking and talking.  Although she's not yet walking completely on her own, she very much enjoys walking while holding on to one of our hands and can cruise our entire house while steadying herself on the walls and furniture.  In addition to moving all of the time, she has become quite a talker, with new words coming out of her mouth all of the time.  Although she's still speaking in much of her own language, she's recently learned to say "Uh-oh" when she drops something and "Cheers" when she has her cup in hand.  Only the most important phrases for our girl! 

Fi understands almost everything we say and is able to follow multi-step instructions -- when she feels like it!  She's also learning to test boundaries, doing something she knows she's not supposed to do, while looking back at us with a devil-dog grin on her face. 

She continues to love reading.  She is currently obsessed with one of Ryan's childhood books: I Feel.  The book is full of photographs of real children displaying different emotions, such as loving, sad, shy, jealous, happy, proud.  Fi now claps and smiles when we read "good" or "proud", and leans down to hug and kiss the kids who are feeling "sad", "scared", and "hurt."  It's amazing to see her emotional side develop and so, so cute.

Fiona also seems to be the most extroverted member of our family.  She waves at everyone we see and actively seems to want to engage them.  She very much loves the other children in her 1-year old class at our preschool and is learning to say their names.