Morris Arboretum.

I have been wanting to go to this place ever since we moved to Philadelphia.  This seemed like the perfect weekend since it is not far from our house, and in the opposite direction of every sport in town which was playing today, including the World Series (Go Phillies!), and a giant regatta on the Schuykill River.  We took a lovely walk through the Morris Arboretum, owned by the University of Penn. A beautiful crisp fall day, and we made the most of it.

A fall color view from one of the taller hills.

The Oak Allee.

3 Generations.

Sometimes, you just gotta stop and smell the flowers...

Hangin' w/ Mommy.

Booboo on a bench.

A hobittesque tree.

Earlier this morning on her trike in her special Monkey Pajamas.  (Every child needs special Monkey Pajamas.)

Booboo is into her B words.  They are all one syllable, but they are distinct.  "Ba" may be ball, baba, bath, or balloon, depending on the situation.  How economical, really.  You've got to hand it to her.  That, and "sh...," (which at this point means shoe, not what you were thinking, potty mouth.)

The arboretum pictures show Booboo sporting her fabulous new birthday outfit from Auntie A.  We found it on our porch this morning, (the mailman must have thrown it onto the porch, but it fell perfectly into the stroller's bottom pocket and wasn't discovered until now!)  We love the very Tea color combo, and, I'm sure you agree, that every girl needs something red in her closet.

Booboo's Birthday at the Zoo.

Couldn't have put it better...

Waiting on the porch for everyone to go...

Birthday ice cream!

Watching the elephants.

 

Booboo and Daddy.

2 Girls born in the year of the pig!

This present thing is hard work!

Don't I look cute in my new red Radio Flyer?

 

Even Percy enjoys the box!

Won't someone read to me?? Please?

Party Pics.

Here they are!  Booboo's first birthday party.  If she looks a little overwhelmed in some of these shots, (except when she's eating, of course!) that's because it was a lot going on for such a little person.   Grandma Lala was here, of course, Nonnie and Papa came down from Woodstock, and Uncle Schmoe came up from DC, so there was a good fun crowd, but for Booboo it was a bit much sometimes.  Booboo is still in her "uneasy w/ strangers" phase, so our guests had to keep a bit of a distance, most of the time.  We figured out the right way for them to make contact with her, which looks a lot like ET or the Sistine Chapel, depending on your reference point!  (see below).  She did love her lemon cupcake, and ate the whole thing. 
(surprise, surprise!)

Are you sure about this guy?

Booboo likes pork.

Booboo really likes pork!

Contact!

Future Pyro.

Finally!

Where have you been hiding this stuff?

Opening presents w/ Grandma Lala

More presents!

A is for Apple.

So Booboo is officially a toddler!  I have lots of pictures from the birthday celebration that I will sort through soon, promise, but this one just caught my eye and couldn't resist putting it up right away.

Booboo is obsessed with books.  I know I was book girl, but this kid takes it to a whole nother dimension.  It's fascinating to watch her brain making connections...this moment was "apple." We were finding apples in different books, showing her, and her practicing the word.  I figured it might be nice to see a real apple to compare to the pictures, so I got one out of the kitchen.  I should have known she would go right for it.  She picked it up, and chomped right on it.  "Apple."

Food and books--definitely my child.  

Cadeau.

Auntie D sent Booboo a birthday present.  Since I am mean mommy I haven't let her open it yet, but she's been enjoying just looking at the pretty paper.

This time last year was our first evening at the hospital.  We would have to wait just a couple days more for Booboo's arrival.  

Obama just had a rally a few blocks from our house!  I can hear them chanting out there from the dining room table.  (She's taking her nap, so we're missing it, but Gma Lala stepped out, and I'm sure will blog about it soon.)  I get excited thinking about such a momentous moment in our nation's history being at the beginning of her life.  How cool is that.  I tell her don't feel bad that she was born in the age of W--after all, Nixon was president when I was born!

Crawling!

Here is clear evidence that Booboo has in fact figured out the crawl.  The army crawl is sooo five minutes ago...locomotion, here we come!

Booboo's belly button.

It's been a long, fruitful couple weeks, getting ready for fall quarter at my job, trying to get Booboo's room done before her 1st birthday, getting Gma Lala settled in, (although she's really done all the work in that respect!) I haven't been the best blogger, but we do have some highlights of the last couple weeks, most importantly, Booboo's belly button.  So without further ado...

Enjoy!