PEPS 1st Birthday Party

My Moms group (PEPS) had our first birthday party yesterday, right in the middle of the all the July and August birthdays in the group. It was fun to reminisce about the year and how fast it has gone and to watch all of our babies playing together, walking and crawling, and to think about how much they have changed since we first met in late September last year.

This picture was very hard to get. Compare to this photo


the moms
the dads

Push Toy Fun

Our neighbors are letting us borrow this push toy, which Leana really loves!

Milestone Accomplishment

Just wanted to state for the record that Leana took her first steps! Just 2 or 3 little shuffles but she wasn't holding on to anything so I'm counting it. As much as I tried to get her to do it again for the camera, it just wasn't happening. So instead here's a video of her playing peekaboo. Sorry, it gets cut off abruptly when my camera card ran out of memory.

First Hike in the Pack

I went to Mt Si with some of the moms in my PEPS group to try out the hiking backpack we got for Leana. I was not in charge of choosing the 4 mile, 3000ft elevation gain hike up Mt Si, and not to anyone's surprise we did not make it all the way up. That's a bit too long for Leana to be happy just sitting and a bit too long for my poor shoulders and back which were aching by the time we got back down from the 5 miles we ended up doing. Overall a success though with no crying babies and a little nap in the pack.


stopping for lunch and some play time

Decatur Island Vacation

We just got back from a long weekend on Decatur Island, which was beautiful and relaxing as always (minus the 5:30am wake up calls from Leana each day).

Leana had so much fun playing outside with Grandma and Grandpa Collins. She loved the birds, the rocks, the sand, and even the cold Puget Sound water.

Fun with Grandpa



Fun with Grandma...I just want to dip my feet.


Nevermind, let me go at it.

11 Months!

Almost a year, hard to believe! Leana's latest tricks include: -Standing (more steadily); She can now stand for a full minute or two if she decides she wants to. Still not interested in walking though. -Straight leg crawling. See the video below, she does this mostly when we are outside and she has bare knees. Smart girl! -Comprehension; There are lots of words that Leana definitely understands and responds to now which is fun. She still "talks" a lot but not in any language that we can understand yet. -Cruising & Climbing. She still loves to walk holding on to the sofa or her walking box. She also loves to climb anything she can find, which has led to a new way to use her walking box and a new way to get into trouble (see picture below). Serious Face Goofy Face Getting into more trouble.

Summer Finally Arrives in Seattle

Naked Baby on the Loose

Too bad speed crawling is not a competitive sport...