Expanding our taste buds...

Mercedes got to eat out twice last week.  Thursday night we met Gran'ma and Gran'pa at Whole Foods for a chili fundraiser for Foothills Gateway.  Foothills Gateway holds a special place in my heart and I L-O-V-E chili!!  It was wonderful!

Long story short... the chili wasn't enough for Gran'pa, so he went and got himself some California Rolls.  Even though I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.  I allowed Baby Girl to explore this new taste.  She wasn't so sure of it, but I'm sure she'll try it again. 

Dude! Let's Rock!!

Mercedes was born with a head FULL of hair.  Jim's male brain went straight to Rock 'n Roll, even while we were in the hospital.  No really, the nurse we had in the hospital gave us the idea to mohawk her hair.  We did that within the first few days. 

Well.... Daddy and another father at daycare have been joking about "hawkin" Mercedes' hair for a few weeks now.  Last Thursday, I gave in.  Fridays is Grandma Joyce's day and she likes to give Mercedes a bath, so I knew she'd get clean hair soon.

It was a process...

Mercedes likes to get her hair done.  There were no tears.  Just giggles.

Child at Heart holding the child!!!

We met Great- Grandpa Mel for his birthday last week.  Baby Girl is just old enough to be dangerous... she's cute, she likes to take all the attention, but when she get bored... WATCH OUT!  Gran'pa Marty came to the rescue once again.  Here he is standing on chairs, so he and Baby Girl could see the fish.  We love Gran'pa!!!

Gifted and PROUD!

Jim caught Mercedes reading last weekend.  See, we told you she was gifted.  Isn't this the cutest thing?!?!

The Face of ...

You put in your own adjective...

The Face of Peace

Nuff said...

The Face of Fun

Mercedes was blessed with an expressive face.  She wears her emotions there.  You know when she's happy, sad, content, uncomfortable, tired, and ready to play.  As she's growing, so is her personality.  She's becoming more and more at little person.  She even whines when she doesn't get her way.  (She gets that from her dad, by the way). 

One night last week, she was showin' off for Aunt Carol.  She's gotten so fast, this is all I can get anymore....

Eleven

Will my heart be this sad when she really does turn 11???  Time flies so fast.  I have to remind myself on a MINUTELY basis that she will be grown up before I know it.  Treasure the times together.

Desperate Strokes

Picture this...

Sunday.  Football.  Steelers game is actually on TV (last weekend).  Fussy Daughter.  Daddy ready to do whatever it takes to get his daughter to calm down so he can watch the game. 

Scroll down..........

All over the place...

Mercedes is the Queen of our house.  Shocking, I know!  :)  She loves that she can get to where she wants without much help.  Mom and Dad on the other hand have had to resort to creative measures to keep from following her around everywhere.  Don't get me wrong, we follow her... but there are times when you just need to pee and you want to know she's safe.  :)

This next story has no pictures or video.  I'm sorry.  After you read about it you'll understand why there are no pictures.  As a consolation prize, here's a picture of her new favorite place to go.

Last weekend, I was in a rare "Hannah Housewife" mood.  I got out AND put up the Halloween decorations by myself.  I picked up the house.  I did the dishes and ran after Baby Girl.  It was a great Saturday!!  While I was putzing around the kitchen, Mercedes was being such a good girl toolin' around the house.  Soon it got "quiet".  You know the kind of quiet... when you know you should just peak around the corner to see what the children are up to.  Well, I peaked and to my surprise, Mercedes was on the third step going up the stairs.  I calmly called Jim from upstairs and told him he should see what his daughter was doing.  He came to the landing (our stairs are split in two chunks) and sat down.  Mercedes proceeded to crawl up the stairs while I stood at the bottom and her dad sat at the top.  I was so stunned I couldn't even move to go get the camera for fear she'd fall backward.  So let it be known that Mercedes Cherie Wilson crawled up the stairs all by herself on Saturday, October 3, 2009!! 

Cart Pushin'... Again

Remember last week, the cart pushin' in the johnny jump up???  Well this weekend, we tried something new...

Yup, that's right.  We now can push the cart on our own!  Mommy still follows her around... the tile floor is hard when you fall.  She gets to goin' so fast.  I'm just afraid she's going to fall flat on her face.  And yes, of course, I took some video...

Flashbacks...

Time flies when you're havin' fun! I worked on Mercedes' baby book this weekend and thought I would share the collages I made last spring.  She will turn 11months old when this post publishes.  WOW!!  In just one short month, Mercedes will be ONE YEAR OLD! 

Before I have an anxiety attack... or break down in tears... or kneel over in shock... Here are your blasts from the past.

Hospital Collage

First Month Favorites

Second Month Circles

Third Month Favorites

Fourth Month Favorites

Mommy's Favorites

Walkin'

Can you believe it?!?!?!  It seems like just yesterday I was posting pictures of her army crawling.  I did post pictures or video of that right?!  Anyway, can you believe it...she's walking!  Well, not quite walking on her own, but she walks all around the coffee table, up and down the edge of the couch, and uses your hands to help her walk all over the house.  It's the cutest thing.  I can't believe it, my baby isn't much of a baby anymore! 

Sgetthi

One of the many reasons I love our DayCare center is they help us first time parents get a clue!  One day when Jim dropped off Mercedes at school, the teacher asked if they could start giving Mercedes table food at lunch time.  DUH!  Fortunately, God had given us the wisdom to, just the night before, let her try some of Mommy's mac and cheese.  So Jim could respond with "Sure, in fact she just had mac and cheese last night."  :)

As good students, we have been diligently giving Mercedes more table good for lunch and dinner.  :)  On of the first nights she got REAL DINNER, we took pictures.  As all good first time parents do, right?!?!?

She had potatoes and Spagetthi.  She enjoyed it to the fullest!

Team Spirit

Mercedes finally got her Steelers Jersey for the season.  It came in the mail on Saturday.  She wore it proudly the second it came out of the envelope.  Mommy was gone to the Women of Faith conference, so Daddy sent these pictures via text.  Looks like she'll be ready for the game!