Big wet ones

It seems to me that there are two different kinds of parents in the world, the kind who freak out about every possible germ their child can pick up and therefore sterilize everything in the house and have a fit if the baby touches something ooey. The second kind of parent is the kind that lets their child touch and suck on just about anything as long as they won’t choke on it. We, for example, have no problems what-so-ever with letting B eat off of the floor. She will occasionally be walking around, spot an old cheerio on the floor under the table, drop to the floor, crawl between the chairs to retrieve it and eat it. Even worse, B likes to wander aimlessly around the house gnawing away at a peeled apple. Of course, being a toddler with little coordination, she often drops the apple and in the process rolls it in whatever substance happens to be on the floor (usually animal hair) but will quickly pick it up again as per the “5 second rule” and continue on her merry way. No problem for us but I suspect it would be a moment of sheer horror for some parents. Of course it wasn’t always this way with us, during her first 6 months of life we were quite careful to keep everything clean and somewhat sterile but once she became mobile it became impossible to keep up and I haven’t quite figured out how to sterilize the arm of the couch that she likes so much to suck on. Another recent development has forced us to totally throw our hands in the air and admit defeat in the germ front, check out the picture below.














B has begun to give very wet, sloppy kisses to just about anybody. Chance though, gets extra special attention. I figure if she can open mouth kiss an animal who spends half of his day giving himself oral pleasure and the other half in search of rotten animals on the side of the road than whatever else she gets into has got to be pretty harmless comparatively. 

Update

Rick has been crazy busy with work the last few weeks so here is a quick photo blog of all things Brynna:

On Friday Rick worked from home in the a.m. and then the Nelsons made a trip to Freeport to pick up some winter duds for B-girl. We had a great lunch at the Mediterranean Grill - B spent the whole time flirting with a 4 year-old boy. When we returned home it was raining pretty hard. Brynna's new thing is to walk from the car to the rear of the house and up the back steps. True to form the rain didn't stop her. In fact she attempted to run away from us and onto the lawn, picking up wet leaves and sticks. Brynna hates clutter and debris!
































Rick and I discovered last night that we have one of those kids that prefers to be naked. Unfortunately Brynna has now figured out how to take her own shirt off. Especially proud of her accomplishment B decided to dance around in circles in the living room while patting her belly.














Further demonstrating her independence Brynna, at most meals, will very carefully attempt to jab food (even cheerios) with her fork. It is amazing how focused she can be!


















Last weekend B spent the night with her Mimi Jo and Papa Don at the lake while Rick and I caught a UMaine Hockey game. We had seats right against the glass and adjacent to one of the goals. Great seats if you are looking for constant excitement! I can't begin to count how many pucks smacked the glass in front of us...and the checking!

In anticipation of Brynna's arrival Papa Don raked a huge pile of leaves for Brynna to play in. She was a little tentative at first - watching her Mimi Jo and then me dive in. Eventually she gave it a try. Instead of diving in though she walked over, sat in the leaves and slowly layed back. Eventually she discovered how fun it can be to kick and flail around in the leaves.

















Watching her crazy Mimi Jo.














Testing it out with Mommy.


















Okay, this if fun!

no words necessary. 

Die spinach die!

After last months spinach scare, Brynna has taken matters into her own hands and decided to beat the living shit out of a bag of frozen spinach.

"Give me diarrhea will you? Well, take that and that!"
 

Ref: Who wears short-shorts and prances with glee?

Kids: Referee Hot Pants!

Ref: Wearing stripes and whistling at me?

Kids: Referee Hot Pants!

Ref: I’m not of much value but wear a stripped shirt.

Kids: Referee Hot Pants!

Ref: Just look at my nipples and nobody will get hurt!

Kids: Referee Hot Pants!

Ref and kids: Referee Hot Pants, Referee Hot Pants, Referee Hot Pants, Referee Hot pants! 

Corn on the cob

Brynna has discovered the joys of corn on the cob.















Not only is it good for eating but also for personal grooming as well.
 

couple more pumpkin shots

Some people shit bricks, B shits pumpkins.

















Marcy, B and about four others kids squeezed into the train.
 

Having grown up on a farm I felt it necessary to teach Brynna the finer points of pulling on a cow's teets. Probably because we've been weening B from Marcy's teet, she quickly took to the task at hand and milked this plywood cow for all it was worth. Thankfully though, she didn't get down on all fours and try to nurse from it.

great pumpkin vol. 1

On Saturday, the Nelson clan made its way to Poland Springs to partake in the festivities at Chipman Farms Pumpkin Village. For those without kids, it involves hundreds of kids running around playing with the worlds cheapest (but still pretty cool in a down home kind of way) "fair" attractions including large bales of hay, small bales of hay, piles of dirt, haunted houses, a petting zoo etc. Low budget stuff but fun for the kids.




















peeking out of the wood train.














riding the wood pony.














feeling a bit sleepy after the corn maze.

The great pumpkin vol. 2

Enjoying a slide




















Check out the concentration and the proper form, looking at the turn ahead. Mountain biking here we come!



















Hay ride















This was B's first pumpkin choice but I was forced to overrule her and pick out another that was more representative of my manhood (pale and withered).

More crazy hair.

Princess Leia or maybe Bozo the Clown 

fun with babies

One of the best things about having a kid this young is that they can't really complain when you dress them up funny just for shits and giggles. Marcy must have been bored yesterday because she started messing with B's hair. Here are two of our favorites.

Lyle Lovitt



















Donald Trump