Growing season on the farm

Farmer Ted is hard at work on his back 40.  It's springtime, and there's much to do.

Plan the garden.

Prep the soil.

Spread the seed.  

He is going to grow carrots, corn, green beans, and a tomato/pepper blend popular for queso dips.

Next step: pray for rain

 But fussing over crops isn't the only the job on the farm.

He has to check on the pig, to make sure she is well fed.  "Are you ready for a snack?  No?  Alright, later then."  The pig sometimes has too much fun playing in the trees, and doesn't want to be bothered.

Collect eggs from the chickens.  "Ah, there's a good hen."

Play with the lambs.  "I'll give you a dollar if you can jump over the stick."

Take a look at what his neighbors are up to.  "What in the world is that guy doing over there?

The next day is similar: the farmer tends to his fields, watering and weeding when needed.

Then checks the pig. "Are you coming out of there at all today?"

Wrest the eggs from the chickens.  "These girls get better and better at hiding these things."

Then play with the lambs. "What's a lambs favorite newpaper?"

"The Wool Street Journal!  HaHaHa"

And spy on the neighbor.  "He is going to ruin that tractor, if he keeps riding it like that."

Then check on his crops.  "Coming along."

And, sometimes, he gets woken up in the middle of the night.  "What's going on out there?"

He has to defend his hard work against predators.  "Ach! A neon snatchoid!  These things are nasty."

Until finally, all his labors pay off.  "Finally ripe.  It's a good crop this year."

"Mmmmm... sweet and tasty."

Time to relax, and celebrate with some music.

The End

9 month check up

Time goes by fast.  Baby went in for his 9 month check up. No shots this time, and good news!  He's finally on the charts!  He's at the 1% for height and weight, and his head is in the 11%.  Where other kids his age are starting to plateau somewhat, he's still on a sharp incline.  Alas, though, his gross motor skills (sitting up unassisted for example) is still below the curve and he's not making "words" yet, so there's some work to be done.

He can army crawl like a fiend when there's something he wants, like a board book, or a wire.  He doesn't sleep through the night, much to my annoyance.  He's gained a lot of control when he's reaching for things, like his bottle.  He knows to tip it back and then forward again to get the last few drops.  He still loves to play with his feet.  He loves it when Andrew throws him in the air, or when you zerbert his tummy.  He's almost too big for his baby bath, which he loves to splash around in.  You can't take your eyes off of him for a second when on the changing table, because it's a given he will turn over onto his tummy.

This month's sticker lasted all of 2 seconds before he ripped it in half.  Here's the little wiggle worm, in all his glory.

Jack Jack doesn't have any powers

Making friends

Last week, I babysat for another mother in the ward. Her son is a couple months younger than baby x, but has grown a bit bigger.  This new friend is a happy kid, laughing even when baby X is crawling on top of him.  Here they are, side by side.

• And today, we went to baby story time at the library.  I'm not sure how much he made of all the noise, but he was certainly interested in the other kids.