Cool Thursday Concert at the Dallas Arboretum

Did our first concert at the Arboretum. Nobody, and I mean nobody should attempt trying to pull off Michael Jackson. We made the mistake of picking the night when a Michael Jackson cover band was performing. We didn't really have a choice though, cause by the time the weather was ok enough for the kids, it was the last event already.

Eloise didn't seem to mind the awful attempt though. (Neither did anyone else there, by the way.) She enjoyed being outside and climbing on the cooler.

It was still cool to see the Arboretum lit up at night. Can't wait for the Christmas lights.

10 Months!

Eloise turned 10 months today! Crazy how fast she's growing up. She's quickly becoming a talker like her sister, although she mainly just says "Omma" and "ManhMoh" with an occasional "Appa" thrown in. She now has 4 teeth on the top and 2 on the bottom. The two top left ones took forever to come in but finally broke through.

She's also starting to pull herself up to stand. Not looking forward to when she starts walking. The house is not baby-proofed for that. It'll be coming soon.

Eloise at the zoo

Spent the morning at the Fort Worth Zoo. It's not bad for a small, local zoo. If only it were free, like the National Zoo.

Eloise is at the age where she actually sees the animals and wants to interact with them. She loves the zoo just like her sister. The fishes were her favorite.

And she liked the penguins too.

She didn't quite get the elephants though.

Not quite cruising

Eloise can pull herself up. This morning, she got herself up under the table using the bench and a chair.

But she's not quite crusing yet, and she started getting upset about being trapped.

The cruising may be coming soon...

Mixing it up

Eloise has recently learned the word, "manh mah" for food. Poor girl is now mixing it up with "omma".

Eloise tries to say "Ah-bbah"

Back to our first home

Matilda has taken to calling our home in Arlington our first home. We went back to our first home over Columbus Day weekend. Eloise had has 9-month appointment, so it was a good excuse to go back home. Hard to express how nice it was to be home with all of our creature comforts.

I had a conference at the Dallas Fed on Friday and Saturday, so Carl went first with the girls himself. He insisted that he would be alright and the girls didn't seem any worse for wear when I saw them on Saturday.

They were greeted at the door by this:

About 90% of it was junk mail. Yuck!

First thing on the agenda was Eloise's appt. She weighed 17.5 lbs and measured 28.5" long. Long and lean the doctor says. I hear that she was super cranky at the doctor's office, but she did say "omma" very clearly in her crankiness. Seems like the day wiped them out, because I got this picture after the appointment:

They didn't get to nap long though. Carl woke them up for dinner and Matilda was not that excited even though he took her to eat jja jang myun, which is one of her favorites.

Saturday, Matilda got to see all of her friends at the birthday "extravaganza" for her friend Audrey Bocian. I got this photos as I was getting off the plane:

Talk about excited. Matilda was so happy to see her bestie, Grace. Eloise was happy to see Matilda's friends too. 

Auntie Chatterjee was kind enough to help me check off one thing on my bucket list. She got us tickets for the fall garden tours on Sunday afternoon. Stopped by her place first for some breakfast before standing in line. Matilda had a little kerfuffle with Copper, Auntie's Great Pyrenees, so she didn't want to show her face. 

Then she decided that she was ok. 

And we were all so excited to be at the White House along with many, many, other people. 

And we finally got our family picture:

Weekend ended with Matilda having something to talk about with her friends in the big D.

My Daily Greeting

This is what I arrive to everyday when I pick up Eloise from day care. Most days her fan club is shooting there talking to her too.

Jahm Jahm Jahm

Eloise's skills keep developing. Next step, clapping!

Fun at the park built on top of a highway

When you ask people in Dallas for suggestions on where to take the kids, they almost always first mention Klyde Warren Park. It's in downtown Dallas, right across the street from the Dallas Fed, and literally on top of a highway. The idea for it first originated in the 60's, but it was built until 2009. Apparently the park is a feat in engineering and design.

Go on the weekend, and tons of folks are running around the green space, enjoying a picnic outdoors, or playing in the playground, which has it's own splashpad. The girls enjoyed it all also, as you can see from the photographic evidence.

Pumpkin time

It's pumpkin time at the Dallas Arboretum. Website claims that there are 90,000 pumpkins around the garden. It sure did seem like it. It was a nice, cool 80 degrees today, so took the opportunity to take some pictures with the real camera. Apparently, everybody else had the same idea. We still managed to get some cool shots without hoards of people around us. Here are some of the outtakes from our photo shoot.

Who needs a double stroller?



Can I eat this pumpkin?

 

Whoa! Look at all of these pumpkins!