Ford was 6 months old on Sept. 13th! I took these pictures this morning after his breakfast. He's finally taking to solid food, but just bananas, sweet potatoes, and carrots. He loves just sitting in the high chair watching Charlotte and James, playing, and being a part of our meals.

My favorite parts of these pictures are his huge smiles and toes! What pure joy!

Ducky has been found!! Our church nursery worker found him a couple weeks ago but kept forgetting to tell us and this past Sunday she remembered. Charlotte was SO happy, came home and put him right in the freezer...I know it's weird, but she likes him to be cold before bed :) So, all is well at bedtime again. Yeah!

All dressed up before church yesterday!

We spent Wednesday-Monday down at Seagrove Beach on the Gulf Coast of Florida. It was a generous gift from a family in church who owns a house down there. Here are some pictures from our vacation with our friends the Smiths:

Even early in the morning, it was too bright for pictures...next time we'll try the afternoon?

In an effort to get James to look up and/or smile, Sy asked him: "How big is James?" Here is the answer!

Lost Ducky, again.

This is Charlotte with her beloved Ducky when she was 7 months old. We lost him just after Christmas this year at church somewhere. I had a back-up Ducky that she never took to, but one day I pulled him out and said, "Look Charlotte, it's Ducky!" and then she grabbed him and said, "Yeah! You found him!" She will only suck her thumb with the duck, holding on to his little wing. Well, we lost second Ducky a few days ago and can't find him either. It's hard to let go: of course she needs to stop sucking her thumb, but I don't think I'm ready for her to grow up like this??! She has been sleeping instead with Musty, the stuffed dog I slept with when I was little (I misread his name as a 4-year old...it was really "Mutsy" on the tag). Anyhow, we'll let you know if second Ducky turns up.

Our week has been a long one...
James is developing such character, one scar at a time. His dad plays rugby so there will be no stitches. Come on, scars on a guys face look kind of cool, right?

We have spent the past 3 days inside as Charlotte's battled a resp. infection we think that started with allergies. Good thing we got the bunk beds because Sy has slept in there the past 2 nights with her and is now sick himself! This morning he went ahead and took her to PriMed at 7 a.m. when they opened to make sure she was okay. A chest x-ray confirmed no pneumonia, and she's breathing a whole lot better today. We decided after everyone had a nap this afternoon to go for a walk. We got out of the car at the park and James took off running...fell head first and now has his latest head wound (we've had a split eyebrow and also chipped front tooth). When we got him home, cleaned him up, and asked him where his boo-boo was, he pointed to both of his knees (neither are even scraped!) and said, "Boo-boo." I guess it doesn't hurt that bad.

Thumbs are the all-around remedy in this house.

And then there is Ford. Always smiling, always happy, and praise the Lord has not yet had a head wound. :)