We went down to the Pier today and as we were leaving Ariel wanted to feed the pelicans.

You can buy a bucket of fish and there is a stand to stand on while feeding them. This positions you above the birds. It was really funny because the birds would be disbursed all around and the moment someone appeared on the stand they would all congregate around waiting for their chance to eat fish.

Ariel was afraid because the pelicans got a little crazy when she picked up the fish to feed them.

I kept trying to get her to slow down so I could get a picture of the pelicans taking the fish from her hand, but she was not having that. In fact, she was throwing the fish so quickly I never got a picture of her tossing the fish down to the pelicans.

At this point she was ready to quit. She was really scared up there. She told me that she thought they would bite her, because she could hear there beaks snapping shut as they chased after the fish she was throwing.

The many faces of Cailin

I got a new lens (50mm) for my camera and I immediately took Cailin out to practice. She loves being outside and I love photographing her because she is so expressive.

I love pictures of babies when they drool. I remember taking Ariel to have her pictures taken as a baby, she started to drool during the photo shoot and when I went to wipe her mouth, the photographer told me to leave it there. I loved that picture and I love this one as well!

When you sit her in the grass, she immediately starts pulling grass out of the ground. Here she is trying to find the grass that is stuck to her hand.

Ariel lets Cailin listen to her mixstick. Cailin was looking all around trying to figure out were the music was coming from.

I love my lens for this picture! I love the depth of field!

Cailin has a sucker!

I gave Cailin this sucker and she loved it! This was also the only way that I could get her back in the stroller. I don't know why but lately, she will not sit in her stroller. I take the stroller out and shortly thereafter I end up carrying her, because she absolutely refuses to ride in the stroller. It is pretty funny, because if you go to sit her back down, she will start yelling with arms and legs swinging (it's pretty cute right now).

This is a nice view of the Pier.

I loved this picture, because everyone seems to be doing there own thing!

Cailin is 10 months old!

I can't believe that she is 10 months old already! Where does the time go? Cailin is such a bright baby. She is pulling up and walking around the furniture (she started doing this at 8 months). Now she is starting to stand alone and just today she took a few steps toward Ariel. She has two teeth growing in at the bottom. It is really funny because she is starting to show alot of attitude. When I tell her "no" or "stop" she will actually yell baby gibberish right back at me. She sings and dances. She is such a happy baby!

Bath Time

Look at Cailin taking a bath in the tub. I usually give Cailin a bath in the kitchen sink, because it seemed the perfect size for her. This has been a great idea until recently when she discovered that kicking and waving arms and legs splashes the water, leaving more water on the floor than in the sink!

Look at big sister, Ariel giving Cailin a bath!

A Day at the Beach

When we first moved to Florida, I loved the seagulls. I was so amazed by the fact that these birds could dive in the water and swim to catch fish. I learned really fast that they will eat almost anything. So, we sometimes will bring food like, crackers or bread to the beach to feed them. Well today Ariel brought 2 packs of crackers.

Before I get the camera settings done, she has thrown crackers out and the birds are coming.

Initially Jerry is holding the baby. But when he foolishly gives Cailin a cracker and the birds fly in a take her cracker. They steal her cracker while she is sitting on his lap. They do this, not once but twice. This prompts me to take the baby. I am also decidely through taking pictures when I have my eye up to the viewfinder and feel a bird's wing brush against the side of my face. I put the camera in a semi-automatic mode and hand Jerry the camera. He takes 250 pictures easily. He jokes that his Monday nights are free (meaning he doesn't have to take a photography class to take pictures). I remind him that I set the camera for him!

Ariel throws a single cracker down on the ground and that brings the seagulls all around us.

The baby and I escape and leave Ariel all alone as the birds swarm around her.

She is initially having fun throwing crackers up in the air.

Then she gets a little frightened, because as she starts to feed the birds, they start to get more aggressive. A couple fly so low that she has to duck. They actually start to take crackers out of her hand before she has a chance to throw them.

Ariel starts running
The birds actually start to chase her.
She is throwing crackers in the air as she runs.
Now she is having fun as the birds are chasing her.

They chase her all around the beach.

I walked Cailin through the sand. She likes to hold onto your hands and walk all around. She is pretty good at holding onto things to balance and stand. I didn't let her get down in the sand because she still is in the "everything goes in my mouth" stage. She still managed to get sand in her mouth anyway, because it was so windy. A couple of times I looked down and found her chewing.

No matter what the temperature is at the beach, Ariel is always willing to get in the water!

Ariel sat Cailin down at the water edge.

The water came in and covered their feet.

It was about 75 degrees out but it was extremely windy and the water was freezing. Cailin started to cry when the water washed over her feet.

Cailin eats spaghetti

Cailin just recently had her 9 month check-up and the doctor recommended that we give her a chance at feeding herself more. So, I gave Cailin some noodles when I fixed spaghetti one night for dinner. She just scattered the noodles around the tray.

This was the funniest part of dinner though! Cailin was trying to get the noodles off her hand. She was waving her hands back and forth and flicked the noodle in the air and it landed and stuck to her face. Ariel and I thought this was hilarious.