Gretchen's Nearing 9 months old

Gretchen is becoming quite a crawler on the bed, but hasn't gotten going on the tile floor yet. When she sits up, she looks around her vicinity for things to pull down and inspect. It's fascinating to watch her reach up and grab a Lego toy of Franklin's and turn it around in her little hands to examine it. This morning, it was a bottle of water that tickled her fancy. She just rocked it back and forth and watched the light play through

Unfortunately, my time with my daughter is limited by my work schedule. When we get home at night, it's usually after ten o'clock, and both kids immediately get put in separate baths. Bottles are prepared either by mom or dad, and after a few minutes of crawling around in one or the other's bedroom, kids and parents part company to put or be put to sleep.

I've got a new job teaching at a local jr high school 8-4:30, so I'm now out of the house before the kids wake up. It'll be like this for a year.

Soon, it will be time to move Gretchen into Franklin's room and we can share story time at night.