Things have been a bit hectic here at the Bramble homestead since mid October. Most blogging has been back burned for things like eating, changing diapers, and sneaking naps to catch up on zzzzzz. Here are some of the fun things that happened between all that….

G came for another visit Halloween weekend. We had an excellent time, though we were more housebound with Sloane’s nap schedule. This is a bit of a theme these days. She doesn’t follow an exact time schedule but she takes a morning and afternoon nap. She is less likely to fall asleep in the carrier or in the car, especially if there is a conversation going on around her. But being home means lots of books to read and fun times in the high chair.

Oh, and HALLOWEEN! Sloane was a lion and her mane was adorable. Our friends, the Wades, came up for tea and we got some cute pics of the girls in their costumes.

After Halloween, we went to a wedding in SF.

Sloane also turned 11 months old. She is getting to be very clever and a little mischievous. We went to the doctor on 11/12/15 and she weighs 25 lbs. Still growing and above the 98th percentile but starting to level off.

Lastly, Sloane’s cold was lingering for longer than we wanted. We took her to see the acupuncturist to help boost her body’s immune response. There are no needles involved, just tapping and pressure along pressure points and meridians. The acupuncturist was very sweet and Sloane had a great time.

Adam here-

At the beginning of the month we went to San Francisco for a good friend’s wedding. It was a fun adventure with Sloane! My parents came too, as we needed some help with Sloane, and Frisco is a great place to visit. The weekend began on Thursday night when we caught a 9:30 flight down to SFO. Sloane really enjoyed the evening (even though she should have been a sleep for hours).

We stayed at a hotel near the airport that night since we didn’t arrive until after 11:00pm. It was a fun place to stay, Molly and Sloane had their own bed and cuddled the rest of the night away.

In the morning Sloane got to have her first Breakfast sandwich! We got an egg white, spinach and avocado one for her and she ate it up with relish (though only one part at a time, we even let her have some of the bread!).

Then we headed into the city on the BART and transferred to a bus, which was fun for Sloane, but took a little too long for her.

We got ready and headed to Golden Gate park for the wedding. My parents went and got some dumplings for a pre-wedding snack and watched Sloane (Thanks Nini and Papa2).

We had great night at the wedding! It was very fun to be able to be a part of it. To see pics of this look at #ryanloveswhitneytoo on social media.

The next morning cousin Dominic and Hannah (who both live down near San Fran) came over to visit. We went for a walk in the park and down to the ocean.

We had another night. We woke up and had some more dumplings, then it was time to head back home. Despite some standby problems and Sloane coming down with a cold the trip back was pretty good.

Thanks to my parents for getting us to SFO, watching Sloane and for all the yummy dumplings. Thanks to Ryan and Whitney for getting hitched. Thanks to Dominic and Hannah for coming to see us!

Now that Sloane is crawling all over the place, she has moved onto advanced peek-a-boo. No more simple pulling a blanket over her face for this girl. She likes to crawl behind or between the furniture and then peak around the corner.

https://youtu.be/qD3Eq2AS2fk

She also like to take the cats’ tube and lift it up to peek through it. The picture almost captures how ridiculously cute she is doing this.

The Wades came back to Portland for October and we tried to see them as much as possible. Maera turned one year old right before they left! She and Sloane ‘played’ well together. Mostly, they just grabbed toys back and forth from each other, but they were starting to be more interested in each others actions. It was super fun to see them interact.

We can’t wait to see them again in February!

Sloane received a large letter from the NH family. It was full of beautiful fall leaves and nicely labeled ‘non-edible’ by Lida. 

We were glad to receive a pick me up after Sloane had a fever Sunday and Monday. She perked up a little on Tuesday but by Wednesday night she was coughing a bunch. I call the first pic below “let me think about it” and the second one “oh yes, I sad”. 

We made a quick trip to the pediatrician on Thursday to make sure her lungs and ears were clear- which they were thankfully. She just has a little virus. We did get to weigh her at the doctors and she is 25 lbs 3 oz!

She is moving around so much and doing that little bottom lift all the time. Tonight, I left her sitting on the floor in the living room for a second. When I came back, she was standing up holding onto the chair! First time she has pulled herself up to stand and we didn’t see it.

This is my favorite time of year and Sloane has been enjoying all the season has to offer. She has been eating leaves and pine cones, which causes hacking fits. She got a cold and had a lovely runny nose. And her favorite activity is sitting in our laps and reading books as the evenings become darker and darker. She even turns the pages for us.

On Saturday, Sloane turned 10 months old and I turned 42x that old. We had a relaxing day at home. Adam was at a continuing ed class all day. Sloane and I napped and hung out with friends. We went for a walk and Sloane got to swing a bit. I feel pretty luck to have shared my day with friends and my girl.

It is very hard to get a photo of her laying still next to Christopher the bear. I took this video which captures her wiggles. Watch for the flamenco moves at the end.

https://youtu.be/JznoPK6wZso

Sloane can cover some serious distance with her army crawl now. She still thinks that lifting her bottom and putting weight on her knees seems like too much trouble!

https://youtu.be/txSnLNEZlRU

She is really stinking cute. Here’s some proof.

Sloane has started to enjoy playing with big girl toys. She especially loves the farm and animals. There is a horse with a yarn mane that is apparently amazing to chew on. 

She also likes to tap things together. Maybe bashing them together is a better description. You have to wait until the end to see the tapping but Sloane does some of her wonderful singing before that.

https://youtu.be/l2hnmh-hk24