Howdy folks! Welcome to the State Fair of Texas!

Scarlett made her first visit to the Texas State Fair last Friday on the fair's opening day. Her Papa Tig and Mimi were in town and joined us on our adventure. First off -- saying hello to Big Tex. Doesn't Scarlett look thrilled to be there? (She fell asleep on the drive there and took some time to perk up. I can totally relate.)



Actually, now that I think about it, I don't recall hearing Big Tex at all with his booming voice and signature "Howdy folks!" Strange. I wonder how often he talks? Anyhow, the weather was perfect, the crowd was bustling but not overwhelming, and great fun was had by all.

"Wow, this lion has some really big teeth."





Checking out a life-sized version of Sophie the giraffe (while suffering from a serious case of sweaty head). I'm sure Scarlett would have gnawed on one of her legs, too, if given the chance. You can't tell from the picture, but the real-life Sophie was licking a light bulb. Probably not a wise move, Sophie.



"Hello, Longhorn. What long horns you have." (And no, that is not Scarlett grabbing the "bull by the horns." Her arm is the chubby one below. Actually, just to be clear, the chubby one in the middle.)



"How's it going, Goat. Say hi to your mother for me."



Plotting our next move.



Scarlett inspects the "You must be this tall to ride this ride" sign. She's tall, but not that tall. Maybe in a few years, Scarlett.



The giant slide, just like the one at Western Playland back in the day.



Papa Tig wins the race with a come-from-behind win!



Scarlett's first carousel ride on her trusty steed "Ariel." What fun!



Rubber duckies as far as the eye can see. So many rubber duckies to chew on, so little time ...



A clown came up to say hello. Scarlett wasn't freaked out, but she wasn't exactly enamored with him. In fact, I'd say she was downright suspicious (but can you really blame her?).



Exhausted after a big day at the fair. Until next year ...

Eight Months Old! (September 21, 2010)

Scarlett turned eight months old last week. She's had a big month! Speaking of big, our girl is up to 21+ pounds. Not sure how long she is, but she's wearing 12-18 month clothes and is hanging out of her infant car seat (on the agenda for this weekend: switch out her infant car seat for her big girl car seat).

She still isn't officially crawling, but she's soooooo close. She scoots and rolls and can get back into a sitting position from a crawling position or from lying down. For the last several days we find her sitting up in her crib when we go in to get her in the morning. Another new trick is the "bear crawl" position -- hands and feet on the ground and butt in the air -- but she just sort of hovers like that. She's trying to pull up on things, but can't stand for very long unassisted. She can make her way across a room through a series of her various maneuvers, but just not the official "knee crawl." We did some serious babyproofing last week, and I think it was just in time.

Scarlett is also becoming increasingly verbal. Lots of babbling, squealing, grunting, and one of her funnier talents -- panting. She's moved from mamamamama to bababababa. I've been trying to get her to add dadadada to her repertoire, but no luck yet. She's been waving "bye-bye" for a week or so now, but it's been spotty. Then on Monday she did it and even said "baba" (her version of "bye-bye," apparently) at the same time! She's done it twice today, so I don't think it's a fluke.

On Monday we also realized that she's sprouting her first teeth! We're pretty sure her two front lower chompers are making an appearance, but we have only felt them with our fingers since she won't even let us get a sneak peek. She twists and squirms like an oiled pig and pushes your hands away when you try to pry her mouth open to take a look at them (or wipe her nose, or her eyes, or mess with her face at all, really). And she's amazingly STRONG. Two adults trying to pin her down and get her to open her mouth are no match for Miss Scarlett.

And she's finally growing some hair! Don't expect to see her in pigtails anytime soon, but she's definitely not a baldy anymore.

Here are some pictures of Scarlett on her eight month birthday. Papa Tig was in town and got to celebrate the big day with her. (He even babysat that night while Chris and I went to a party, and they both did great!)

Hot dog, it's Winnie's birthday!

Happy Birthday to Winnie, who turned 9 years old today. Hard to believe. I think Winnie also finds it hard to believe that the little person who showed up at our house back in January is still here and doesn't appear to have any plans to leave.

Could Winnie look more miserable? (That's her princess hat from a prior Halloween doubling as a birthday hat in a pinch.) Don't worry, Winnie got a Pupperoni (her favorite) right after this photo was taken to soften the blow of both the humiliating photo shoot and the baby that has taken over her house. And if she thinks this is embarrassing, just wait until Halloween.



"Please tell me you're not coming after me with that thing ..."







And by the way, the Bumbo Scarlett is sitting in was forced into an early retirement today after it took both me and Chris working together to wedge Scarlett out of it.

Are you ready for some football?

Scarlett went to her first tailgate this weekend on the SMU Boulevard and helped cheer the football team to victory.



"Go Mustangs!" (Or is it Ponies? Scarlett will need some clarity on this before she learns to talk, as I understand there is some huge Mustang versus Peruna the Pony debate going on at SMU at the moment. Seriously. Oh, and for any Texas fans, no worries -- Scarlett is fully outfitted to cheer on the Horns as well and is looking forward to TX/OU weekend.)





Just to spice things up, some co-ed apparently decided to pull the fire alarm. The Highland Park police and fire department showed up in force and the dorm was evacuated.



Several of Chris's college friends who live out of town were in Dallas for the weekend, so it was nice to catch up with them.



Scarlett and Scot (aka Mr. Tailgate) chat while other tailgaters watch -- what else? -- football. Note that there are not one but two TVs set up. These are some serious tailgaters. How serious, you ask? They were set up at 9:00 a.m. and the game didn't start until 7:00 p.m. That serious.



Since there were three babies there roughly the same age and a baby pen set up to keep them corralled, we obviously had to have a baby cage match. Scarlett -- despite being the youngest -- was the odds-on favorite. Did she pull out a win?

Round 1: Archer versus Megan versus Scarlett



Winners: Megan and Scarlett!



Round 2: Megan versus Scarlett. Scarlett's down ... but is she out?



Nope -- she was just resting (tailgating is exhausting). Winner: Scarlett!



Scarlett has no comment on the Cowboys game. Since she was asleep, she's going to pretend like it didn't happen.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Shirley!

Scarlett's Grandma turned 60 over Labor Day weekend, so we headed down to New Braunfels to celebrate with her. Scarlett got to hang out with lots of family, including her Great Aunt Brenda and Great Uncle Frank. Scarlett loved the necklaces Brenda wore all weekend (they taste delicious), and Frank told Scarlett lots of secrets about the trouble they're going to get into when she's bigger (I overheard him telling her something about firecrackers; we're in trouble for sure).



Scarlett's Grandma and Grandpa gave her a set of blocks to play with during our visit. They're pretty fun to play with, but they're no match for the tupperware Scarlett snagged from her Grandpa.



The weather in New Braunfels was beautiful, so Scarlett got to spend plenty of time outside (something we haven't been able to do much of this summer because of the heat). Here we are hanging out with Scarlett's Grandma, Aunt Brenda, and Gus while the guys cooked brisket and chicken for the birthday bash. Note Scarlett is mid-sneeze (let's hope she did not inherit her Daddy's cedar allergy).



The birthday party on Saturday evening was great fun. Scarlett got a kick out of watching her cousins play football. I think she was taking notes for her next visit to New Braunfels for Thanksgiving, when she plans to play linebacker.



TOUCHDOWN! (Note that Sophie the giraffe got in on the action.)



Midway through the party an uninvited guest made an unwelcome appearance. Ever wonder how many Schwegmanns it takes to kill a rattlesnake? Here's your answer.



The day after the festivities, Scarlett discovered this birthday balloon and found it fascinating.

"Hello up there, balloon."



"Come down here so I can check you out up close. Hmmmm. Verrrry interesting."



And big surprise ... she tried to eat it.



On Sunday we had a tasty lunch at the Gristmill in Greune and walked around a bit and took in the sights.



On the way back to Dallas on Monday we stopped to check out Scarlett's Uncle Greg's new digs. A member of Austin-based alternative country band Reckless Kelly used to live in Greg's house, and evidently had QUITE the parties there. Among other interesting artifacts is a huge professional bar on the back patio with the Reckless Kelly logo in tile on the top of it. Scarlett felt inspired to pose on the bar in her Greune Hall onesie she picked up the day before.



Scarlett took a peek inside Greg's garage where more amazing relics from the Reckless Kelly era remain. Scarlett's expression says it all ... you have to see it to believe it.



We had a great weekend -- hope your 60th birthday was a memorable one, Grandma Shirley!