12 Jul
Boise With My Besty
An entire weekend with my best friend Heather (who happens to have a daughter one month younger than T1) means a LOT of pictures of them doing pretty much the same thing over and over and the two of us thinking it’s the cutest thing that has ever happened in the history of the world.
In the third picture T1 is letting me know he wants me to sing “Itsy Bitsy Spider”. I started singing it to him regularly after Kimberly Michelle wrote this post. Now he wants me to sing him nothing but that song over and over!
Of course we dumped them in the bathtub together.
And they chilled in their carseats together.
Sharing? Not so much.
We spent a few hours with another college friend, Amber, who just bought a house in the area. I’m so jealous that Heather and Amber get to live next to each other and raise their babies together.
The highlight of the trip was the photo session we did on our last night there.
Shortly before we started taking photos I handed the camera over to Heather’s sister and gave her a little mini lesson on composition. She caught on really quick and I was able to actually be in some nice looking photos, which is a very rare thing.
Our dream was to put these two in the shot together in somewhat coordinating outfits and get them playing together. Unfortunately they spent most of the time ignoring each other.
T1 did attempt to teach her how to eat rocks (look at her reaching for a rock in the picture on the right, haha).
He also took the toy recorder, hit her on the head with it, pulled her pigtail, then looked away and acted like nothing happened.
This allowed me to get some shots of him all by himself while she was crying in pain (sorry Heather and L!).
See it there? Itsy bitsy spider once again. We taught him to cheer when the song is over.
One last attempt at them playing together and… still not working out.
A new location (patch of weeds that I know Heather thought I was crazy for trying to shoot in!). Heather always talks about this adorable cheesy grin that her daughter flashes, and I didn’t really get it until I met her in person. She flashes that face at pretty much anyone and everyone when she wants to charm them. And she has Heather’s slightly-winky right eye which is just too stinkin’ adorable.
A baby sandwich made up of mama and gramma.
Another attempt at a photo with all four of us smiling and looking right at the camera. Another no-go.
As they rushed L to the car to get her away from the bugs and mosquitoes, I handed the camera over to Heather’s sister one more time. LOVE THESE!!!
I am for sure getting T1 out into a field in his bare feet and blue jeans. A shirtless baby makes for great pictures.
I hope to make the Boise trip an annual experience (if I visit my parents like this each year). Heather and I were able to reconnect, and we realized that our friendship picked right back up where we left off. Thanks again to the B family for hosting us that crazy weekend!
Also:
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
Isn’t it just adorable when they get into the songs?! I’m a little teapot, Twinkle, Twinkle, and the Itsy, bitsy spider are favorites in our house. She’s also learning the motions to His banner over me is love.
Just wait till he starts to sing along!
My 18mo is really starting to get into Row your boat:
http://www.youtube.com/user/courtneyanderik#p/u/2/Poq_VBz7M_k
Jenna Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 7:36 pm
“row row row row row row”. Hahaha! Oh I need to make more videos of T1. That was adorable.
I love the one of L with that silly sad face and the droopy flower! So adorable.
2Beautiful pix! My fingers get so tired of signing the itsy bitsy spider.
3Hooray for the singing! And babies playing together!
Some other current favorites include, “if you’re happy and you know it…”, “row, row, row your boat” and “head, shoulders, knees and toes.” Our singing/dancing parties are still my favorite part of the day! Last night she even started singing along to “America” from West Side Story! 
4Oh my gosh, how cute! My little guy is only 9 months old but he loves the itsy bitsy spider, even if he can’t make any of the motions.
5Just a question: Is there a reason why you have T1 in a front facing car seat? I always thought children under the age of 4 were supposed to be rear facing. Just curious if you found research that argues against that or sheds some like on that issue.
Meg Reply:
July 12th, 2011 at 9:44 pm
Now that I look again, maybe the angle is weird and it is rear facing?
Jenna Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 7:37 pm
No, they are both forward. I was very much looking forward to turning him around! I don’t think it makes enough of a difference in outcomes to leave them facing backwards. If I really didn’t want him to be harmed in a car accident, I just wouldn’t drive anywhere.
MrsW Reply:
July 18th, 2011 at 2:01 pm
The research I’ve done for my kid was pretty convincing to me that she should continue to rearface for as long as we can, but she is also really small. It is more inconvenient, but it really is a lot safer (again, from the research I’ve done). I don’t want to be The Judgy Mommy but I would recommend looking at the information again — it truly DOES make a difference.
vintage_paige Reply:
December 10th, 2011 at 11:00 pm
I hope with your next babes, you’ll reconsider. I know you love research so please do some on this issue!
Awww… such beautiful pictures! You’ve reminded me of my upcoming trip to visit my sister. It’s been months and months since we’ve seen her and since my son has seen his cousin (15mths and 17 mths) so I can’t wait to take lots and lots of pictures of them together!
7How about a tutorial about how to get those great sun-drenched photos there at the end? I would LOVE to know how to do that. Beautiful!
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