The McManus Family: fall

Grace has been quite the active baby lately. In a matter of a week she learned how to pull herself up from sitting and now a whole world has opened up--Horizontal Surfaces! We quickly cleared away anything that made our house look cute, as Grace pulls them down, breaks them, bangs them and plays with them. Mind you, it took one broken pillar candle and a few mishaps before I would give in to hiding away the decor. Today we saw her playing in one of our plants, eating dirt. I think she is playing catch up for lost time and has decided that she must be on the move constantly or it will all go away!

Grandma Pam came for a visit last weekend and we had so much fun. It had been a long time since she saw Grace, and Grace needed to show her ho much she has changed. I think she proved worthy. We took her to the SF Zoo for the first time and my that was a sight to see. Grace is CRAZY, CRAZY for all animals, so this was amazing for her. She especially liked the aggressive goats who buck you for food and trample small children, and the fluffy sheep at the petting Zoo.

We also took Grace to Toys 'R Us for the first time to pick out a birthday present from Grandma Pam. That place is a child's dream and a parent's nightmare. Grace was so excited for all the toys, especially the large, fluffy stuffed animals. She ended up deciding that she wanted a jazzy, musical walker. She has taken it for a spin a few times, she really has not gotten the whole walking thing down yet.. "Bend you knees!" we say, as she takes tiny steps with her legs as tight as sticks. Usually she settles for the ground.

A sleeping Grizzly. Apparently a crazy guy jumped into the Grizzly cage the day before.

A resting, baby giraffe

I'll get you sheepie!

I love you Mr. Goat

Tales from my Walker, It's a Love/Hate Relationship

Here I go.

Standing up and being a big girl.

Watch out- I'll be there in 20 minutes at this pace!

Going down...

and down!

Look at me in my cute new hat.

I learned how to climb up 2 stairs when Dad was not looking.

We headed to Danville a few weeks ago for a BBQ with Todd's coworkers. It was a lot of fun, especially because there was lots of adorable children. As I have been saying, we don't often have our camera out ready for shots but I happen to snap a few that captured the evening!

Gracie and Darcie