15-months and counting

What a pretty girl! Amber is 15-months-old today...WOW. She's pretty much running everywhere she wants to go now and has even been helping us clean up her toys around the house. Thankfully she's inherited her father's obsessive-compulsive-disorder (OCD) and usually keeps things pretty neat anyways...everything's gotta be JUST SO. :)
Amber is also getting very strong. Any barricade you place her behind, she'll move it right outta the way, be it a basket full of clothes, a small table-stand, or chair...she pulls an Arnold on it and scoots right past!

Be sure to check in on our SmugMug photo site if you haven't seen it lately; we've been much better lately about keeping it up to date now that we have a powerful new Mac with the incredible iPhoto to keep all our thousands of Amber pics in order!

Amber and the Magic Sliding Cup

Here's a funny video taken at Starbucks in Cascades a week ago. We were sitting outside and the muggy summer day was causing a lot of condensation to form on our plastic cups which in turn dripped down to our table causing the cups to "mysteriously" move by themselves. Amber had a ball with it!

The Year-Long Love Affair is Over

After a year-long relationship that was always loving and nurturing, Amber and Ba-Ba (a.k.a. - Bottle), have broken up (see the picture above of their relationship early on when Amber was only a month old). Amber worked with Mommy to round up her bottles and after Mommy told her she was a big girl and didn't them anymore, Amber helped toss them in the garbage can. She has definitely been a big girl about it and hasn't even cried for her bottle. She's even been good about drinking it out of her newest friend, Sippy Cup (a.k.a. - ...cup...). Our little girl is growing so fast. Here is a more recent photo of the little darling.

National Zoo with the McCammons

It was a hot, muggy day in the Nation's Capital, but we trudged on for a few hours trying to see as many animals as we could between stops for refreshments, A/C, and diaper changes. Here is a snippet of our sweaty adventure with a sweet soundtrack by the Kinks!

Walkin' and Talkin' (well...Blabbin' maybe)

Amber is growing faster with every passing day. She's becoming more curious about everything around her and boy is she getting strong! We just had Dale (Sandi's father) help us install a couple gates for our stairs and it couldn't have been at a better time. Until now we'd been using our kitchen chairs to help block Amber from taking a trip down (or up) the stairs. However she'd started doing a "Superman" and slowly lifting and moving the chairs aside! Not anymore little woman...you're penned in now. :)

Amber is really picking up speed on the walking track, too. She loves picking up a book and then taking it over to windowsill in our kitchen...and then back for another one. She always has a little smile on her face and such determined eyes when she's doing it, too. Quite cute!

Another thing she loves doing is testing out gravity. She'll grab any toy, book, or other object laying around and take it to the chairs blocking the stairs and toss it down. Then she'll lean over and watch it tumble and roll down the steps until it crashes against the wall leaving a nice black streak along the baseboard. Thank god for Mr. Clean Magic Erasers!

Check out this embedded video for more of Amber's funny antics. She loves car rides especially with the windows down and wind in her hair! Go Amber Arms, Go!

Our nerd cat, Grizzly (aka - Grizwaldo, Grizzly, GRIZ!!!)

Grizwaldo is the biggest nerd cat ever. Don't get us wrong. We love him to death and he's probably the sweetest and most lovable cat in the world. There's just one problem. He's a retard. He has this obsession with glasses filled with water in which he will go to whatever means necessary to get to them, stick his paw inside and tip them over. Just this past week alone he's managed to break a glass, and tip over Sandi's glasses filled with tea and water. What's his deal? He's crazy. "Ooh! Ooh! I see water in a glass! I gotta tip it over!" Geeez the weeez, Griz!!!

Pat a cake

Amber has been playing pat a cake with her mum and it's been really cute to see her interact more and play games. She also loves to play peek a boo with dad peering behind the couch. The squeals that come out of such a small little girl are precious.