More Grating than Great

After helping Mom in the kitchen, Teagan wanted to go outside and help Dad regrade the dirt along the side of the house.

"Dad said we needed to sift the dirt to take out the rocks. It looked like a lot of fun."

"He tried to show me how the sifter works, but I told him that I already knew because I just saw Mom grating cheese."

"Okay, so it's not exactly like grating cheese."

Garden Gnome

Teagan enjoyed helping her parents in the garden this past summer.

She began by scoping out the perfect spot - a place where she could be the most helpful.

Situated near the raspberries, Teagan was happy to help eat them just as fast as Mom and Dad could pick them.

"It's fun to help out in the garden."

The Purple Monster

This past weekend we received our first snowfall of the season. As the snow chased away autumn, it ushered in a new visitor - a small purple monster.

We first sighted the purple monster in our backyard near the garage.

Up close the creature appeared to have a purple protective suit, much like the apparatus Captain Nemo wore when exploring the bottom of the sea.

The purple monster's temperament was yet to be determined, but the creature moved towards the swing with purpose.

Once on the swing, the small purple monster seemed to be frustrated at the lack of movement.

I cautiously put the swing in motion and the creature revealed a faint smile of contentment.

When the moment passed, the monster jumped down and set out to explore the great white winter wonderland.

A Flight to Stairs

Teagan loves stairs and there is nothing more exciting than the anticipatory flight to the flight of stairs.

When it comes to stairs, our rental house in Cody, WY provided Teagan with plenty of excitement - but she'll tell you all about it herself.

So why the look at the end of the video? She had just reached the blue line, only to discover 12 more steps to climb.

[Not] Having a Ball with Grandpa

Exhausted from her wild west excursion, Teagan headed over to the Irma (Buffalo Bill's saloon) to meet up with Grandpa (Bill) Crago and the rest of the kin.

Grandpa knew that she would be tuckered out, so he had some grub ready for her when she arrived.

Teagan was much obliged, but she hadn't heard of 'rocky mountain oysters' before now.

"Um, Grandpa, we're a long ways away from the sea, aren't we? So where did these oysters come from?"

Teagan didn't feel so much obliged any more.

The Wild, Wild West

As Teagan's first birthday drew near, she knew that she had to toughen up her baby image. This right of passage called for some drastic measures, "I mean, those 'terrible twos' will be here before I know it and I'll need to be ready."

With firm resolution, Teagan journeyed out west to Cody, Wyoming - the land of Buffalo Bill.

She soon discovered, however, that the wild west was a bit more wild than she had anticipated.

First she tried to make friends with the skunk who reminded her of her cats at home...

...but that did not turn out so well.

Then there was that monkey who kept starring her down.

He quickly climbed on her back and wouldn't let her go. She knew her moment had arrived.

Casting aside her fears, she faced that monkey and poked him in the eye.

Unfortunately, there was another animal waiting for her and his eye was much too big for her poke with that small finger of hers.

With some leverage from Mom, Teagan tamed the wild beast by twisting one of his horns.

Oh yeah, she was going to be ready for those terrible twos.

It's Fun to Be One

On Saturday, August 1st, a few of Teagan's friends and family members gathered together to celebrate her 1st birthday. While she was happy to see everyone, she was most happy to see the cake that her Great-grandma Lynn brought for her. "I imagine this is how one becomes a Great-grandma," Teagan reflected.

Teagan sat patiently with her Mom, who happened to be near the cake. Meanwhile her Dad searched for matches, the birthday choir rehearsed in the background, and cheerful onlookers snapped photos. "I don't suppose anyone is going to miss a little bit of frosting from the edge of this cake. Hmm... just how much is a little bit?"

"Hey Mom, is that candle-thing made of frosting too?"

"Mmm... Frosting is such bliss."

I'm a One Year Old!

On July 27th the Bargmanns and Bassetts gathered together once again at the Rahberg's house for a family picnic (see post: Old Friends, New Children).

Yet this wasn't just any day or just any picnic -- it was Teagan's first birthday and her friends, Zoe and Nate, made sure it was a special birthday picnic.

Sitting near the corner Teagan wasn't so sure about wearing this dunce-like cap, but her friends encouraged her to go along with the hat because she would be rewarded with a special treat.

With the arrival of the beer brats (made with Sam and Dan's home-brewed breakfast stout: Bottle of Brew), Teagan got down to the business of eating and soon forgot about that pointy hat.

Soon her food was consumed and so was her patience, "Where's my special treat?"

Teagan quickly removed her hat as the ice-cream was being served. Yet just as she was preparing to dig in, she noted with exasperation: "Come on, why is mine on fire?!"

Happy 1st Birthday!

Today Teagan turns 1 year old, but this past Saturday she got an early start by celebrating with Grandma and Grandpa Crago in Montana.

Like Chicago voting, she plans to celebrate this momentous event early and often.

Teagan's Guide to Crawling

Teagan's road to crawling was a long and arduous one. She started a rigorous stretching routine in March to no avail (see post: Importance of Stretching). In April she ditched her feet for some wheels only to find that her insurance rates skyrocket after one lousy incident (see post: On the Move). With the calendar flipping to May, she was adamant: "I will crawl before the month's end!"

With no time to loose, Teagan confidently began, "There are three easy steps to crawling and I will share them with you."

"First, you need to get up on all fours like this. Next, you need to... um..."

"Ok," she said tentatively, "Maybe we should try that again."

"So up on all fours... and then you should..."

"It looked good on paper," Teagan added defiantly.

"Step one... Oh this is embarrassing."

Editor's Note: Teagan did learn to crawl before the month's end.

Roving Reporter

"I'm sorry I haven't been in touch lately, but it was for a good reason. Since the beginning of June I have been crawling everywhere to bring my readers all sorts of news."

"Speaking of that, something over there needs investigating..."

"See this phone. I unplugged it once while Mommy was talking. She stopped, so I guess she was done talking."

"This is our front door... Hey look, there's some of Daddy's books."

"Hmm... Daddy didn't want me to look at his books just now, so maybe tomorrow when he's at work... What's over here?"