Well, I can't get the pictures to uploadonto blogger for some reason, so here's the link to see them. I hope this works

If you linked over here to see the pics of Belle at Franklin Gardens, they're coming. I just can't get the slideshow to load for some reason of "unknown error". I'll get it figured out soon though. For now here are some good shots of Brooklyn who was having a severe teething day and is still in that I-spend-the-whole-outing-in-my-stroller phase which doesn't make for many picture opportunities.

We went to the mall the other day for haricuts for Nick and I. After my haircut I didn't really feel like walking around so I looked for another distraction. Isabella found this ride and loved it for almost an hour. She cried when we took her off it to do our other mall errands. I didn't even put money in it. She just climbed in and talked to
Arthur. There was a button and when it was pressed the beginning of the theme song started; "Hey, It's a wonderful kind of day!" She really enjoyed her time with Arthur.

After Nick was done his haircut we had other things to do and Isabella did not want to ride in the stroller. When we walk out in public places she has to either hold our hand or the stroller. She chose the stroller this day so that she could keep an eye on Brooklyn, just making sure she was enjoying
the scenery and being happy. She would peek in every now and then to say something to her or hand her back a toy or even just give her a kiss on the cheek. She really is a great big sister.

Today we had the camera on the coffee table and Isabella brought it to me and then raised her arm to try and get a self portrait of her and I. I completely mis-understood and thought she was asking me to take a picture of her and Nick. She was also pretty happy to do that, although you can tell it's not quite what she had in mind.

I can hardly believe that Brooklyn is nine months old already. I seem to recall wondering when time was going to start zooming by during Isabella's first year, it really did feel like that year took forever. With Brooklyn things are just zooming by. One day she was laying there, a helpless blob that needed me for everything. Now she's all over the place.

At nine months Brooklyn is quite small, just over 12 lbs, but she is larger than life! Her eyes really convey her emotion whatever it may be: tiredness, joy, hurt, frustration. All you have to do is look into those huge baby blues and you know exactly what she's thinking.

Her skills include; sitting by herself, rolling by herself, pulling herself up to standing with anything, crawling, climbing over anything to get what she wants. She can clap her hands and click her tongue. She's begun to wave. She babbles a lot and pronounces da-da and ba-ba. She understands a lot of words like 'up' and 'bath'. Both of which get her very excited.

Brooklyn is busy, busy, busy all the time. I'm not sure if that's going to be her personality or if she just feels like she has to keep up with her sister right now. It's so very exciting to see how she has grown in 9 short months. It's wonderful to have been able to fall in love with her and not just the idea of her. At the moment Isabella has the role of tomboy down pat, Brooklyn isn't our girlie girl, but I think I'd give her the label of urban chic. It will be so interesting to look back and see how she changes and how she stays the same.

This is the Mr. Potatoe Head that Isabella picked up at the Jay's Pro Shop. HE comes with batting attire and fielding attire. Isabella gets him out at least once a day and asks to go to Baseball. When I tell her it's not time to go she walks around chanting "Go Jays Go!". I think it's safe to say we have a baseball fan.

Our Jr. Jay

On Saturday we headed off to the baseball game. We told Belle we were going early so she could get her face painted. Since our trip to Ontario Place she's been in love with face painting. We got to Rogers Center and passed a bunch of other fun stuff to do, but Belle threw a fit every time we tried to do something other than face painting. That was all she wanted to do. She sat so still that the lady gave her the "big kid" one and not the simple J they do for toddlers. After she had her face painted she was ready to enjoy the other activities. Like sliding on the inflatable toddler land. It was just for kids under three feet tall.
In the picture below she's laughing not crying. She did so good keeping up with these boys. There were a few times she got shy and the Jays Staff had to help her keep moving, but she did great considering how intimidating they must have been.
We got into the game and got Nick and Brooklyn settled. Then Belle and I took off to redeem her Jr. Jays passport from the morning. (They get stamps at different gates and then they get a prize). She received a mini bobble head! We also signed her up for the Jr. Jays club and she got a t-shirt, sweat bands, dog tags, visor, and a few more things I think. I'll have to get her to pose in her gear tomorrow. She also got some coupons for concession stands so we headed off to get a combo at the kids concession. As we arrived they ran out of hot dogs, (who runs out of hot dogs at a ballpark??). Me and three other very peeved parents then waited 15 minutes for them to cook our hot dogs. Sadly I'm not exaggerating. We missed a lot of the game due to the wait and the 25 minutes it took to walk to the stand at toddler pace.
Brooklyn seemed to enjoy the day as well. It was super hot so we were diligent in keeping the girls hydrated. One of our many juice box breaks.
This is Nick and his girls getting ready to run the bases. Belle bailed just after rounding second. She got right back up but the bridge of her nose looks like she was in a brutal fight.Stompin on home plate.

Afterwards we went to the Pro Shop because Nick needed a new hat and had a gift card from his birthday. Isabella found this dude and climbed up on his sneaker all by herself for this pose. She didn't say anything because there were people watching her and saying "She's so cute....". Belle clues into that and puts on this grin. It says "I'm humoring you." She kept on giving me the eyebrow wiggle until I took her picture though. She definitely knows what she wants.
Belle and Nick being cool dudes together. Notice the sweat band. Flash anyone back to the eighties?

After a long, hot, very fun day she crashed on the way home. I don't even think we were out of the parking lot. She slept almost the whole 45 minutes home and was ready for some more action when we got home.