Here are a few photos of Lura at about nine months. She really enjoys being read to, and looking through her "board" books (no paper pages to tear) on her own.
One might even say she's a voracious reader.
She spends a lot of time playing in the family room downstairs, where we keep many of her favorite toys, plus her toy arch and one of her activity centers (these are hand-me-downs from friends with older children). Cricket often comes within arm's reach; a brave kitty indeed.
On Saturday 29 May 2004, we had an early Memorial Day barbecue at the nearby home of Geoff and Tracey and their daughter Taryn, whom Cheryl and Lura had met in a local playgroup they joined. The kids had a great time together, and so did the grown-ups.
Back home, Lura likes to play with the phone near her changing table. We just got a new set of cordless phones, but we left the old one in place so she could still enjoy it.
We keep her Pack'N'Play playpen in the kitchen so we can set her down there when we need both hands for cooking or dishwashing. Usually she entertains herself with the toys and books that are in there with her, but here she seems to be saying "I've done my time, let me out!"
And, as we've noted, often she doesn't need toys to keep herself entertained. Here she's in her stroller at the mall.
The previous photo was actually Lura's next to last outing in that stroller; the stroller is a frame into which we clipped the car seat we've been using since we brought her home for the first time. She's gotten a lot bigger since then, of course, so we bought a new and much larger seat that will serve her even after she's gotten big enough to face forward in the car. Here Lura models the seat while Mark holds it in the car's cargo area; it fits a lot more snugly into the car's rear seat.
We installed the new car seat after using the old one (and its stroller "conversion") for one last trip, to the semiannual street fair in Hermosa Beach. Mark got a bit more sun than he should have... Here we are relaxing at the end of a fun holiday weekend.
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