8 Months

Inga is 8 months old today. That also means we've been in our new house for one month. Inga has made the transition rather well. She is pretty used to sleeping in her own room. She is even adjusting well to going to a new babysitter on Wednesdays. Fortunately, Inga is pretty happy go lucky so far.

She has two teeth now and I think is working on a third. She likes being able to eat more food from Mom and Dad's plates. She can also pick up those cereal puffs and feed herself. This is the benefits of teething, but the downsides include being extremely needy for Mommy (and Mommy only) and using lots of baby Advil (that stuff no are cheap). Oh well, it's just another one of those baby phases that seems so long at the time, but is just a little blip. 

No crawling yet, although she is really trying hard. I'm expecting some sort of army crawl here soon especially with the laminate floors. She is also really close to pulling herself to standing. I am slowly baby proofing the house. The big thing I need to get is a gate for the basement stairs. Her biggest new "skill" is giving kisses. She will give one when you ask and spontaneously. This is very Mommy approved!

The "nice" portrait

With her favorite stuffed animal, Ornery the Otter

I was sitting on the couch today writing some emails while she played on the floor in front of me. It went a bit too quiet all of a sudden and I couldn't she Inga. Then I heard a muffled noise from underneath me. This is what I found.

The little explorer

Inga has been helping out in the yard a lot, too. Our yard needs tons of work since we bought a new build. Our front lawn is coming in rather nicely, but there are lots of problem areas to dig out, weeds to pull, lumps to smooth out, trash to pick up, and trees to tend. Inga just catches a ride on one of our backs while we dig and rake kind of like you would see in Africa or something. Inga enjoys being a part of the action and we get a great workout. It's like conditioning for backpacking. LeConte Lodge, here we come!

To prove Inga isn't all sugar and spice and everything nice, this is what happened when I told her she couldn't play with the camera.

Our First Visitors

The Petries visited for weekend. They were the first overnight guests at our new home. We had an excellent time catching up and watching our daughters try to play together. Inga was so excited to have visitors, but seems happy to have a quiet house again.

Saturday we enjoyed a late dinner after the kiddos were in bed. On Sunday, we had a leisurely breakfast. I liked that extra cup of coffee and conversation on our deck during morning nap (both girls took a morning nap at the same time!). We then took a walk at Dawes Arboretum. Afterwards we met our friend, Kevin, for a late lunch before we parted ways.

Sarah, Laila, and Inga (Inga LOVED Mrs. Sarah)

Smelling the rhododendrons

Catching a ride with Daddy

Laila and her daddy hanging out under a pendulous Canadian hemlock

Looking towards the apple tree collection

Planting Trees

The other weekend Sam and I bought nine trees and two tons of brick at the local FFA fundraising auction. (That's Future Farmers of America not free fatty acid.) We went to the auction just to check things out after our neighbor said they had lots of trees. We knew we wanted to plant trees on our lot as there aren't many, but weren't planning on doing that for awhile. Well, it was just such a good deal we may have gotten carried away.

Saturday morning the local excavating company came by to dig the holes. Sam and I were not about to dig 9 holes by hand. We were just going to plant a couple, but our neighbor came over with his son-in-law practically begging to help. (My neighbor had his whole family over for Easter and I think there were too many women in the house.) We ended up putting all 9 in the holes and fully planting 6. We still have 3 left to fill in with dirt. It was a long day of working and made a little harder by a very teething baby (first tooth finally made an appearance!). I am really happy with the trees. They will look very nice in a few years.

6 Norway Spruces along the property line

Sunset Maple in the back corner

Dawn Redwood

Hemlock in the front yard

7 Months

What happened to my little cuddle bug? I used to rock her to sleep every night and now she prefers Ornery the Otter and her thumb. Sigh. She's growing up too fast.

She is fully established on solid foods and only wants milk for snacks and comfort. She is starting to explore more textured food, but doesn't have any teeth yet. Although, I keep thinking she is going to get some any day now. We have been using the baby Advil nearly everyday for the poor girl.

She wants to be a part of everything Mommy and Daddy do. Now that we have a bigger kitchen I can set her on the floor near the pantry while I make lunch and dinner. She just chews her toy and watches everything I do. She was even content to watch Mom and Dad unload bricks the other evening (part of our patio project).

She is a vocal girl. I wake up to lots of burbles and raspberries. Every few days she discovers new sounds. She is also picking up language and getting better at communication. She understands the word "nursies", which is of course the most important word to understand.

Mostly she is just really happy and giggly all the time.

Bear hug

Still got that gummy smile

Can I eat the camera?

We got a life vest for her since we are going on a beach vacation and staying at a house with a pool. She thought it was super awesome.