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.

The Boring Half of a Business Trip

A few weeks ago, Sam went to a super important trade show in Anaheim, CA. Right across the street from Disneyland. For anyone who's ever worked a trade show, you know they are usually in a pretty cool location, but you're too busy working to actually see anything other than the convention floor. So it always sounds like Sam is going someplace exciting, but I really know he is actually standing on his feet all day talking to customers and then going out to dinner to talk to more customers. Disneyland is just a cruel temptation.

Well, that might be me trying to make the best of being stuck in Ohio instead of out in California. Anyway, while he was gone the weather turned rather spring-like. Inga and I took a walk around Dawes Arboretum to scope out some landscaping ideas for the new house.

Teton tower Colorado blue spruce.

We walked the conifer glen since nothing is flowering quite yet (aside from daffodils and crocuses!). I saw several nice plants for low ground cover, but liked the Teton tower the best.

Buckeye "17"

17 Buckeyes planted to form the numeral 17 since, that's right, Ohio was the 17th state in the nation.

Having a great time in the sunshine. (ERGO Carrier FTW!)

After our walk, Inga discovered that a dress is also great to play with! She doesn't wear dresses very often and was pretty excited to be able to chew on her own clothes. Also in this picture are a couple new toys because every little girl should get new toys as a consolation for Daddy going away on business.

We picked Daddy up from the airport the next morning. Inga took her morning nap in the car on the way to the airport so was very confused when I woke her up in a strange place. She was even more confused to see Daddy in the strange place. I'm not sure if she thought she was dreaming or what, but she warmed up to Daddy pretty quickly.

For those wondering (or not), we will be moving to our new house very soon. Don't worry (you weren't), I will post pictures of the house as soon as we are moved in (you know, in like August).

2 Months!

Continuing my series charting Ingrid's growth and development, she is now 8 weeks old. I don't have a weight or height because she doesn't go into the doctor until 3 months. She is wearing 3 month size clothing and size 2 diapers so I am guessing she's about 13 pounds and 23 inches.

Her new favorite activities include sitting up (supported) and looking around. She can hold her head up pretty well and is more and more interested in looking around the room. She also likes bath time and playing peek-a-boo with Daddy. She has also started cooing and making a very distinct whining when she doesn't like something as opposed to being hungry or having a dirty diaper. She is also working on smiling when socially appropriate, but she's a little ways off from laughing.

We are turning her into our good little traveler. Although she does get bored in the car seat after awhile if she does not want to take a nap. I am looking forward to taking her to California for Christmas. Hopefully, it will be the first of many trips out West for little Inga.

Classic slightly perplexed look

The big, pink bear makes another appearance.

Can we go play now, Mom?

Going for a Drive

Checking in with the doctor

Ingrid went in for her 1 month check-up on Monday. (Yes, a week late because our doctor needed a vacation the week before. Weird.)

Weight: 10 lbs 14 oz

Length: 22 in

Percentile: ~80%

That's my big girl!

She almost had a total blow out for the doctor. However, I intervened to do a quick diaper change and avoid a very messy girl.

I was so happy to go back to our regular family doctor after all the pediatricians at the hospital. It's not that I am opposed to vaccination, but I am very tired of pediatricians acting like I am an abusive parent for not wanting to follow all their recommendations. Plus, the only people in our doctor's waiting room are retirees with a chronic illness. The kids at a pediatrician's office are very likely to have whatever contagious illness is going around school.

Another reason I'm leery of vaccine recommendations: the Pharma Lobby.

One Month

Ingrid is one month old already!

Ingrid's big accomplishment this month was sleeping at night. She is already on a daytime and nighttime schedule. While she still wakes up at night to eat, she goes right back to sleep and there is typically one 4 hour long stretch in there. This is very wonderful and quite the accomplishment.

Ingrid's current list of favorite things includes: cuddles (especially with Daddy), clean diapers, nursing, and her bouncy chair.

The bear is there for size comparison

Big, chubby cheeks!

First Family Outing

As you probably already know, Ingrid Joy was born on Aug. 30. She weighed in at 8 lbs 9 oz and measured 20 inches long. She is know over 9 lbs and keeps getting longer.

A few days after getting home from the hospital, we took her out for her first walk around the neighborhood. She was very fascinated by all the sounds and smells. She really likes going for walks.

So far, Ingrid has been pretty easy to take places. She has been to Grandma Wiley's, two restaurants for lunch, the park and Roscoe Village, and the grocery store. I am hoping she keeps this up otherwise it's going to be a very long plane ride to California this Christmas.