July Tucson Visit

Kendall, her Nana and I visited Tucson for the second time this year! After I got over a stomach bug (which had lovely timing and decided to join me on the airplane) we all had a great time.

It was 107 degrees so we did a lot of hanging out at Auntie M's pool.

And we posed for many pictures with Cousin Izzy.

And did some more lounging in the pool!

And some experimenting with different floating devices in the pool.

And some playing with Mommy in the pool! We decided it was time for Kendall to get used to getting her head wet in the pool so I dunked her under real quick and she handled it like a pro. She was a little shocked at first but didn't cry at all and then smiled at me! I think it was much harder on me and after the first time, I couldn't bring myself to do that to her again ... or maybe I couldn't bring myself to do that to ME again!

My cousins Kevin and Candice brought their dogs, Shiraz and Stout over for dinner one night. I hadn't realized how much Kendall missed her dogs until I saw her face light up when she saw those dogs!

There were tons of toys to play with and this cloth piano-like noise-maker was a definite fave.

And we finally got a really cute picture of Kendall and Izzy together! But why does it look like my 7 month old baby is bigger than 2.5 year old Izzy??

Kendall did well on both flights (including the one where I had to practically throw her at the flight attendant to use the barf bag). She no longer feels that it is proper to sleep in public places, however, and it appears that this includes airplanes. She took very short catnaps on both flights and that was it. But she was quiet and playful on both flights!

The only major excitement was when I came within centimeters of stepping on a snake that slithered past my right foot on the front porch. When I heard my mother shrieking "SNAKE!" I think I levitated into the air and saw the thing almost touch my foot. I am not a fan of snakes but this one apparently was a king snake and those are "good" snakes. Uh huh.

Thanks so much to Auntie M and G'uncle Hugh (and their resident snakes) for hosting us!

The Consonant Fairy

I think the "Consonant Fairy" visited Kendall sometime during the night of July 23th/morning of July 24th because Kendall woke up on Friday the 24th fully able to babble using consonants! And not just a few letters, but the vast majority of consonants in the english alphabet. In one short hour, I heard her say ba-ba, ma-ma, da-da, bo-bo, ga-go, ba-ga, na-na, ta-ma, ka-ba, and ba-na. I'm also fairly certain I heard her say o-ba-ma, the repetition of which endangers her of being disowned by her father. It really is scary how she seems to be literally developing from a baby into a little person overnight!

Solid Food Update

Kendall has now sampled a nice assorted array of solid foods - all lovingly home-prepared by yours truly. Now that I'm not working, I am spending more time in the kitchen. Yes, this is scary to me too. But there has only been one fire (and it was minor and the pan was salvageable) and I've only melted one spatula (and it was old anyway.) Fortunately, baby food is relatively easy to make. I'm also developing quite the fascination with our food processor, which, by the way, I had NO idea even existed in our kitchen prior to my decision to become the next Chef Ramsey of baby food!

Here is a list of foods she has now successfully eaten:

1. Cereal - both rice and oatmeal (these came from a box so I guess ALL of her food has not been home cooked)

2. Peas - she loves peas, which does not surprise me given the fact that in my early pregnancy days, I downed at least one can of LeSeurs early peas a day. (can't stand them now!)

3. Green beans - loves these too for some sick reason.

4. Sweet potatoes - definitely a fan of the sweet potato.

5. Yellow squash - this is by far her favorite dish so far ... weird kid.

6. Avacado - she liked avacado, but was getting a slight rash on her face from where they made contact with her skin so we'll wait a while before trying them again.

7. Carrots - sadly, she does not seem to be a fan of carrots (and I can't say I blame her). I guess she's genetically predestined to have bad eyesight anyway so I'm not gonna push them. I do have a ridiculous amount of frozen babyfood carrot cubes in my freezer if anyone wants any!

Today we started our 3 day trial of Butternut Squash. She inhaled it. I'm starting to feel horribly guilty that the poor little thing thinks that squash is the most delicious food out there so next week it's on to fruit. I'm making her applesauce, apricots and pears today to add to the freezer that is rapidly being taken over by frozen babyfood. I'm sure she'll like fruit since it was another thing I craved while pregnant. I have never been a fruit fan (and much prefer french fries) so that fruit thing had to have been her idea!

Houseful of WINOS!

I promise she's not actually getting any wine. But BOY does she want some! Please don't call CPS on me!

.... or PETA!

Bathtime Fun!

As bathtime becomes more and more necessary around here (cereal is sticky and vegetables are colorful), it's a happy thing that bathtime is also becoming more and more fun!  Kendall's tub is a dual-sided tub.  One side is for infants and the other side is for toddlers (it's called the Primo Eurobath and it really is pretty cool.)  So, after she patiently lays in the infant side, allowing her lucky parents to get the remains of her meals out of the many cracks and crevices on her person, Kendall now gets to sit on the toddler side of her tub (with assistance) and play with her bath toys.  She has an absolute blast in the tub every night now!  And yes, I swore I was not going to put naked pictures of my child on the internet, but I also said she wasn't going to wear pink or watch television (as I type this post, Kendall is sitting in her jumperoo next to me wearing a pink dress and staring at the television).  As my cousin, Stacy, would say, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen!"  I'm pretty sure there are those even mightier than myself who have previously gone splat!  

  

I guess she figured since she didn't get duck for dinner, she'd have it as a bathtime snack!

.... or perhaps some softshell crab ...

Since bathtime now takes twice as long, both Chris and I have found ourselves wishing for younger knees and backs.  But this cuteness is totally worth the aches and pains!  

SIX MONTH DOCTOR VISIT

Exactly how old does Kendall have to be before her mother stops crying when she gets shots???  Jeez, it's awful!  Other than the shots, all went well and Kendall is perfectly healthy.  Here are her 6 month stats:

Weight:  18 pounds, 12 ounces (95th percentile).  She has very nearly tripled her birthweight and we are contemplating changing her name to "Clifford."

Height:  27.75 inches (greater than 95th percentile) ... not sure where the height comes from?

Head circumference:  17.25 (88th percentile).  Still flat, but getting better slowly.  

Happy 1/2 Birthday to my sweet Monkey!