Bouncy Bouncy

What's with the bouncing?

Happy Girl

Mara got a package in the mail! A little green-shelled friend arrived to keep Mr. Blue Footed Booby Bird company.

Mara was so excited, she almost crawled away!

And she was so happy and talkative.

I tried to catch her laughing/talking but I got a lot of open mouth shots (see above.) But then I would get one!

There's nothing sweeter than her laughter, her garbled attempt at speech, her big baby smile and huge brown eyes. Sometimes she'll wave her whole arm at you:

And then give you the eyes that make Mommy/Daddy melt...

She's getting so big, so fast.

"Yes, I am, Mommy! Feed me more!"

Ugg.

Here are my favorites. Check out those chompers! I bought her a little toothbrush and toothpaste so I don't have to keep using a wash cloth. She loved the toothbrush and wanted to suck on it.

And isn't this sweet?

Mara Booty

You know you like it. You think it's cute. Just be glad you don't have to catch a wiff of what it produces now that she's pigging out on solid foods. Wowza.

What are you talking about, Mommy?

Mara was very talkative when we got home from daycare. She apparently spent the day rolling underneath all the cribs and one of the teachers thought she had somehow slipped out the door into the hallway when she wasn't looking b/c Mara was just gone! Yet, when the teacher peeked under the crib, Mara was under there having a grand old time.

You can see how strong she's getting. Zack said he's noticed a huge difference in the last week now that she's devouring her bottles and all that food during the day. Pears were a success yesterday and today (3 cubes+cereal in the AM, 4 cubes+cereal in the afternoon). Buuuuut, now I'm out of pears and will be pureeing the ripened peaches once I finish this post. I'll get better at figuring out how much fruit/veggies to buy. I had her try the carrots this evening and she didn't cry, but she only took a taste. Later I figured out she was squirming so much in the Bumbo seat because she had a nice squishy one in her pants.

I've lost my measuring cups to her whims.

But these smiles make it alllllll worth it.

(Oh, she's not wearing pants because I managed to get pureed carrots all over them...)

Motoring Mara and Nom Noms

Even though little Mara isn't crawling yet, she still gets around! You can put her down on the floor and before you know it, she's across the room. This involves rolling, belly spinning/pirouettes, pushing backwards on the hardwood floors, and then crying for Mommy or Daddy to come rescue her from the hallway.

And she has been doing really great with solid foods! Peaches are her favorite... I was packing 2 icecubes of peaches for her at school... but when daycare said she was throwing a little fit about not eating what the other kids had later in the day... I needed to pack more! So I packed 2 cubes for morning, 2 cubes for afternoon. Um. Still not enough. So I packed 3 the next day... and they add cereal to the pureed peaches... and she still finished! So I sent some avacado for the afternoon - yeah NO! Didn't really like it. I still have some sitting in the freezer. I think I've just gotta let her taste it a few more times. So we went back to peaches at home and she devoured 4 cubes worth (and cereal).

 So I've got pureed pears and pureed steamed carrots in the freezer now. We tried the pears this morning (after I ran out of peaches) and she threw a fit - big fat tears running down her chubby little baby cheeks just wrenches my heartstrings. Daddy tried them again this afternoon, and she ate a few more bites and didn't scream. Progess! Since you're only supposed to introduce a new food every 3-4 days, I've got the carrots and sweet potatoes in the queue. I've done more "cooking" for Mara than I have for Zack. Sheesh.

Mara Tricycle

Hi you guys. I've had a busy Saturday. I sat in here while Mommy finished off the preparations for Steven and Liz's couple bridal/engagement shower. She decorated these:

The ribbon was so beautiful. I just watched and watched while Mommy cut and curled. Once we got to the shower, I got to visit with my favorite Uncle Ian.

And then I finally got to get a closer look at the pretty ribbon with Godfather Adam and Aunt Marianne.

I look so much better on this than the rest of the crowd, don't you think?

It's been a long time coming.

Here's a few pictures from the other week. Sorry it's taken so long! Here is the resident funny face:

I love her more every day.

Her smile makes me smile.

She makes me laugh!

I can't resist the tickle consequences.

My sweet love.

8 Months Old

I was only able to take a few shots... my camera was being tempermental... actually, so was my baby... but here are a few:

CHEESE!

Snuggling with Mommy.

Check out my teeth!

Serious cuteness.

The 8 Month card didn't last but a few seconds...

And was she ever happy about that!