A Winters Day

Today started off like a typical Sunday, as we headed to church. Little Bird was entertained by others and entertained them throughout sacrament meeting. Then she headed to the library to help Mom by attacking the paper and TV carts. She spent all of Sunday School in there getting some energy out. In Relief Society she was nice and calm as she chowed down on some Joes Os and her bottle. Once home everyone enjoyed a nice nap before linner.

Lately we have been trying to find more food for Little Bird to eat, especially ones she can feed herself. Now that she has figured it out, she often doesn't want to eat what we feed her off the spoon. She wants foods she can eat independently. The other day she we tried cottage cheese and she seemed to like the flavor, although I think she wasn't so sure about the texture. Today for lunch we tried it again but she wouldn't let us get the spoon close. So eventually, we tried just putting a big curdy chunk on her tray to see what she could do with it. After avoiding it for a while in favor of the pancake pieces, she finally picked it up and gave it a try. Success. She then ate all the rest that way and while it was a lot messier, at least she ate it and seemed to enjoy it. (The second picture is of a new funny face she makes while eating now, she scrunches up her nose, squints her eyes, holds her arms out waving, and makes a funny happy noise.)

After dinner Little Bird seemed a little stir crazy, so we bundled her up, strapped her to Dad, and took her for a walk to look at the snow.

LB helped Mom play the piano (this picture is for you Grandma) and then it was bath time and bed time. It is  so nice to have relaxing days home together as a family.

Getting to Sleep

Ever since Little Bird has been sleeping unswaddled, we have had a video monitor so we can keep an eye on her. This has been especially helpful because our old wood floors are so squeaky that she would wake up from the noise if we checked on her.  It has been fun to watch the different positions she sleeps in, usually on her tummy. And with the video, we can take snapshots (not the best quality but fun to save for memories).

We usually put her down in her crib before she is asleep and this often means she spends 10-15 minutes cavorting around her crib before she actually goes to sleep. So one day, when I put her down for a nap, I decided to watch her and take a picture every  15-30 seconds until she fell asleep. It is amazing how much she moves around. A couple times, I thought she was about to fall asleep because she would stop moving, but then she would be up on the move again. Such a funny girl.

Window Watchers

Recently Little Bird discovered that she has a window in her room. Usually the shade is down but one day she crawled over a lifted it up to look outside. Now when she is airing out with diaper changes on the futon, she always crawls over to take a look. Sadie and Sylvester often like to join her to  see if there is anything interesting going on in the backyard.

Nine Months

Wow! These nine months have been busy. Little Bird continues to grow and be constantly on the move. This has necessitated some new arrangements around the house to keep her safe and enclosed.  Even with these she will push fences around and try to find a way through. She is a speedy crawler and loves to pull herself up on everything and then walk along the furniture.

Little Bird is very helpful in the library on Sundays, while Camberly is trying to help people get pictures, scriptures, copies, etc. It is well designed to be a paper feast for her. She just goes from one spot to the next pulling paper off the shelves, pushing it around the floor, and trying to eat it. LB also finds her way into small places--crawling under the quilt rack or an end table, trying to get behind Caleb when he is leaning against the couch. When she sees even a tiny opening in the fence, she makes a bee line for it, to try to squeeze out to freedom.

Little Bird has figured out how much fun it is to try to feed Sadie and Sylvester when she is supposed to be eating. She sticks her hand down so they can lick it off. She lets them eat her puffs out of her hands. And now Sylvester has started jumping up to check out what is on her tray. The dogs are a big distraction. Little Bird is also starting to enjoy drinking out of her sippy cups, although half the time it seems she is trying to eat the cup itself.

Lately Little Bird has been experimenting with standing up without support. She will pull herself up and then let go, balance for a couple seconds and then boom back down onto her bum.  Slowly she is lasting longer and longer. 

LB had her first hands on experience with snow. We brought a little inside to let her play with it a little. Not sure she really liked it much.

Recently she started sticking her tongue out to  the side. It looks so cute and funny.

LB's favorite things to chew on are straps and trying to eat electronics (phones, remotes, etc.) 

Bath time is still a favorite. When we head upstairs and turn on the water, she starts squealing and waving her arms, so excited. Frequently her washcloth ends up in her mouth to suck on while she plays with other toys.

Little Bird loves her daddy. He lets her chew on the zippers of his coat and watch him as he plays games on his phone. 

Lastly, LB got her new big car seat  It is nice because although she is still rear facing (and will be forever) she sits more upright and higher, so she can see out of the window better. 

This little girl is such a happy thing. She keeps us busy and on our toes.

Zoobilee Zoo

Saturday the weather was amazing for mid January, in the high 50's. So, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to go try out our new zoo membership.

I am not sure how many of the animals Little Bird actually paid attention to. But she sure like looking around at all the people.

 
 We got to see the two rhinos playing/fighting. The kept banging their horns together and then causing each other to backup. LB was interested in that because they were moving around so much. She also like watching one of the wolves that kept running laps around its enclosure.

We saw someone we know from church who works there with the animals--feeding the seals and the hyena, Leo. The male lion carried a big five gallon bucket up to the top of the rocks to play with until it rolled off (it kind of reminded me of what Sadie does). The elephant kept trying to open the closed door--it must have known it was about closing time.

We definitely enjoyed our mid-winter warm up and look forward to more trips to the zoo. I think Little Bird will have a lot of fun there as she gets older.

Happy New Year

 Happy New Year!

Last night we enjoyed the traditional Marcell Surf and Turf New Years Eve feast--lobster, shrimp, crab legs, T-bones, filets, baked potatoes, and salad (I am not sure anyone ate any of the salad). Camberly was glad to have it at someone else's house this year to avoid the Old Bay seasoning pervading the house.

While the adults feasted, the kids watched Robin Hood. One was brave and tried a nibble of crab and a bite of steak. After the feast we headed home to get the tired Little Bird to bed. Caleb stayed up late playing computer games and Camberly fell asleep by 10:30 (Little Bird doesn't know she needs to sleep in on New Years Day).