Cousins

While we were in Utah, Addi got to meet her twin cousins, Bella & Abby, who are just 2 months older than her. I had the brilliant idea of trying to take some pictures of the three of them together. I probably took 200 pictures...and you can imagine how many of them turned out =). It was so fun, though, to have them all together. Love these cute girls!

Here are some of my favorite shots:

Cute sisters.

Bib Hater

This girl refuses to keep her bib on during mealtime. To be honest, it drives me absolutely bonkers, but I can't help but laugh at this clip of her. Can you see the demonstration of sheer strength as she looks me in the eye and grabs that bib so hard her body is shaking?

Bib hater from Rebekah Byron on Vimeo.

Let's just say that she didn't stop at the bib. She was pretty determined that shirt was coming off too.

Butterflies

So a month before we went on our vacation in July (I will slowly catch up on this blogging business), we visited the Brazilian Butterfly Exhibit at the Krohn Conservatory. It was fantastic. Those butterflies were beautiful. Their colors were so vibrant and bold and they were most definitely not afraid of coming close.

Chad with the cactuses...cacti?...cactus'?

Some lady's tushie...like I said, these butterflies were not shy

Another lady's head

Addi was....a little less than impressed

Do you see it?

Love those feetsies

And then she finally decided she was interested. She was going for it in this picture.

She mostly loved to feel the leaves

Cheese!

After the exhibit, we took a little walk in the park that overlooks the Ohio River. It was such a fun day!

8 months

Standing!

You were quite sick during this little shoot, so the smiles are lacking...but I love this little subdued face.

Crawling soon?

8/8/2011

Bug,

You seem like a big kid to me all of a sudden. Where did my baby go?

8 month shenanigans:

You have completely mastered the pincer grasp. It was funny because we were sitting around the dinner table at Grandma and Grandpa J’s house just watching you eat (because is there anything more fun than watching a baby eat?), when you picked up a piece of food off of your tray, but couldn’t get it to your mouth. You’d been doing this for a while, picking food off your tray but not really quite sure how to get that piece of food to your mouth. Your dad and I said something to everyone about how you hadn’t quite mastered that trick yet, when you took that piece of food and shoved it right in your mouth. You showed us! You definitely do things on your own time table, and you’re not going to let anyone tell you otherwise. I kind of love this trait that is developing in you. I’m sure there will be a day when it drives me crazy, but for now it’s nice to know you have such a strong personality.

The beginning of your 8th month was spent in California/Utah on your first vacation ever. You did great meeting all your cousins and aunts and uncles, and though it took you a little bit to warm up, you did so just fine. Your mama was worried with a capital “w” about you not warming up to family, but like we learned on this trip, your mama worries too much. =) We got some great pictures on this trip, you with your cousins, you with your grandmas and grandpas, and one of my favorites, you with your Grandma Great. I’m so glad you could meet this incredible lady. She’s the only great grandparent you have living, and what an example she is.

You turned into a foodie on this trip. You decided you weren’t really that much into baby food, and you wanted whatever mama and dada were eating. You love it. For a while there, with every bite you took, you’d make a “yum” sound. It was adorable. At every meal we have to share whatever we’re having with you. I’m actually super grateful it worked out this way, because it has simplified eating for us. You eat when we eat, what we eat. Good work, Sweet Cheeks!

You started sleeping on your tummy more this month, and I think you’re napping better because of it. Your naps are now very predictable, 2 hours around 9:30, and 1 1/2 hours around 1:30. Your 5 o’clock nap is in the process of being phased out. Some evenings you take it, some you don’t. Your doctor said that by 9 months, most babies were done taking a third nap and that it’s normal, but I’m going to miss it for a while. It helped me to get dinner ready, and helped you be pleasant until bedtime. When you don’t have that nap, you tend to get a little grouchy.

You are making so many more sounds now (wawa, yaya, baba, mama, almost dada). I love it! You also do this little thing where you blow out these puffs of air. It’s so hard to describe, but I am determined to get it on video one of these days. It cracks us up.

Your personality is just so fun. You make a little scrunchy face and breathe really fast through your nose. You flail your arms when you’re really excited about something. You kick your legs so hard in the bathtub, I sometimes worry you’re going to fall over. I love how excited you get about things. I hope you’re always like this!

We love you mucho, baby girl!

Mama & Dada

This face melts my heart

Sleepy look, complete with the eye rub

The loot from our garden!