8 months!

Erin will be 8 months old tomorrow! She is more and more fun each day and life just keeps getting easier for us. I hear that will change once she becomes mobile : ) Speaking of mobility, she is so close to crawling. She can get up on her hands and knees, but hasn't figured out what to do next. Watch out, Bella!

Other new tricks include switching to the bottle - she is doing great and is just about completely switched over. She's eating solid food like a champ and is very happy about it. She can also feed herself Cheerios now, too, which helps keep her occupied while Mommy and Daddy eat their dinner. She knows who Mommy and Daddy are and is getting really good at her fine motor skills. She still has lots to say. Sleeping is better, too - she sleeps about 10 hours, though sometimes that 10 hours is 7pm-5am. No complaints here...well, just a couple...but it is so much better than before! Naps are still only about 30 minutes, but in the past couple days, she has started going longer. I speculate that formula is keeping her more full (and our wallets empty).

We had fun this weekend in Concord playing with cousins and seeing everybody. We are excited about Uncle Dale and Aunt Maria's wedding in 3 weeks!

W&D

Gina has been asking for a long time for us to get a new washer and dryer - and we finally got around to getting a new set. We decided on a new Samsung set from Sears - I bought them yesterday at lunchtime, and they were delivered this morning at 8:45AM! Talk about turn-around time. We ran the first load of stuff through this morning (dog blankets, towels, etc) and it did a great job!

From erin michelle - 7 months

Pool and Romper

Erin tried out the big neighborhood pool yesterday. She wasn't super happy, but she didn't cry the whole time either. I think she'll do better next time!





Also, Grandma A. made her this adorable romper with cute duckies on it. Ansley has one too with red tulips. There are some cute baby girls (and big boys) in our family!

Landscaping

Today we finally decided to do something about the shrub situation in front of our house. We had too many bushes on one side, and we had removed one on the other side due to water damage. We had the brilliant idea to move the extra bushes over and replace the ugly ones. It was more work than getting new ones, but it was free!

Here are pictures of our work (and of our great helpers):

7 months and a week

Well, time got away from me last week when Erin turned 7 months old, so here's an update on her new tricks, a little late. She's so much fun now and has such a personality! We also think she is very smart, but we may be a little biased : )

- She sits up very steady, except when she's leaning over to grab a toy.
- She leans towards things she wants and reaches for them, so you have to be on the ball when you're holding her now! She wants to touch EVERYTHING.
- I witnessed her rolling from her tummy to her back yesterday, but she still hasn't done it in her crib.
- She is still full of "words" and talks up a storm.
- Her fine motor skills are very good - she can comb my hair with her fingers and pick up crumbs off her high chair tray and feed them to herself.
- She pushes off on her tummy so her arms are locked. She can get up on to her knees, but hasn't started moving...yet!
- Today she started imitating me, like touching the fuzzy things in her books after I did.
- She likes to hold things in her mouth like Bella does.

Those are the big highlights. She's sleeping great, about 9-10 hours straight, and naps are so much easier now. We are also working on getting her switched to formula. I was super excited when she drank a "mixed" bottle for me the first 2 nights, but last night I tried a 100% formula bottle and it was rejected. So I guess we'll need to gradually transition her. I can't blame her - formula smells yucky!