11 months / 8 months

I can't believe it's the weekend again already. This week flew by. Willow's had a pretty eventful week. She turned 11 months old on Tuesday, and 8 months corrected on Friday. She added "da" to her sounds and learned how to wave hello and good-bye. On Wednesday my mom stopped by after work and was completely surprised to see Willow, with Linda, waving to her as she came up the walk.



The spring-like weather has continued up here; in fact, as I write this, it is raining. In January. Yuck!! We've been able to bring Willow outside on more walks though.





















This morning we had our neighbors Antti, Anna and Maisa over for a bagel brunch. Maisa is 15 months old. It's fun when Willow can be around other babies. I think the socialization is important enough where it sort of cancels out any worry of germs. I also brought her to a La Leche League meeting a couple weeks ago. The women there were excited to finally meet Willow - I've always been the one odd woman who doesn't bring her child to the meeting.
















We use the teal-colored hospital-issue tubs for everything around here, including as a toy box. We sat Willow in one the other day and reminicsed about her first real bath in the NICU, which was in one of those tubs.

Grandma and Grandpa Jenson

It took me so long to post, the Jenson's visit was 2 weeks ago already. I still want to post a few photos from it, though. Grandma and Grandpa Jenson, Auntie Janna, and Josh's cousin Joe came up for a few days. Josh, Joe and I went up to Mount Bohemia. The conditions weren't great, but considering it was my first time riding since two winters ago, I was excited! The new boots worked great: it was only about 5 degrees that day, and my feet stayed warm. Grandma and Grandpa and Janna babysat. We practically had to beg them to do it but they finally agreed. ;)

Josh, Joe, Janna, Jack and I also got out snowshoeing while they were here, which was fun. After not really getting outside at all last winter, I think I appreciate getting out in the snow more than I used to! This weekend it was 40 degrees (!), and we brought Willow out cross country skiing again. It was really fun. We tried her on Josh's back instead of front for the first time. She must've liked it because she slept through most of the excursion.

On the Jenson's last night here, my parents came over for dinner. Here's a shot of Willow with her two grandpas:



















Here she is with auntie Janna:
























Somehow we didn't get any decent pictures of Willow with Grandma Jenson. We're bad about pictures when it matters, it seems.

Willow still isn't all that excited about eating baby food. So far we've had the most luck with sweet potatoes mixed with breast milk. We tried to give her an apple/pear puree which was really good (I tasted it). I thought it'd be a hit, but instead she gagged down 3 bites and then puked. I guess it'll come in time- we won't rush her. We did give her a teething biscuit today, which she seemed to like. We watched her closely since it's by far the most solid thing she's tried.
























Willow's "vocabulary" is increasing; she now also says ba-ba and wa-wa and ba-wa. Still no dada. I don't know if she knows what she's saying when she says mama, but it sure seems like it. She often says it when she sees me.

Willow and mama:
























Here's Willow napping in the babyhawk while Josh makes bagels:



















And a few more random pictures.

2010!

Happy New Year! Happy New Decade too. We were just talking about how at the end of this decade Willow will be 10. Hard to imagine!

Josh and I made a new-decade resolution that I'm excited about. We got a cool book for Christmas that lists 26 different hikes in the Keweenaw. Most of them are shorter, nice hikes to do with Willow. We've resolved to do every hike in the book by 2019. We'll start in the spring.

Willow had a doctor's appointment this week and she is up to 14 pounds, 9 ounces. In between the 5th and 10th percentile for a 7-month old.

Two days after Willow said poo poo on Christmas, she said mama. Too bad she didn't say it two days earlier! Oh well. Here's mama:




That's Josh's sister Janna holding Willow. Janna, Josh's parents, and cousin Joe came into town yesterday. I'll post those pics on the next post.

Last weekend, we brought Willow out (cross country) skiing for the first time. She had a great time! Look at that smile in this picture.





















She got an exersaucer for Christmas- the physical therapist said no more jumperoo. The exersaucer is OK as long as she is able to be flat-footed. Even on the lowest notch, she is not able to do that. In this photo we have a folded-up blankie under her feet which turned out to not be high enough. Now we use a big book.



















My last picture is my new prized possession: my new shower curtain. I know what you're thinking. A shower curtain is not blog-worthy and it should not be anyone's prized possession. But take a closer look. Our shower isn't a regular shower. Regular shower curtains don't fit on it. When we moved into this house, it came with a custom-made shower curtain. I think the woman who lived here before was crafty. So anyway, we'd been using that shower curtain for years now. Shower curtains aren't meant to be used for years. It was so disgusting. My mom made me this one for Christmas. She's got mad skills. It required a sewing machine and a grommet-maker! Plus, it is made of a non-PVC material so no more toxic chemicals will be leaching into our air! So, thanks mom! I wanted to publicly recognize her because this project took her an entire day. :)