Another milestone

NO, much to my simultaneous relief and dismay--who knew one could feel those simultaneously?--Sara is not crawling. She is very, very close to crawling and will even crawl a step or two before doing a unique pirouette or sitting on her bottom. That is as far as she has taken it, though. I keep expecting her to take off any day, but it hasn't happened yet.

What HAS happened, though? Baby Girl has not one but TWO teeth that have broken through on the bottom! They're still almost impossible to see to the naked eye, but they are quite easily felt. Yep, my little toothless wonder will not be toothless much longer! As soon as they sprout enough to show on camera, I'll be sure to post a picture.

Family Vacation

We just got back from our last big trailer trip of the summer! We spent five days up in Shaver Lake (Sierra Nevada mountains) with my entire family plus a couple of Alex's friends and their families. What a wonderful time was had by all! Sara loved all the attention from her family, and Larry and I enjoyed the extra pairs of hands! The scenery, weather, and water were all lovely.

We rented a boat for the weekend and enjoyed going to different inlets to lounge in the water, fish (but not catch), and explore. I have been to Shaver Lake many times in my life, but I never tire of it. It's just so beautiful, and the weather cannot be beat!

Precious photos

As I mentioned in my previous post, all of my siblings are in town right now with their spouses and children. Since Susanne lives overseas, that doesn't happen very often. As best I recall, we were all last together in 2002 for my parents' fortieth wedding anniversary.

We decided it would be a good idea to hire a photographer to come out and take some pictures of the family and kids together, and I am so glad we did! Not all the pictures are in yet, but look at how great these turned out! Click on the image to get a closer look at how wonderful it is!

All the cousins together:


The whole family:


My sweet Sara Jo:


I highly recommend Janean's Giggle Moon Photography! :)

A milestone

On Thursday I laid Sara down on the floor in our bedroom and walked out to go get the laundry. I walked back in and...she was sitting up! That's right! Baby Girl has learned to get into sitting position on her own! So exciting! Last night she sat up in her crib for the first time and was trying to pull herself up. I'm sure it's just a matter of days before she succeeds.

In other news, Susi and family are here from Germany right now. All of the cousins have been loving the chance to play together, and my parents love having all their (albeit grown) kids together. I will post some pictures soon.

Well baby appointment and adorable pics!

Sara had her nine-month well baby checkup on Wednesday. Our little crumbcake is weighing in at 20 pounds, 4 ounces (75th percentile) and is 28 inches long (65th percentile). Her head continues to outperform her body. I don't recall the measurement, but the doctor told us it was in the "90-plus" percentile. Thanks, Larry Jr. and Larry Sr.! The doctor says she looks good!

On Monday I took Sara to get nine-month portraits taken. We had received a beautiful dress from Melody, one of Larry's mom's cousins, and it just had to get captured in pictures. I also wanted to get some shots for my mom for her upcoming birthday.

Nine months old

Our sweet Sara Jo is now nine whole months old. We know the day is coming when she will toddle around and perhaps not be quite as accommodating as she is right now. She is on the verge of so many new skills: crawling is on its way, pulling to standing is coming, and teeth presumably will be coming sometime soon, too! In the meantime, we are savoring every quickly-passing moment!

Baby Girl is so much fun! She loves to clap her hands, grab and chew anything in sight, and "talk" up a storm. "Mama" and "Dada" are her favorite sounds to babble, which pleases us to no end. She is starting to wave hello and goodbye with some coaxing, and she manages to crawl/creep backwards but not quite forwards. While sitting up, she'll turn herself around to face whichever direction gives her the best view of what's going on around her. Yep, our little girl is very, very nosy! She can often be seen craning her neck to check out whatever it is that grabs her interest. She also loves to stand, but she doesn't pull herself up yet.

She's also starting to show a bit more spunk. Sara is still as sweet as can be, but if I take away that envelope/magazine/tax document she's trying to chew (gum would be more accurate, I guess), she might actually let out a bit of a protest cry before turning her curiosity elsewhere. And our sweetie seems to love sweet foods best of all. It's a breeze to get her to eat fruits at breakfast; meat and veggies are a bit more challenging. She doesn't complain; she just won't open up if she doesn't want it! All in all, she's just a mellow, pleasant little girl--very easygoing. We're enjoying this nice calm before the teething/mobility storm!

Here are this month's pictures of our little mellow, toothless wonder!