Roll with it ...

One of the best parts about being a parent, is you see that no matter what you say/do, your poor, unsuspecting little one has to do it (well ... kind of).  We are in that blissful stage where she doesn't care what she wears or what we do on our day off - it's awesome.  She doesn't even care all that much anymore what she eats - as long as she eats! 

Dustin was getting her dressed the other morning and started to giggle - curious, I asked what was up and he came holding her wearing these --

SHOE-SOCKS!!  How cute are these??!  LOVE them.  Drea was all-about it too - she kept grabbing them, so it was really a win-win situation!

Last year, I found 2 swings for free near my office, so I nabbed them and gave one to my parents.  This past weekend, my Dad hung it up and we plopped the little munchkin in ... she was a fan, but the novelty wore off since she was "confined."

Hesitant, but cute :)

Last night, here & I had the night to ourselves while Dustin was at the Wild game.  I think she could sense my fear of running out of "entertaining things" to do, so she was pretty mellow and easy (whew)!!!  I did get a couple cute pictures while she was eating ...

I'm calling this first look - "Uh, I'm eating here"

But this second look ... this is just down-right ADORABLE!

Yep.  We had fun :)  But, I don't want to take all of the credit.  There are countless DVD cases that took quite a beating and I want  to make sure they get the credit they deserve.  Not to mention, a certain "unsung hero" in our house - Cati, our cat (don't mispronounce his name, he gets a little touchy since it's short for the motorcycle, "Ducati" and not the "girly-name" it looks like).

Talk about Rolling With It ... this guy just takes whatever Drea dishes out --

I've given up on trying to get a non-blurry picture of her when she's not confined

Notice how he's perfectly content while she likely has a chunk of his fur in her left hand?!  What a trooper.  He even chooses to lay by her when she's "free" ... 

Notice his head is dangerously close to her hand

He rests his head on her lap and she plucks his eyes, pull his whiskers and rips/pets his ears ... but it's really quite sweet, if you don't mind watching minor harm come to an innocent animal.  But hey - if he wants to hang out with her, I'm all for it - I'll take whatever help I can get to keep her happy!

We do have another cat, but he leaves the room - literally gets up (even if he's sleeping), and will leave the room if she enters it - so he's not pictured ... ever.

You see - it's all about teamwork.  The Lind family is a finely-tuned machine.  Everybody does their part ... unless you don't want to, and then, well, we drink so we don't notice the chaos.

Overnight

I've always heard that things "don't happen overnight" - imagine my surprise when Drea started crawling - clapping - and giving hugs & kisses OVERNIGHT (well, it was a couple different "overnights")!!  We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into with her!  Her little personality just shines now that she is mobile and is learning different ways to express herself!

This is from Daycare earlier this week ... she's still "leanin" - which I secretly hope never changes!  I mean, can you imagine running into her when she's 30 and with the excitement of seeing you, she leans?!?!  Hahaha :)

She is definitely all over the place now ... we put up the baby gate and had to go through the house to see it from "her view" too.  This past week, she's been perfecting her ability to pull herself up on things - which has resulted in quite a few falls!  But, she's one tough cookie, so there haven't been too many tears!

She's figuring out her words too - these are some that she recognizes pretty well --

Drea
hug
kiss
Daddy (Daddy-guy)
mama
Nana
Papa
Uncle Buddy
nummies
hi
bath
music

Everyday is something more and more ... and we're managing to keep up!  She's venturing out with her foods too!  I've started adding a wee bit of seasoning to her terribly bland veggies and she's loving it!  Yeah, I think we've got this parenting-thing down.  Except for the sleep part.  Is anyone in need of job?  Hours are 9pm-5am - qualifications: be awake. 

Peace out for now ... I'm going to try to sneak a nap - or drink coffee, since those are technically the same thing when you think about it!

Whoa Nelly

It's Friday - we're all looking forward to a relaxing weekend ESPECIALLY after last weekend!  That might be why it's taken me this long to post about it ... it was that big and I'm still getting over it.

Big Thing #1:  Drea started eating solid foods!  She loves cut up fruit cocktail & a couple flavors of toddler puffs - she "tolerated" green beans (even though she gagged dramatically with each bite).  By the time she was done eating on Saturday morning, she was covered in juice from the fruit pieces.  I mean covered - drying juice was crusting her eyebrows. 

So her & I headed in the shower for a rinse-off.  Just as I handed her out to Dustin, the shower got cold - ice cold.  Not a good sign.

We finished getting ready to head to the grocery store ... this was delayed by Big Thing #2 - when enticed with toys, Drea started crawling!!  She's got a bit of a hitch in her giddyup, but she scoots herself pretty good!  After we clapped & cheered her on, she got tired of it and wanted to stand.  So we stood her up by our big, padded ottoman and (brace yourself - Big Thing #3 coming) she took steps around the ottoman!!!  WHAAA???  Uh, sorry baby, but you're not supposed to do this yet.

By this time, the cold shower seemed like a distant memory ... but a memory nonetheless, so I headed downstairs to investigate (before Drea grabbed the car keys and took off!).  Sure enough, the pilot light in our water heater was out.  I bent down to read the instructions on how to re-light it and the first thing it said was to smell the floor near the water heater for gas - so I did.  Lo and behold - gas.  Awesome.  I called the gas company and they ever so carefully basically told me the house could blow and to evacuate immediately - without touching anything to ignite a spark!  So we did.  We loaded Drea up and drove around the neighborhood waiting for the service technician to arrive.  When he arrived, he took one look at the water heater and said, "I hate to break it to you - but you need a new water heater.  I have to tag this so nobody uses it."  Umm, wait - I would like to use it! 

Yep.  Zero hot water for 36 hours.  It was like camping ... in your house ... with electricity.  But $1200 later, we have a new, shiny water heater!  It is a thing of beauty. 

So this weekend, I would like to put in a request - more eating & crawling, a little bit more walking and LOTS of hot water!! 

Drea's World ... Day 270!

Whaddya know - we all made it to the 9-month mark!!  Happy 9th Month baby girl - I know you may not think so, but this is a pretty cool age!  Just think - you can sit on your own, but not quite crawl ... you can "sing" and talk at most decibel levels and we don't mind ... you always have the complete, 100% attention from anyone you would like ... and you still get your food mushed up! 

You, my dear, are living the dream! 

To top it all off - you do NOT have to get shots at your Doctor appointment today!  How do ya like them apples?! 

This morning, we hastily took your picture once you were all loaded up - I'm sure I'm sorry about that ... but you looked really cute on your 9-month Birthday Morning :)

I wanted to share a photo-story that pretty much sums up the evenings when we bring you home from daycare ... it is aptly titled,

"My Dad is More Fun than Your Dad"

My Dad lets me swipe at his chin - he is that fun!

My Dad lets me hold onto his lip to steady my balance when I watch cartoons - pretty fun guy!

My Dad lets me try to hold his eye and nose whenever I want to - he is so fun that he doesn't mind!

My Dad even lets me take a second look at his eyeball when he least expects it - how fun is that?!

Most of all ... my Dad always gives me kisses and makes me smile - even when I try to hold his mouth while he kisses me :)

I don't know sweetheart - I can't quite tell who is having more fun - you or Daddy?! 

What a ride these 9 months have been - Loves of my life.