The eighth month...

August flew, plain and simple. Jam packed, full of travels and visits and fun and work and... teeth.

The three of us took a long weekend in San Francisco August 8-10, coinciding with the SF International Gift Fair. Business is always a good reason to travel, and why not make it a family affair! We had a fantastic time exploring the city, eating scrumptious food (read: foie gras sushi that was to DIE for, our first experience with In-n-Out Burger, and casual tasties from Taylor's Automatic Refresher). I think Naomi was hungry to enjoy the grastronomical side of San Fran, too, as that is where she cut her first tooth! For the record, that was August 10th, and it was the bottom-middle-left.

The bottom-middle-right came on August 18.

Another big event happened the beginning of August. Naomi met her maternal grandma! My mom came out for a visit and got to spend some long overdue time with Naomi. During her visit we took a trip out to the the beautiful San Juan islands and spent the day at Friday Harbor. It was here that Grandma picked up this sweet hat, perfect to keep our little nymph warm all winter!


Naomi also got to meet some of her island O'hana! We were able to catch up with our friend Tamar (in San Francisco) and Tamar's mom, Judy (on a trip to Tacoma). Tamar and Judy are also Aunty and Granny to Naomi's far-away friend Kilinoe, and Sister and Mom to MY faraway friend Tina.*

Our friends Scott and Jarvalen, and their little one, Brennan, were also in town for a wedding in August and made some time to stop by for lunch and a playdate!


August is also a lovely time in Tacoma - the weather is perfect (but a bit hot this year), the days are long (daylight 'til 10pm!) and the vibe is just relaxed and fun. One of my favorite things about summer is being able to walk down the street to the farmer's market. On one particular trip we were able to spend time with my friend Jennifer and her kids, Opal (3) and Ellis (newborn). Opal is the cutest - she just LOVES Naomi, and Naomi just loves to watch Opal do her thing and learn how big girls play. This particular photo amuses me, though, so I thought I would share! (Note the sign in the background and Naomi illustrating the point...)


Mid August also marked Naomi's first National Park visit. Mount Rainier towered over us in all it's glory. Just stunning...


I told you August was busy. There was also probably a barbeque somewhere in there, a few trips up to Lake Stevens to visit Aunty Em and Uncle Chad, a heat wave... we'll be looking forward to a slower, cooler fall.

*HEY TINA - don't you think it's time for you and Kili to take a trip up North to finally meet Naomi?

I'm freaked out by this.

Yoga is part of my life, and I can't wait to introduce Naomi to Yoga one day... but absolutely not like this.

7 months

Naomi's July was a busy one! The two biggest developments were a) sitting on her own (even in a grocery cart!), and b) the extent to which she is babbling now.

It is clear that we have a chatter on our hands. She is an expert in B's, M's, and D's (think in a string of "mamamama babababababa dadadadadadadada" followed by a squeal or making a raspberry sound with her lips. It is particularly cute, I must say, when she is moving her lips, practicing how to form her mouth for a particular sound, but not making any. Then, a minute later, she will give us a confident BABABABABA if that is the sound we asked for. Having an exchange with Naomi is lovely.

Even better is that it is clear now that she is understanding more and more of what we say. Among her favorite phrases to hear are "Jersey Puppy" "Who's that pretty baby" (when looking in the mirror), and "You want some num-nums?" (Num-nums being food).

Naomi also has favorite songs. She has for a while, but a particular few calm her down when needed. First best is Apples and Bananas. Runner up is Itsy Bitsy Spider. We do a lot of singing in the car these days...



The biggest event in July, of course, was the visit of Grandma (Jim's mom) and 12 year old cousin Trellany! Making the trip from Alabama to visit Naomi for the first time, Rhonda and Trellany were able to spend 10 days with us. Most of it was spent relaxing and allowing our visitors time to spend with Naomi. We did take a trip to Snoqualmie Falls on one day, caught a Mariner's game on another - always a favorite thing to do in Seattle! - and even walked in the CCFA 5k! Come back and visit again soon!

Naomi & Trellany at Qwest Field

Grandma & Trellany at Snoqualmie Falls

The CCFA 5k (Bree & Metztli joined us, too!)

Happy 4th of July!

They could have pared this down to Animal, Beaker, and Chef and I would have been just as thrilled to find this today! Those three are my all-time faves....

Have a fun and safe holiday!

6 months old!

Today marks Naomi's half birthday. Man, this goes quick! What is Naomi up to these days?

Naomi now sits on her own unassisted. I love that! She is just looking like such a big girl now.

She still plays with everything with her feet, like a little monkey. It's pretty hysterical, actually. I'm not sure I've ever seen another baby handle things with their feet the way Naomi does. It is almost as much as she uses her hands!

While rolling from back to front is her favorite past time, she is still refusing to go form belly to back. She knows how. She has done it, but we think she is just lazy. She would prefer to whine until one of us flips her over. We figure this can't last forever. Come her crawling which is sure to be just around the corner seeing how she handles herself from the sit position, she's going to have get over it and do it eventually.

She does squirm and get whatever she wants to get wherever it happens to be. It is not uncommon now for me to turn around for two minutes and she is in the complete opposite direction from where I left her. She also wakes up from her naps sideways in her bed and has taken to sleeping on her side lately. I am grateful for this because it is allowing the hair on the back of her head to grow in!

Solid foods. ACK! What a mess! so far her favorite is bananas mixed in oatmeal. I laugh because this is my father's favorite breakfast, too. Two peas in a pod, those two.

Still no teeth. I'm waiting for that terror. She is teething and everything she picks up goes directly into her mouth but I feel for teeth every day and nothing yet. She will occassionally wake up crying late at night because her gums hurt. I know they are coming in soon.

Naomi's current favorite toy is a Little Tikes piano Judy Hassing gave us a long time ago. She just loves to sit on the couch and bang on that thing. And she thinks it is hysterical when I try to sing the notes she plays. (Why does everyone laugh when I sing?)

In other friend-based news...

Naomi and her friend, Metztli had their first playdate recently! The girls are just SO cute together. Metztli is so gentle with Naomi, shares her toys, and even gives her sweet little besos! Ah! So much fun! It is also nice for me to be able to visit with Metztli's mama, Bree.

Metztli and Naomi

A new friend for Naomi has been born! Making his debut on June 21st was Eliot. A BOYFRIEND! He's pretty darn cute, too. We can't wait until Eliot is grown up a little bit and the kids can play together. Congratulations mama KC and daddy Jac!

Elllllliiiiooooot (*ET Voice)

There is another new friend on the way, too. We're not yet sure whether it will be a boy or a girl, but we do know that whatever it is, that baby is LATE! Good luck Jennifer and Kelly and big sister Opal!

Cute picture of KC (left) and Jennifer at Kc's baby shower! (Belly Buttons!)

And that's it, I think. It's been a really busy month for mommy with work so, again, apologies for my lack of posting. I'll keep trying to work on that!

The whining.

Please tell me this is a passing phase.

5 months old!

The amount that Naomi has changed in the last month is just incredible. I know I sound like typical first time parent, but this it is just stunning to watch day in and day out.

Naomi is now 15 1/2 pounds (according to our postal scale), and while I don't exactly how long she is, she must have just gone through a growth spurt. She is just looking really long all of a sudden.

Her feet are still her favorite toys, but a close second are her lips as she purses them, spits from them, and experiments will all sorts of new noises. Girl really likes to talk!

Also, if you haven't noticed, her hair is going super blond. I am still a little shocked at this. I thought for sure she was going to be a raven haired little girl. But, she is looking more like her daddy every day. I might be Maury Povich's first guest on for a MATERNITY test. Not sure where I fit into the equation. Did I really give birth to her? Did we mix her up at the hospital?

Let's see... what else:

• Elmo obsession in full swing. If Elmo comes on while she is eating. She will stop in her tracks and refuse her bottle.
• While she loves Elmo, Naomi has started to fuss and cry as soon as Mr. Noodle comes on. I always hated Mr. Noodle, too.
• Naomi's new favorite place to be is in the corner of the couch (or bassinet, or crib) - anywhere we can prop her up and let her sit on her own for a good while. She feels like a grown-up, I think.
• Naomi is an awesome sleeper, for the most part. We have had some rough nights but overall she is doing really well. I just love that she has gotten so good at self-soothing. She doesn't make a peep when I put her down for naps or for bedtime. She does still want a 4-5:00am bottle... hopefully I can break her of that once we start cereal (in a week or two!).

Naomi is the happiest baby. We are so lucky. She is just so easy! I know our next one is going to be a terror.... isn't that how it works??

As happy as she is, though, Naomi is a stubborn little girl. She does NOT like to be on her belly or roll over. She can do it. She just refuses. She is, however, ahead of the curve on sitting up. She is pretty good and getting more stable every day. I think she'll easily be able to really sit on her own by the end of this month. She can handle about 10 seconds at a time right now without losing balance, but like a good girl she puts her hands out for support.

I am really excited for the next few months. This is a huge milestone period for babies.... eating, sitting, crawling, maybe a first word... we'll keep you posted on progress!