News from the Forest

Moomers has really packed in the milestones in the past few weeks.

We didn’t know how good we had it.  Moomers was sleeping an easy 6-7 hours a night straight. Suddenly, around the middle of September Moomers decided to wake every hour between 10 PM and 3 AM then wake again around 5 AM.  We couldn’t figure out what had happened.  Then these showed up:

Yup. Both of her bottom teeth are coming in at the same time. 

A few weeks afterwards, we had Moomer’s 6th month appointment.  Everything checked out great, and as usual Moomers started to fuss as soon as her bare bottom touched the crinkly exam table paper.  Through the din, the doctor gave her the green light on solids.

Doesn’t she look oh, so happy about this turn of events? 

 A few weeks ago we found that Moomers could sit up on soft surfaces.  We couldn't call it un-supported sitting though.  After a few moments she would lose her battle with gravity and slump-roll over.  Since then, we'd say that  Moomers has honed her sitting skills pretty well.  She can't get herself into a sitting position, but when we set her up, she'll stay sitting for as long as she wants. 

The view is better from here. 

Moomers has been able to roll both back to front and front to back for a while now.  She has used that ability to move around independently and explore.  We got tired of pulling her out from almost-under the couch so we put a box under there to fill the void.  A few weeks ago  Moomers found that 'creeping' or worming along is a much more efficient mode of locomotion to get to those illicit object (like scraps of paper that Monkey and Dragon missed while cleaning).

Last week she surprised us with this pose.   

Uh-Oh

At the beginning of this month, we took a weekend trip to visit UT for my cousin's wedding.  This was Moomers’ first cross-country trip!
 
Despite Monkey's nightmare-inducing fears, Moomers did very well on the flights to and from UT.  She spent most of the trip sleeping.  When she was awake she spent it exploring her new surroundings and enjoying her uninterrupted time with mom and dad.
 
During the trip we were able to visit Provo, BYU, and the best part?  Lots of family!!
 
We arranged to stay in the same motel as family so we got to spend lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa C and Aunt Tiger, Uncle Egg, Auntie Snake, and Auntie Bo.  Moomers had lots of chances to smile, babble, roll, and play with them.  We even had a chance to let them see her swim a little in the motel pool. 
 
We were also very excited to visit with Uncle D, Aunt C, Cousin J and the new arrival, Cousin I!  Too bad Monkey forgot to bring out the camera to get a few photos (a common theme in the trip).  Monkey loves IHOP. Monkey loves IHOP with good friends and family even more!  We look forward to seeing Uncle D & his family soon!
 
It was also exciting to be able to introduce Moomers to her Grand Aunts and Grand Uncles, First Cousins Once Removed, and Second Cousins.  Monkey is among the youngest in her generation so it's amazing to realize there are so many children and babies in the next generation. 
 
Moomers has been showing some stranger anxiety lately so we were relived when she didn’t start crying hysterically when she woke up at the family barbecue to so many new faces.  She held out pretty well until the Wedding Dinner.  Moomers wore a fancy dress and shoes (a first!) for the occasion.  Unfortunately, it was the end of the trip and all the excitement was a little too much for the Moomers.  Dragon thinks that we may have instilled a fear of Chinese Restaurants in the Moomers.  I think she’ll be okay.  After a good night’s sleep she was back to her easy-going self.

All in all, the trip went well.  We’re glad to be home, but we miss our friends and family already!

Pictures from our trip?  Click here

August 14, 2009
Moomers is about 19 weeks old

That's some magic act Moomers.  Quick change indeed. 

The first time it happened I just thought, “Oh, Dragon moved the Moomers over”.  It happened a few times when I was alone and I just thought, “Huh.  I guess I didn’t put her in the middle of the blanket… for some reason I put her on the floor”. 

But today we’ve confirmed, I am not delirious from sleep deprivation.    Moomers has developed the skill of self-locomotion.  She can roll from back to front.  She can roll from front to back.  And , she can now combine these actions to move herself from point A to point B when the desire is strong enough. 

So far she has used it to grab a wayward toy or something else that is just out of arm’s reach.  If she’s ambitious, she can add a little wiggle and scoot to pivot while rolling to give herself a new view of the room.  She has done enough 3-point rolling turns to complete a circle and end up where she started.   

Monkey and Dragon are on notice.  Move your valuables.  It’s time to start baby-proofing.