Vacation, Food and Family

Obviously I have been MIA for awhile but I have an excellent excuse... we were on vacation! Yup, we went on our first family vacation. And it wasn't just an car ride away... we actually took Lea on her first plane ride to visit her Uncle Dave & Aunt Sarah in New Mexico. It was a great trip. Lea did fabulous on the plane (except for the very last flight; she cried quite a bit. I think her ears were bothering her).

Once in Albuquerque, Lea transitioned very well to the new surroundings, new people (and dog) and dry air. We spent a day shopping in Santa Fe with Aunt Sarah, a day at the Albuquerque Aquarium and Rio Grande Botanic Gardens with Uncle Dave, a (couple) days hanging out in Old Town, a day at the Rio Grande Zoo, a day driving up to Sandia Crest and then on the Turquoise Trail to Madrid...

We also ate lots of yummy food. Mexican food in New Mexico is SO much better than Mexican food here. Every time you order something, they ask "Red or Green?", meaning, red chille or green chille. I'm not a fan of really hot food, so I always opt for the green, which is usually less hot than the red, and I always ask for it on the side (even though the locals snicker at me). One of my favorite things to have are the sopaipillas... good ones are pipping hot, just out of the fryer and super fluffy with a nice big pocket of air in the middle so you can load it up with lots of honey! YUM!!

When we weren't spending time out around Albuquerque, we hung out at home with Dave & Sarah. It was so good to see them and Lea had a blast playing with them. She just lit up every evening when Dave got home from work. I can't wait for them to move back closer to us... hopefully by Thanksgiving this year. :)

Now were home and getting back into the daily grind. I just have to say that it was so nice to sleep in every day until Lea woke up... now were back to getting up before her every morning. Yuck!

Lea is a 8 1/2 months old and has so many new "tricks" these days. She has perfected cruising around the furniture and has even stood on her own, not holding a thing, for a second (a couple of times). She will be walking any day now! She talks a lot; "blah, blah, blah" and "buh, buh, buh" is what she says the most. The past week she has discovered that she can squeal... loud... and when she gets started, she squeals a lot. She's super ticklish; on her feet, under her arms, on her belly, in her neck. She loves balls and is learning to play catch... sort of. She has gotten very good at waving to people and waves to everyone. It's adorable because she flaps her entire arm when she waves! When she's excited, she breathes quickly through her mouth... almost like panting. She's still teething, chewing on anything she gets her hands on, but NO teeth, yet.

Her 9 month well check is next Friday so we'll get to find out what she weighs and how tall she is now. I am guessing she weighs quite a bit now as she really likes to eat these days. She loves steamed peas, sweet potatoes, peaches, apple sauce, avocado, banana, carrots, watermelon, pureed prunes and pears. I am still making all of her food (except when we were in NM... I bought Ella's Kitchen and Sprout organic baby food). Tonight she had steamed, shredded chicken for the first time and loved it. I used the Beaba Seasoning Ball to add some flavor: Rosemary, Thyme and Basil. Another thing she loves, which we just recently found, are Baby Mum Mum's. They're like rice cakes for babies.

My Grandmother (Lea's Great Grandma) is visiting. It's the first time she has been up since Lea was born. I love that we have four generations together in one place! It means a lot to me to have lots of family around for Lea. When I grew up, all of my family lived far away, but I have to say that my parents did make a great effort to get us together as often as possible.

Finally, here's a couple cute pictures from tonight. Another knew thing Lea has learned is "Give me a kiss". If you ask her to give you a kiss, she leans in with her mouth slightly open and lays one on ya! So cute!!!