Swimming, eating, sleeping and being cute

Since I was so horrible about adding new pictures last month, I'm being extra good this month! Kailee and Jocelyn went swimming together for the first time last week - I don't know who loved it more! And we successfully kept Ellie out of the pool until they were done. She sure does love being a big sister, and Jocelyn absolutely adores her. No one can get her to smile as well as Kailee can.

When Jocelyn was about 3 months old I took a bunch of pictures of her just in her diaper so we could capture her cute rolls. I hadn't done that since, and thought it would be a good idea to do it the other night. Ha! It was way easier when she couldn't move! But I got some cutie pictures, and we had a ton of fun. She thought it was great to be able to roll around on the bed and have me chase her! She was so giggly and happy.

Now that she's pretty much mastered eating with her fingers, we decided we should probably start teaching her some manners - so we're starting with the utensil eating. :) She actually did okay - we have these little dipper things that they dip in the food but don't really get very much on it. It was funny and messy, if nothing else.

This is just a cute picture of her after waking up.

This is how she was sleeping the other night - how uncomfortable! She is always pressed up against the side of her crib or in the corner. I'd never seen her hold onto the side before though!

Finished Bathroom

Here are some pictures of our finished remodeled bathroom! It's been done for quite a few months, but my brother reminded me he hadn't seen the finished product yet, so here it is!

Visit with Uncle Brian & Aunt Katie

This past weekend my brother and his wife were in town for the week, so we came over to Mom and Dad's for a long weekend. It was so great to see them - I wish they lived closer. I guess I really didn't get that many good pictures, so I hope between their camera and Mom and Dad's there's some good ones.

They arrived very early on Saturday morning - they took the red eye from Seattle and got in to Minneapolis around 6:00. We just kinda hung out Saturday which was nice - we all did a water balloon toss which turned into a water fight. That evening we went to a birthday party for some friends of the family and had fun visiting with friends. Sunday we went to the Uptown art fair and checked out some art, then went to the St. Paul Saints game in the afternoon. We had family over for dinner Sunday evening and played some games outside. Monday we played tennis in the morning - I haven't played in such a long time! What a good workout. Then we went to the Como Zoo - Katie had never been to a zoo before, and thought it was pretty neat. The orangutans were putting on a great show. Tuesday we slept in, had a huge breakfast and played croquet (which I won - by a lot). We didn't want to come home - what a great vacation!

I love Grandpa!

I love Grandma! Look at all my teeth!

Looking at the bee.

She's discovered the bee decoration Mom has hanging in the window. She loves it! Every time we walked in the kitchen, she'd look at it, reach for it, laugh and wiggle with excitement.

Trying to stay cool at the Saints game

There's a butterfly exhibit at the zoo - one landed on Mom's back! It was a really cool exhibit - hundreds of butterflies all around you.

A close up of her friend

The only picture I have of Katie & Brian

Kailee wearing Jocelyn's hat

9 Months

Okay, okay - I know I've been super bad about keeping up with my blog posts lately, and I know how much some of you love looking at cute baby pictures. Sorry! I was told I had until this week to get some new pictures up, so here they are! :)

Well, my baby is now 9 months old, and she doesn't seem like much of a baby anymore. She knows what 'no' means, laughs after she toots, shows off her skills for people she doesn't know, and knows that we think things she does are funny, then proceeds to do them all the time!

She's got the crawling down, and goes especially fast when she sees paper, a dog toy or a dog (the poor dogs - they may spend her toddler years in hiding). How come they love the things they're not supposed to get into? She pulls up on everything, can move from the couch to the coffee table when she's standing, and just tonight started pulling up with just one hand. She also knows how to get back down - I think that only took a few times of getting stuck standing up. She just never stops moving!

She's started a little of the stranger anxiety, and has cried a few times when Calvin's dropped her off at day care. She likes to carry around a toy every day; not the same toy every day, but once she gets one in the morning, that's her favorite for the day. No more teeth yet, but she sure does chew and drool a lot still. She's saying ma-ma now (not to me, but at least I know she's capable of saying it). Still loves to eat, although green veggies are not her favorite anymore. Bummer. Ice cream, however, is quickly moving to the top of her list. If she sees us eating anything, she thinks she needs to try a bite. And she gets quite upset if you don't share.

We have her 9 month checkup on the 31st, with no shots this time! I'll be anxious to see how she's growing - she may be slimming down a little now that she's so active. She's still a chubber though! Enjoy the pictures - I was ready for a nap after taking them!

Here's the first one - a little fuzzy, but her best smile while looking at the camera

This is when it started going downhill - she got the giggles and just wanted to laugh and move!

All she wanted was the sign. I tried bribing her with sunglasses, but she didn't care.

I even tried other paper, but she didn't even care about that!

Laughing at Ellie

Such a goofball!

She just wanted to be done!

Other pictures from this month:

Getting ready to play in her pool for the first time. We had to put it in the front yard so Ellie wouldn't jump in! She really liked the pool and had so much fun.

She loves to splash, but doesn't quite get that it makes water get in your face!

Her favorite place to crawl to and sit - under the table!