Day 169: First Flight

 

Today Michal had her first plane ride as we made our way across the country to California, where we would visit with family and friends: mainly, Michal's grandma and aunts.  At National Airport, Michal was quite the trooper, hanging out patiently in her stroller as we dealt with a number of small hurdles in our day.  Luckily everything was straightened out without much difficulty, and we were on our way.

All pajama'd up, hanging out in the waiting area for our flight to be called.  Wherever we went, Michal was the ultimate social butterfly, smiling, waving, and, yes, calling out "hi."  In fact, I think planes are her new favorite thing - where else is she in close quarters with 200 or so brand new friends?  Since we were able to board first, she spent about 15 minutes, standing on my lap and holding on to the back of the seat in front of us, scoping out the other passengers as they board, smiling, waving, and calling out hi.  Luckily we did not encounter too many people who were immune to her charms.

All Ergo'd up and ready to fly.  All things considered, she did pretty well on her flights.  The first flight was half good - the poor thing just could not get tired enough to go to sleep - and the second flight was perfect.  


Now - on to vacation!

Day 168: Weirdo

 While I often describe Michal as brilliant, she can be a weirdo.  One example? For some reason, she is very foot-centric.  Not quite a foot fetish - that would be weird - but she is constantly exploring her world with her feet.  Changing her diaper?  As soon as she is on the changing pad, her feet and toes stretch out to see what they can find, inevitably kicking around the container of wipes I keep nearby.  Having a bottle before bed with Mom? Off go those toes, checking out my arm, reaching up to nudge my nose.  Going out for a meal?  Well, until today, it was mostly just turn around in the high chair, but tonight brought on a new act.  The foot popped up, her toes felt out the edge of the table, and she even practiced leg raises or something by grabbing her toes and stretch her leg out so it formed a V.  Weirdo.


To offset her weirdo status, here are some adorable pictures.

Day 167: Ten Months

Ten months.  Holy moly.  Pretty sure the past month flew by in a flash.  It has been a ton of fun, though, so I'm not complaining.  


A few things about Michal at 10 months:

Apparently it is genetic to find monkeys hilarious

Michal has yet to find a food she dislikes

She still occasionally rolls around, but she is slowly learning about forward motion

Holding on to our hands, Michal "walks."  She also loves to stand and cruise around her Zany Zoo.

She will go on waving streaks.  I had to tell the poor man sitting across from us at the doctor's office that he didn't have to keep waving back - she would continue to wave for 5 minutes straight.  I was hoping to save him.

Michal is days away from her first plane ride

Michal has been to six states and one district - this will change in a few days

Six teeth - maybe two more coming in

Michal is ticklish.  Until she decides she isn't.  Mean baby.

Michal has started to grab our hands to her face to cuddle.  Melts my heart.

She is brilliant.  Obviously.

A few pictures from today's hilarious photo shoot:

 Planning her escape

Caught in the act!

She was not being cooperative and would not smile at the camera, until I took the monkey and let him dance in front of me.  THAT was hilarious.

 Apparently he is quite the comedic monkey.

No - no more.  I can't take it!

Cuddles

Making a break for it

Can't get past Mama!

Day 166: Bamba and Pears

Dinner tonight was Bamba and pears - perhaps not the most well rounded dinner, but it worked for us.  She definitely seems to enjoy the Bamba, as you can see above.  The pears were also a big hit.

 Grabbing some yums.

 Licking her lips?  She looks thoughtful here.  Is she critiquing the taste?

 Taking a moment to wave to Daddy

Once she started to alternate between throwing a fit and blowing raspberries, it was time for bath and bedtime.  It's usually either that, or she starts to play with her food on her tray.  At least she's consistent! 

Day 165: Active Baby

We had a very active day today - lots of standing, "walking," bouncing, jumping, and so much more.  In between that and Michal wanting to be ON ME, it was a tiring day.  I also received a diagnosis of tennis elbow today and was told to not use my right arm at all (???), so that added a fun little kink to the plans.  I cannot complain, though - she is so much fun.  During one diaper change, she threw her pants to the ground - I took that as her telling me she wanted to go without.  Fine, no problem.  This is where cute diapers come in handy.

At one point I heard loud banging in the office - it turns out Michal was using her feet and my desk as a percussion instrument.   

Such a cutie pie, loving on Sophie.

Day 164: Snack Experiment

 New food today: kiwi.  Well, not entirely a new food - she's had a bite of kiwi fruit before, but it was a bite or two in the midst of an ocean of other fruit.  I was curious to see if she would really enjoy the taste.  So far she has reacted pretty calmly to any new food we have given her, so I was wondering if this would be the food that would break the streak.

 Hmmm... what have we here?

Tasty - a little sweet with some tang.

More please!

 Yay! Another successful snack experiment.

Day 163: Social Butterfly

*

 Such a fun Sunday today!  With two gatherings with friends scheduled, we took advantage of downtime at home.  In the morning I joined Michal in her morning nap, and in the afternoon we had lots of playtime - independent and with Daddy.  


First up was brunch with our friends Jess and Doug, with their eight month old daughter, E.  We hadn't seen E in a month or two, and boy has she grown!  It is so crazy how quickly they change.  We managed to fight off some late morning sleepiness and get a couple of cute pictures of the girls - it wasn't easy!

 Of course... the goofball is always ready to smile.

Later we joined friends from our synagogue for a picnic.  We indulged in some delicious food (I brought a watermelon tabbouleh salad - yum! - and white chocolate chip cookies), and the four kids, aged 7-20 months, hung out, blew raspberries, acted silly, and, of course.. played.

 She sure does love to swing!

These two pictures were taken by our friend Lauren - I'm suffering from camera envy!

* I cannot neglect to give Josh credit for the first photo - a great snap!