Nesting

There's a tree just across the street from our house that every night fills with . . . well, Ask.com and Google tell me they are called Cattle Egrets.  So we'll go with that.  They are pretty white birds and they congregate nightly in this one tree.  They seem to ignore all the other trees.  It makes that one look pretty magnificent as the sun is setting. 

 

 

Conclusion:  It is easy to forget that what is familiar is often also spectacular.

Leather. Or Crystal. Or Glass.

Recently Wonderman and I celebrated our three-year anniversary.  It was a quiet celebration, but a wonderful day.  It is such a joy just to know what an awesome choice we made and how lucky we are to be here, together. 

The coolest thing about marrying your best friend (I know, blah, blah, blah - that's what all lame people who are "so in love" say about getting married, but hear me out) is that you really do get to spend a ton of time hanging out with the person you most want to hang out with - in the whole world.  That's pretty awesome.  Plus, when you're hanging out, you also get to make out whenever you want, which is also cool.

Conclusion:  Marriage rocks.

Neuf - [That's French for "Nine"]

That's right.  Ze bebe' is nine months old.  Intense, right?  She's getting so grown up.  For example:

Bean's basic stats are as follows:

• Weight: Heavy
• Length: Long
• Head circumference: Really?
• Percentiles:  Off the charts, I'm sure.

Can you tell we don't really go to the pediatrician here?  Meh.  She's fat and happy, so we don't worry about it.  She has one tooth that has broken through just barely, and one that will be this side of the gum-line any day now.  She is REALLY close to crawling and every day I think she's going to just start going for it, but she's still just a scooter.  However, she is an expert scooter and gets around quite well.  She often eats (nearly) man-sized portions, but is still nursing with regularity.  She is laughing harder and more often every day.  She is starting to assert some independence as she tries to get me to stop doing what she doesn't like (such as me trying to wash her arms during her bath.  She hates it.  Not sure why.  Probably because that means she can't grab stuff.).  She is very busy and is always exploring and reaching for everything she can.  In the bath (read: kitchen sink), she can pull herself up to a vertical kneel (which makes me quite nervous some days), but she still seems to have zero desire to pull herself up on her feet, or put her full weight on them.  Ever.  She babbles all day long.  She sleeps through the night, except for when she doesn't feel like it (teething has been a little tough).  She has some serious stranger anxiety and cries if someone new comes into our house and I'm not holding her.  She also cries (screams?) when anyone other than me or Wonderman holds her.  Still, in my arms she is quite the flirt and loves to interact with other people, especially other children (and especially when they should be being quiet during church.  Oops).

Oh, and here's a major milestone for this month:  She had her fist kiss!!!!!  Our friend's little boy was quite entranced with Bean and kissed her - twice! - one day when we were hanging out.  He kissed her cheek and her forehead.  It was sweet and adorable.  He's even an older man - two years old!  We're going to have to keep our eye on our little charmer. 

Conclusion:  We are blessed!

Counting Down

While we are very excited to get back to the states, and all that entails (TWENTY SIX DAYS!!!), there are some sad bits, too.  I am very excited to eat berries.  Berries of all kinds.  I really love berries.  I can't wait to introduce Bean to berries and berries to Bean.  However, it is more than a little sad that she is getting to love food like mango (and starfruit and pineapple and bananas [yes, they are better here]) so much, and realistically she may never again have the chance to eat so much (or such) delicious mango in her life. 

At least there will be berries.

Conclusion:  Everything is a trade-off.

Stuff I Forgot

It is protocol, isn't it, to list the adorable things a baby is doing currently, when posting about their birthdays?  And, alas, I did no such thing.  I will blame it on my fevered state.  I was today diagnosed with Strep throat, which makes me feel like a kid again, but last night I was just sitting on the couch with the thought "If I don't post about Bean's eight-month mark now, I never will."  So you got some pictures, but no info.  I know you are waiting on the edge of your seat, so here goes:

• Bean has a grand total of zero teeth so far.  
• She still sits up like awesome when I set her down, but has yet to get herself there (Although, the other day I saw her go down and then I looked over and she was back up, but she did have the help of a pillow behind her.  Still, I consider it a big step).
• She talks ALL THE TIME.  She says "Momma" and "Dadda" with regularity, but seems to have no comprehension what those sounds represent.  The talking gets especially interesting in church.  She has no concept of being reverent.  The other day she even started her high-pitched squealing when we started to sing the closing hymn.  Maybe she was just trying to participate.  I had a hard time not laughing.  Ok, so I broke down laughing, which is a big deal.  Singing is, like, my favorite part of church. 
• She is eating all kinds of solid food, and enjoying every minute of it.  She is particularly fond of bananas, honeydew, crackers, and prunes (!).  
• Her most recent milestone is that she now smiles and sometimes even laughs when I pull funny faces.  This is quite the boon, since that is one of my main modes of communication.
• She is not crawling, per se, but is definitely mobile.  She loves to get under things (things like beds and chairs), but can't always get back out.  She hits her head sometimes and then realizes she is stuck.  That is where the crying starts. She is starting to do the "lean-really-far-forward-until-her-tummy-is-on-the-floor" thing, which I hear is the precursor to crawling, so I think we're getting somewhere.
• Nothing gets her more excited than when Wonderman comes home.  Nothing.  It's awesome to watch.  It might make me a little jealous sometimes.  He says it will be the same if I ever leave, but since I have yet to leave her for more than twenty minutes at a time (to shower, and only that long on hair-washing days), I have yet to see it.
• She listens to stories very well.  For a little while.  She still tries to eat books sometimes too.  
• She has a finger puppet book (you know, with a finger puppet that pokes through every page?), which she loves.  She has recently figured out the finger part of the puppet.  Every time Wonderman reads it to her, she listens to the page being read, then turns the book over to see where his finger is going in the back and then she tries to put her finger in as well.  Adorable, I tell you.
• She weighs 19 pounds, and is carrying about 75% of that in her thighs - LOVE them!
• When she gets excited, or is happy for any reason, she flaps her arms with joy.  I think it's an almost-clap.  We'll see how long until she gets there.  We're working on the wave, but she has yet to give any indication that she has a desire at all to wave.  
• She has finally started to appreciate the noise-making component of the rattle I bought her when she was about two days old (I know, what was I doing at Target two days [maybe three] after giving birth?).  It still goes in her mouth sometimes, but more often than not she shakes it and smiles.  That's gratifying. 
• Her hair is getting long enough that it tufts out over her ears and makes her look a little bit rag-a-muffin-y.  The new length is also making her double cowlick on the back of her head extra adventure-y (read: ridiculous).

That's pretty much all I can think of right now.  Here's a cute picture of her, not taken exactly on her 8-month birthday, just because I know that will make the post that much more fun.

 Conclusion: I love this kid more every day.  That's 243 times a lot.

Acht

In German it sounds like a sneeze, which is appropriate for someone who sneezes as much as she does.  Bean is eight months old.  That means we've kept her alive for eight months.  I've been a momma for eight months.  We are officially closer to one year than zero years.  It is pretty awesome.

I know that the cute thing to do is to dress your baby up in an adorable outfit for their "birthday" photo shoot.  However, we don't really "do" clothes around here.  Meh.  She is adorable nonetheless.  Or maybe more. 

We tried to at least add a cute headband flower thing.

That didn't last very long.

Having a distraction helped with the headband-ing, but not the photo-ing.

Can you see her arms flapping with joy?  She is excited to be so grown up.

We also tried a faux-hawk.  It was pretty great, for the two minutes that it lasted.  This is also the necessary "picture by the same stuffed animal every month so you can see how big she really is" photo.

And this one is just cool perspective to show you how cool she is.  Obviously very cool.

Conclusion:  Being momma to this Bean is the coolest thing I've ever done, and I've done a lot of cool stuff.

The Hardy Boys Go To The Beach

A couple weeks ago, we got to go to one of the most beautiful beaches on the island with - get this - WONDERMAN.  It's true, things are a bit less insane once fourth semester is over.  We love that aspect of things.  LOVE it.

So, the beach is called Batibou Bay.  We quickly found ourselves looking forward to what sounded like the title of a Hardy Boys novel - The Mystery of the Baby at Batibou Bay.  It has a ring to it, eh?

Anyway, I'd heard it was amazing, but somehow never gotten to this particular beach.  Our friend, M, simply could not fathom how long we've been here without going.  It's hard to explain the logistics of working and then being pregnant and simple inertia culminating in me not going to all the lovely places there are to see here.  I am so grateful I got to come back and that Bean got to see it, too.

It is pretty stellar, as beaches go.

And surprisingly un-hot.  Maybe the copious shade is an indicator, but I was still surprised.

It really is the perfect beach.  Sun, shade, sand, enough waves to be fun, not so much that it's ever (well, while we were there, I'm sure it has its moments) scary.  We could've spent hours and hours more there than we did. 

Bean got some sweet Daddy Time:

And got sand in every crevice, not the least of which were fat rolls (delicious!):

She tried to eat a sandy leaf.  Wonderman tried to stop her:

And then I let her do whatever she wanted (I've tried to explain to Wonderman my philosophies on the importance of children being allowed to explore, and even eat dirt, but he's not buying it.  Still, I'm the one around and in charge most of the time, so eat dirt she will, if she pleases, and she certainly did please.):

She also got to eat some bananas.  We're still working on technique.

She took a nap on the beach.

We found a leaf the size of Bean.  Well, bigger than Bean, really.  BTB, if you want the official term.

All in all, it was a great family outing.

Conclusion:  Solving mysteries is rad.  All the cool kids are doing it.  The Hardy Boys are totally coming back.