Adah Turns Eight Months Old

This last month has been quite busy for us all. Since we last wrote, we have crossed the country from Berkeley, California to our new home in Atlanta, Georgia with stops along the way in Houston and Michigan. We are now at our home in Atlanta. Chris starts work at Georgia Tech on July 1 and we all will begin this next chapter in our lives.

Adah has been the busiest of all. With new surroundings to explore at each stop along the way of our journey, she found much encouragement to increase her mobility. In two weeks time, she went from only sitting up unassisted for moments at a time to pulling up to standing. She now confidently moves from laying on the floor to sitting up on her rear end, then lunges forward into a crawl to scramble across the room quickly (sometimes on her hands and knees and sometimes on her belly), to reaching for our hands so that she can stand up on her own two feet. She has also made a game out of crawling over Chris and I when we lay on the ground with her ... like climbing Mount Mama/Daddy. We've only been in our new apartment for a few days and we have already made a run to Target for plug covers and other baby-proofing supplies. This little one can move quickly and with great determination! Chris and I both wish she used a bit more caution in her movements. She has many more scrapes and bumps than before, but I guess that's just part of being a kid.

Adah also met some new best friends on the journey ... Grandma Hovey-Wright's dog Brett and Grandpa Chessman's dog Murphy. Upon entering the room, Adah would not take her eyes off those doggies! Both were tolerant of her "petting", poking, and prodding, but may be happy to have some time away from her.

Here is a brief look of our journey to Atlanta in pictures...

Chris & Adah on our last weekend in Berkeley
(standing at Sather Gate on campus)

Adah's first time in the pool
(at Jenny & Derek's in Houston)

Visiting Grandma Weiers in Ludington

Visiting Grandma Hovey-Wright in Muskegon

Visiting Grandpa Chessman in Muskegon

Here we go ... Atlanta or Bust!

Adah helping unpack

Adah Turns Seven Months Old

How can it possibly be that our daughter is 7 months old already!?!

This last month has been quite full of new activities (most of which I have already written about). Here are a few things I have not yet mentioned...

Food Exploration ... This month we have branched out to try several new "solid" foods. (I say "solid" because all are still pureed into a slightly runny state.) Luckily, there are very few foods Adah will not eat at this point. Anything orange (sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, peaches) are her favorites ... too bad for me that they also are the most likely to stain clothes. The only food she appears not to like are bananas. We will keep trying, but it's a non-starter at the moment.

Cutting Teeth ... Adah has a new tooth appearing on her bottom gum line. This is very exciting as it means more interesting foods are on the horizon, but boy is this tooth cutting process challenging! She has been on and off fussy for 2-3 weeks now!

Kisses ... I have been trying to teach Adah how to kiss as a new form of communication for her. After much trying, she is finally starting to get the hang of it. When she is in the mood (which is never as often as her parents wish), she opens her mouth sticks her tongue out a bit and then closes her lips down on your cheek. It's very sweet, albeit wet. We are still working on the closed mouth, puckered lip version.

Mobility ... I mentioned this one already, but it bears repeating. Adah can now army crawl and get herself wherever she wishes (if only her Mama would let her!). Anything up to two feet off the ground is fair game for mouthing, head bonking, or grabbing! This has quickly turned into a game for her. I am trying to teach her sign language for stop, but when I make the sign and say "stop" she simply pauses, looks at me with a big grin, and then continues on (as if to say, "come and get me Mama!"). Sadly, her joy for mobility has made cuddling in our arms less of a priority of late. Hopefully, she will be able to handle the 4 hour and 2.5 hour flights we need to get through in a few weeks (during which she is officially supposed to be on my lap).