Daddy's Little Girl

Todd loves hanging out with his little girl, but is usually the one taking the pictures. That makes it hard to get pictures of the two of them together. (I'm also not very good at taking the pictures, so they wind up blurry a lot. I think we need a new camera - or at least I do!) Here are some of them hanging out!

Weekend at the cabin

The three of us headed up to the cabin for a weekend getaway with Susan and Kevin. It was a lot of fun, as exhibited in this picture of Erin with her Aunt Susan.


We went to Itasca State Park, and it was Erin's first trip to the Headwaters of the Mississippi. Coincidentally, it was also Susan and Kevin's first trip up there as well. Kevin crossed the river at least three times! We had lunch at the new Visitor's Center, hit up World of Christmas for some shopping, as well as a round of mini golf. Even though he was carrying Erin in the Snugli, Todd still managed to win!




After all that, we were wiped out, and did what we do best....hung out on the couch! After a rest, we went out for Oktoberfest at a German Restaurant in Nevis. The food was pretty good and the entertainment was better! Whether it winds up being this year or next year, we look forward to our next trip up north!

We had a good night last night!

Erin only got up once for the first time in quite a while! We put her down at 8:15 and she put herself to sleep. She hasn't done that very often, mostly because she falls asleep while eating no matter how much we try to keep her awake (to eat more). She fussed a little bit, turning her head from side to side....almost like she was trying to get comfortable. It made me giggle a little. Todd thinks it's a fluke, but I'm hoping we've turned a corner. She also woke up about a minute before I was going to wake her up and start getting her ready for daycare. I'm just so excited that I needed to share!

Here's an unrelated picture, of Erin chewing on her rings....her favorite toy, by far!

Dinner time?

We bought Erin's high chair a few weeks ago, not knowing what the doctor would say at her four month appointment about starting solids. We're still waiting about another month, but I thought if she liked it, she could join us at the table for dinner. I put it together on a day I had off from work while Erin was playing. A few days later, I decided to try to put her in it and see how it went. I think she's just a little too small for it!

She didn't mind it too much, but was really unsure of what was going on! We still hope to be able to use it to faciliate dinner time for mom and dad.

4 months old

Erin's 4 month appointment was on Sept. 14th. We knew there'd be more shots, and just hoped she'd make it through that. Her weight was 12 lbs 11 oz, halfway between where Todd and I each thought she'd be. She's 24 1/4 inches tall. It was only 6 weeks from her last appointment, so it's not a bad gain on either score. She cried while getting the shots, but was fine afterwards. She's been a little bit more sleepy (slept 9-2:30, 2:50-7:15, and is napping again now at 10 am and has been since about 8:30), but fine other than that. Since she's been chewing on whatever she can get in her mouth and Todd felt something on her gum, we asked the doctor to check. Her bottom two teeth are definitely on their way in!

We'll be waiting to start on solids until 5 1/2 months. Her doctor wants us to have two weeks of cereal behind us when we come in for her 6 month appointment. I'm excited to start food, but I want her to stay a little baby, too!

Erin is rolling over really well, and is starting to figure out that she can get places by rolling. She's trying to do an army crawl, but hasn't quite figured out that she needs to move her arms. We'll probably try working on sitting with her, so that we can put her in her high chair to sit with us at dinner.

We'll be starting the ongoing process of baby proofing soon, as we think she'll probably be crawling by six months! Where did our teeny baby go?

Labor Day at the cabin

We spent the long holiday weekend up at the family cabin in Park Rapids. Erin didn't sleep too well because of adjusting to being somewhere new, and didn't travel nearly as well as she has in the past. (She's started taking a strong dislike to her car seat.) But, we hung out on the deck, took naps on the couch and just walked around the resort. It was fun!

Play time

We've been trying to get Erin lots of exercise and play time to strengthen her muscles as well as stimulating her mind. We got a great deal on an exersaucer at a garage sale (only $5!), and we've just recently started putting Erin in it. She mostly likes to suck/chew on the fabric, but she's also fascinated by all the different things that make noise.





Erin also enjoys spending time in her bumbo seat, and it helps with her head control. We really like the bumbo seat as a way for Erin to get a different perspective on the world. We actually got two as gifts from two different people! I'd say that's a recommendation!







We've also been reading to Erin whenever she'll let us sit still long enough to read a book! She likes to be walked so much that sometimes it's hard. She's recently started being really interested in the pictures in books, which makes it even more fun for us to read to her.