Florida, Day 3

Our third day involved plenty of fun at the beach--


Then Ed and I went out to a lovely dinner to celebrate the 6th anniversary of our first date--


While we were out to dinner, Kim and Eric watched Matilda for us. She behaved terribly and probably pushed back the arrival of her Gustafson cousins by a couple years! To be fair, she cut a new tooth while we were there--we just didn't know it. Sorry guys! And thanks again!

Florida, Day 2

Like every day, Matilda enjoyed plenty of play time and snuggles with Aunt Kim and Uncle Eric.



At lunch she stole the lemon off our drinks and went to town. She actually liked it! So strange. But, then again, I ate TONS of lemons while I was pregnant, so go figure!


She loved playing in the sand in her little shorts with her pail and shovel.


But her favorite thing, by far, was swimming in the big pool with Daddy. My little water baby!

Our trip to FL, Day 1

We left for Naples SUPER early in the morning on Friday, but Matilda was so good on the plane--here she is on her first plane ride. Our flight left before 7.


When we arrived she was quite content to play in the hotel room with the new toys the Ritz gave her (including that little turtle she's chewing on) and look pretty in her summer clothes.


The weather was beautiful so we took a walk outside. I think she forgot that things get green outdoors!



Then, of course, we did our first walk on the beach. Matilda loves the sand.


And we ended our first day watching a beautiful sunset from our balcony.

Checking out the world

Cheese

and Cheerios

Spring is comming!

The weather was gorgeous on Friday so we went out for a 4 1/2 mile walk in the sun by the river. A nice time was had by all and Matilda got a chance to try out her shades before we go to Florida.

Hahahaha!

For some reason she figured out that fit right about the same time we started feeding her and now we can bet on it at nearly every meal. I'm sure she'll LOVE this post when she's older.

Happy in the sun

What does a Matilda eat?

Matilda is eating baby foods now! She has tried lots of fruits and veggies. She also eats Cheerios. Her favorites are cauliflower (seriously), sweet potato and Cheerios.
So far the only thing she doesn't like is carrots. Although she's not a huge fan of spinach, she will eat it. Carrots are a no-go right now. But we'll try again.
Next up: bananas, butternut squash, and pears!


I make her foods and freeze them in a silicone ice tray--I love the perfect 1 ounce cubes. These are her current foods, from left to right: cauliflower, blueberries, spinach, peas, mango, baked apple, sweet potato, carrots, and plums. She has also tried green beans, avocado, and prunes.



Green beans!

Right now she's eating breakfast, lunch and dinner. For each meal she eats 2 squares of food and as many Cheerios as she can get in on her own. Sometimes she gets a little bit of watered down juice. She's doing great and it gets less messy each week.

Entertain yourself

Matilda can entertain herself for a little while now. That's her playing with her baby, Casper. She likes to drag him around by the feet, claw at his eyes, bite his nose, and bang his head on the baseboards... you know, normal "mommy" stuff.

And here she is trying to figure out a pacifier that she never liked. It will be interesting to see what she chooses to play with once she can crawl and get to whatever toy she wants.

Sunday

We don't take family pictures very often, but we got a nice one on Sunday and I thought I'd share:


We had a busy family Sunday this week. We were the greeters at church--Matilda sure was a hit! And the youth group was holding it's silent auction and chili cook off/chili supper fund raiser afterwards.
Ed competed in the chili cook off with "The Devil's Ice Cream." He won "Most Creative Name" and got a chili book as a prize. We had a nice time mingling at the church supper and put in a few bids at the silent auction.
We won a date night--dinner at a Thai restaurant and tickets to a comedy club!
Hopefully we'll all get over these colds soon (although Ed seems to be feeling mostly better) and then we can go out!

Daddy is great

Well, we made it almost 8 months, but Matilda has her first cold. Luckily, Daddy can still make her giggle, she's recovering quickly and doesn't seem to have it as bad as Ed and I do.
I'm ready to go back to bed!

Flash Dance

I made Matilda some little baby leg warmers to wear around the house. Keeps her warm, gives her more freedom of movement and makes diaper changes so much easier!
She looks a little silly, but I think they're pretty cute for around the house, and using this inspiration to make my own from things I already had around the house (in under 10 minutes for 3 pairs) sure beats paying for these.
I'm really enjoying all my new projects! (yes, she's wearing another hand-made diaper in that picture, and a hand made pacifier clip!)
I recently checked out a book about knitting from the library, so we'll see how that goes... if I figure it out you can look forward to more "look what I made" posts on here.
I know, you can hardly wait, right?

Big Tub

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hard At Work In Grandpa's Office

"Let's look at that TPS report."

"I want THIS much of a raise Grandpa!"

Hard at work already!

Yummy!

As most of you know, we're not planning to start Matilda on baby food until March when she's 8 months old. But last weekend she needed help only prunes could give, so, she got some prunes. The mess was epic, and hilarious. Here's her first time:

Which would you choose?

I know that every parent thinks their baby is beautiful, but I'm pretty sure mine is and I've decided to enter her in a beautiful baby contest. The prize is a $125,000 college scholarship.
So, help me out--look at the pictures on the blog from this month, or look at my favorites in the Kodak Gallery and let me know which picture you would choose to enter in the contest!
(click on the underlined text to follow the links to pictures)

7 Months

Matilda is 7 months old today.

Socks, they're not just for wearing anymore!

No longer content to just wear her socks, Matilda has resorted to playing with them and even trying to eat them.