6 Month Check-Up

Height: 26"  (50-75%)

Weight: 18 Lbs., 4 oz. (90%)

Jon Boat Widow (or How I Spent Memorial Day)

It all started with a seemingly innocent question:

"Would you mind if I spent 20 minutes on the boat?  I just have to . . ."

I should have listened to the end before agreeing.  So this is how we spent our day (until about 6:30 when we went grocery shopping--so fun).

At least he needed Becca and I for a couple of his test runs, so we got out on the lake for a bit.  (This is NOT how we traveled.)

There's sanding, coating, and carpeting to go, but he's definitely making headway.

In other news, Rich's dad and cousin Rose came by on Sunday to visit with Becca, 

and I almost got a shot of Rebecca's tooth.  It's there on the front left (her left) if you look very closely, but you still can't see it too well in pictures.  I can clearly see the marks it left on two of her knuckles, though.  (They match my glasses.)  

Saturday Night

Becca had a great time seeing her cousin Jason yesterday--she especially loved watching him jump on the trampoline (and stay up past bedtime).

She even did a little jumping of her own, with Dad's help.
And at the end of the night she FINALLY got her picture taken with Aunt Michelle, for whom she was named.  It seems like no matter what I think I'm going to do I never get these two together in a shot.  I blame Michelle (it's easier that way, and there's less guilt).  Anyway, here they are.  
Notice Rebecca's new phone . . . my mom sent it to her for her 1/2 birthday and she LOVES it!  Rich tried to take it from her in the car so he could take her out of the carseat, and she was NOT pleased.  He also mentioned when driving that it was the first time he had the urge to yell, "Knock it off" at her, but personally I don't think it's that loud.  And when you compare it to her taking my phone when I'm talking, no contest.  She somehow manages to consistently put my parents on hold and dial Rich, even though I don't know how to do that.  Pretty impressive.  Anyway, thanks for the phone, mom; maybe now we can finish a conversation in one call.

Peek-a-boo

Chompers Strikes Again

At first it was just annoying, having to wrestle them out of her grasp, but now it's getting dangerous.  Becca loves to rip the glasses off anyone who comes close enough, which typically means Rich and me.  I've been trying to make sure she can't pinch her fingers/tongue in the hinges, but now there's a new problem.  

After taking them back this morning I found three new scratches, all exactly the same, and exactly the size of her tooth, on my left lens.  

It does give her a nice, intellectual look, though.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

It's Rebecca's 1/2 birthday today!  Six months in and we love her more than ever.  

Here's Becca's newest trick:

We tried peaches with our rice cereal this morning---big hit.  

It's raining again today, and I long to go outside.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.  Becca deserves a little sunshine.

Jon Boat, part 1 (I hope) and Uncle Brian

Two or three summers ago Rich decided to build out a jon boat.  Apparently this summer's the one.  So far he's got the frame built and spent parts of Saturday reinforcing and staining it.  He's hoping to finish in the next week or so.  Me too----the stain smells really toxic.  Here's how it looks so far:

It's more impressive in the boat.  But I don't have pictures.  I secretly wonder how many new rods he's going to want (or if he'll start buying them for Becca) to go with it.

We also had visitors again this weekend--Rich's dad, brother Brian, and cousin Mike.

Becca hadn't seen Uncle Brian in a while, but she LOVED hanging out with him.  None of her usual fear of new people.  It was adorable.

Still no tooth pics, but . . . . . . .

I still haven't been able to get a shot of her tooth yet, but it's getting more and more pronounced every day. Today we felt her grip the spoon with it when eating. In the mean time here are some of my favorite pictures from the last week:

Swing

Looks like Rebecca's getting too big for her little swing---she enjoys sitting up too much and it doesn't swing quite the same.  Oh well--it was great while it lasted.  Really, really great.

Photo Shoot

I saw Rebecca's first tooth today.  It's just about to poke through her bottom gum (on the left side).  So of course as soon as I called Rich (and my mom), I got out the camera.  And of course Rebecca did everything in her power (and she's pretty powerful for someone who only weights 18 lbs.) to make sure I didn't get the shot I wanted.  But I got some pretty cute ones instead, and here's a sampling:

Mothers' Day

I really need to make sure I use the camera more on special days.  I did get a few good pictures of the family party, but nothing to show how sweet Becca and Rich were that morning.  Becca carried her over-sized card to me in bed, dropping it right on top of me, and Rich was adorable as always.  Anyway, here are a few pictures I did manage to get:

Uncle Jason, Rebecca, and Rich

Nanny, Rebecca, Great Aunt Anna May, and Rich

Aunt Maureen, Nanny, Rebecca, Great Aunt Anna May, and Rich

This Little Piggy

Bananas and Oatmeal--she's actually not too interested in eating either, unless she can do it herself.

Freedom Park

Earlier this week we took advantage of the good weather and headed on over to the local park.  

We found a nice, shady spot for Becca and I while Rich practiced a little disc golf.  

Next time I'll need to remember a bigger blanket, but Becca still had fun stretching out on this one and trying to get at the grass.  We had trouble letting her touch it without it getting in her mouth (live and learn).

Unfortunately it looks like Becca's inherited her parents' seasonal allergies.  But I love her sneeze pics.

Have we found our lovey?

Before Becca was born my friend Amy (of girls' night--we had it again earlier this week) knitted her the softest blanket.  At first I was a little nervous about using it with Becca, but not too long ago I found out that she loved to put her fingers through it and so we started keeping it in the pack-and-play in the living room.  

Tonight she was in her walker and aimed right for the pack-and-play.  Then she stared in and scratched at it until Rich hung the blankie on the outside, like so:

She rubbed it on her face and cuddled up against it.  Super cute.  After several minutes Rich tried to help her along her way, but she just came right back.

So Rich devised a practical solution, 

and it worked like a charm.

Christmas Memories

In the interest of compiling all of our photo memories into one place, I'm going to jump back a little now and then to try to catch up. While a huge part of Christmas day got away from me (and the camera), we have some great shots of Christmas morning, so I thought I'd include them here. It's crazy how much Becca's grown.

Here are a few we thought to take that afternoon (she HATED wearing a hat),

a couple of great ones that night with cousin Rose,

with Dad by the giant Forte tree (not a big fan of the reindeer suit),

and with Rich's Great Aunts, Mary and Cass.

It was a really long, but really great day.

More Peas, Please (and other activities)

We saw an allergist yesterday (not fun) for Becca.  The bad news is she had to do some skin tests (sniff, sniff), but the good news was that they were all negative.  So this morning we started in on our first vegetable---peas.  

She handled them okay, but didn't open as wide for them as for her rice cereal, which she really seems to enjoy.  And just a minute ago, when she was smiling at Rich, he said, "This morning we ate peas," which started off a whimpering fit.  So we'll see how the next time goes.  

Becca and I also went to a baby shower for my friend Tabby.  I forgot my camera, but used my phone to take a picture of Rebecca trying out the new Bumbo.  I wish I had known she wasn't smiling. 

Now we met Vince and Tabbby in one of those friend-of-a-friend ways, and I figured I wouldn't know a soul at the party. So when one of the women commented on how different Rebecca looks now, I started racking my brain, trying to figure out how I knew them. This meant I didn't dare "introduce" myself (again) or ask their names (again) for fear that I would insult them. It was a little awkward.  Maybe an hour later someone commented on seeing Rebecca's "EAT" video----THAT was how they knew her.  Go figure.

Here's the video, for anyone who didn't get to see it before: