6 months!

Michaela is 6 months old already!! In this picture, she is all set in her new high chair to try baby cereal for the first time. We tried it this morning, but it didn't go so well. We'll see if she is more into it again tomorrow.



A few days ago, she sported her first ponytail!!

Walker

My parents are strong supporters of baby walkers, and although they are made differently nowadays and not always recommended, I decided to try one. Found this one at the thrift store for $8, which made that decision easier. Michaela's not so sure about it yet and gets frustrated quickly when she moves backwards instead of forward, but she likes playing with the toys and playing with the little steering wheel. I think she will like it sometime soon.

Check out that crazy face.

The walker definitely does not compare to her most favorite fun all day...the jumper.

This is one of my favorite faces...the crinkled nose, heavy breathing (excited) smile. She does it OFTEN.And just another cute one. :)

As promised

Finally got a good shot of those little teeth. :)

Drumroll please...

We have grass growing!!!

This has been long awaited (by me, at least). When we first arrived in Germany and signed the agreement for this 3rd floor apartment, I brainstormed this idea to make a pee box of grass for the dogs (while we were still in the hotel) to use on the balcony in case of emergency. After almost a year and a half of hearing how I still wanted this box so badly for times when the baby is sleeping or it's just too early and the dogs want to go out, my handy hubby went to work. He thought that stones would be easier to keep clean and care for (and that it was too late in the season for grass to grow), so we perused several hardware stores (on and off-post) for a hard plastic rectangular base. We figured it wouldn't be too hard for the dogs to figure out since they had a big yard of stones to do their business on in AZ. So, Michael drilled some holes in the side of the plastic for the urine/rain water to drain off and immediately poured a small cup of water over the stones to try out his handiwork. When the water splashed both balconies below, that plan came quickly to a halt. So, back to my grass plan...2 weeks later, Michael encloses the plastic with a wood frame and plants grass seed. The box says that the grass will grow within a week all the way until the middle of October, but after a week, no grass. However, when I awoke this morning...look at that beautiful grass growing on our balcony!!! :)

Our Visit

We had a great visit with Michaela's great-grandparents and Uncle Gary this past week. Michael had a busy week at work but is now a pilot-in-command (yay!) and got a day of leave yesterday so that he could accompany us to Strasbourg, France. We all enjoyed it. Thank you, Gary, for all your help this week.

Teeth!

Michaela awoke with not one but 2 teeth this morning! All of the previous week's fuss and constant suckling at night are explained! I thought the bottom right tooth had erupted by Monday but then it seemed to go away, but this morning, both bottom teeth are definitely through! She kept pushing her tongue over the area the past few days so we couldn't see them when we tried, but this morning, I felt those sharp little teeth and have been able to see them when her mouth is open too. If she allows us to get a picture sometime soon, I will post it. She does like to cover them with her tongue though. Other news is that Michaela's great grandparents and Uncle Gary arrived this morning and will be here for a week, so we are excited about that. Also, she will be 5 months old already tomorrow. I can't believe I have a big 5-month-old baby with 2 teeth!

Jumping Queen

Michaela has figured out how to really jump in the past week and now LOVES her jumper. She will jump and jump with a smile on her face the whole time. I can get stuff done while she is jumping, so I love the jumper too. I tried to upload a video of her jumping yesterday, but it didn't work for me, but hopefully you will enjoy this one. She was jumping while I was washing dishes. I started clicking Michael's grilling tongs to entertain her, and she laughed a lot when they got her. This was after the game lost its novelty a little, but she was still enjoying it a little. Please ignore the cluttered laundry/trash closet behind her.