Camping with the family!

We had a really fun weekend camping near Grande Prairie with my family! We drove up to Edmonton Thursday afternoon and stayed at Brian's parents for night - I thought it might be better for Lynsey if we split up the trip. The drive to Grande Prairie wasn't too bad - Lynsey required some attention on the drive, but we really only made one stop. The weekend was tiring, but really enjoyable. Lynsey was in her element with all the attention she was getting from her little cousins! They were walking her around and playing with her and she was loving every minute:). She slept okay at night, but didn't have the greatest naps - mostly catnaps in her stroller throughout the day. Oh, well - I guess that's the way it goes when you're camping! We had rented a trailer from the campsite and we were really thankful for it - I wouldn't have wanted to tent it with bottles and baby food and diaper changing etc. - I don't know how Mary and Dave did it! Another thing that was confirmed about Lynsey this weekend (besides how much she loves attention and is not shy in the least bit!) is how much she loves the outdoors! She was all over the grass (which wasn't nice and soft at all) and she even loved playing in the gravel (had to make sure her soother was in at all times!). We left the campsite on Monday morning and drove to Edmonton. Lynsey slept almost the whole way - wiped out apparently! We stayed in Edmonton for the day and hung out with Brian's parents and left for Calgary at 8pm, so she slept the whole way to Calgary as well - worked out great:). All in all, travelling with her isn't too bad. I hope she's getting used to the long drives because next week we are off to Manitoba!

Turning 29, getting visitors from the north, going to Invermere, etc.

We've had quite a busy time since my last post - probably should have checked in last week! Oh well - I can cram it all into one post:). We got a kiddie pool and tried it out with Lynsey and Elijah - Lynsey quite enjoyed it actually. Becky and Gordie came to visit us last weekend! They came on Friday and stayed until Monday. We had a really good time with them - Lynsey didn't whine the whole weekend for all the attention she was getting! My birthday was on Saturday and Mary and Dave came out as well to celebrate my last birthday in my 20's. This last weekend, we made a trip to Invermere. One of the girls in my small group (Christy) has parents with a "cabin" out there (I put cabin in quotes because it was more like a big, beautiful house!) and they were kind enough to let a group of us hang out there for the weekend! We had a great, relaxing time. Lynsey loved it, but she didn't sleep very well. I hoped she would be easily adaptable to a new environment, but apparently I have gotten her quite used to a routine, and a new place to sleep just didn't agree with her. She is at the age now where she is all too aware that there are more people around and sleeping might mean that she will miss out on something. I really hope she will do okay this weekend at the family campout! She slept from 8 until 8 last night with only a small stint of talking around 6:45am, so I guess she was a bit worn out. Two weekends in a row like this might be a recipe for disaster, but we'll find out:).

Definitely on the move now:)

In the last week, Lynsey's mobility has increased almost exponentially. It was like she wasn't really that interested before, but now that she can move a bit faster, she is experimenting more with stairs, climbing things, standing up on things, all things she's not really balanced enough to do well yet. She loves standing up by the fireplace (as you can see from the pictures!) and can quite proficiently stand up by the couch now. Her second tooth came through yesterday and she is drinking her milk a bit better again which is good. If I had the energy (and a better back) to walk her around all day, she would be the happiest baby around. I don't think she would ever get sick of it. Now I'm wishing she would learn how to walk! Okay, I might be crazy. I haven't gotten her weighed since she was 6 months old, but by my next blog post I WILL have! I can't procrastinate any longer - I want to know how heavy she is.

Our basement is almost furnished to my satisfaction - there are just a few odds and ends I want to get yet. It's looking good down there! So nice to have it done because we have gotten more visitors this summer than probably ever before!

Finally a tooth!

After months of drooling, Lynsey has finally cut a tooth! She wasn't actually that cranky either - if this is bad as teething gets I can handle it! She started drinking less of her bottle on Friday or Saturday, and not napping as long as she should, but she didn't actually cry that much. She did NOT like it when I tried to feel the bump on her bottom gum, though! I think it was really sore. Yesterday it finally poked through. I think she finds it strange to have this sharp thing in her mouth, because we can totally see her rubbing her tongue against it:). She also started making this "o" sound a lot (you can see her funny expression in some of the pictures), which also may be her feeling her tooth with her bottom lip. Her last swimming lesson was on Thursday and she passed - yay! Failing is impossible of course, but we can still call it an accomplishment. She is becoming more and more curious of other babies, and I'm starting to see the whole dynamic of them wanting the toy that the other one has. The good news is that Lynsey still doesn't cry when you take something away from her, so I'm hoping that means she's easy-going (fingers crossed!). She is finally sitting and playing sometimes, which is a nice relief for us. For the longest time, she refused to sit and always wanted to be led around. She still does a lot of the time, but with the right entertainment (ie. grass outside) she will sit and play for a while. The basement is slowly taking shape and we will be spending time down there very soon. It just seems like there is always more organizing to do before it can become functional. It's hard making our stuff fit into this new space, and I'm constantly forming new plans in my head about what goes where. How happy will I be when it's all done! Mary and Dave stopped in on Friday night on their way back to Stettler - Ezra is so much more relaxed than Lynsey! It will be a little while yet before they play together:).

Still no crawling!

Well, since my last post, Lynsey has not started crawling. She gets up on all fours on her own without a problem, but she doesn't know what to do when she's there - she either flops onto her tummy soon after, or she starts crying. I know I might regret saying this, but I want her to start crawling! Right now she needs to be constantly entertained! She wants to stand by everything, but she can't stand on her own. She wants to walk everywhere, but she can't walk on her own, either (obviously). I'm hoping that once she learns how to crawl, she will be able to get where she wants to go and while I will have to constantly supervise, at least she will have that little bit of independence. I'm just imagining my post after she does crawl and how I will probably eat my words haha!

In general, she is a good baby right now (as long as we are on top of entertaining her). Her sleeping has been better, but it's not too bad - she gets up on average once a night needing her soother and a flip back onto her back. Naps are not as long as they should be, but she just goes through phases where she does well, and then phases where she doesn't do as well. I stopped breastfeeding completely this week. On Monday morning I tried to feed her, but she just kept turning her head. I even went downstairs and tried to feed her on the couch, but still no go. So, I gave her a bottle and she drained it. I guess I know now how babies wean themselves. I`m glad it was gradual, because I`m not as sad this way. I`m ready for her to be weaned, although I will miss the convenience of the early morning breastfeeding (so lazy I am!). I`ve tried giving her some different textures of food in the last week, and she is getting used to them - at first, she hated the chunky texture but she is starting to chew and swallow so I guess it just takes time! Another fun thing is that she perfected her “dada”s just in time for Father’s Day:). She was saying it all weekend! The only time she says “mama” is when she`s crying - I think it might just be a coincidence . . .

She absolutely loves being outside so we are enjoying the warm weather right now. I put her in a baby swing for the first time this week and she loved it! Of course I didn`t have my camera with me, but I`ll get a picture soon. She is so cute swinging away:)!