Baby Steps

It's been a roller coaster of a weekend so far. My dad called early Saturday morning to tell me my mom was in the hospital. After some tests, the doctors said she was having an appendicitis. We're relieved it was something minor!...although certainly not fun for my Mom. She had surgery and was home by the end of the weekend...tired and sore, but on the mend.

When Dave, Andra and I went to visit her in the hospital, Andra took her first steps in the hospital room in front of everyone!! It was such a cool moment! She was standing in front of me, and Grandpa (my dad) squatted down and told her to come see him. She took three quick steps like a little expert and jumped right into his arms! I think my jaw hit the floor. She acted like she knew exactly what she was doing! It's been less than 24 hours since, and no more steps. I think she waits until she knows she has an audience. :) She's quite the performer, our little squirt. (We managed to get her walking again Sunday and got some video of it...watch it at the bottom of this post!)

We ended the weekend by taking Pudge to a "dog swim" at the Monon Center pool. They let the dogs take over the pool before they close it for the season. Pudge went last year and had a blast, so we couldn't deny him this year.

While Pudge was perfecting his doggie paddle, Andra and I were practicing walking more. Check out the video of some of our baby girl's very first steps. Still a little wobbly, but if it's anything like crawling, I know she'll get faster and more coordinated with each passing day!

Miss Congeniality

This is Andra with her Grandpa G. when he came over to our house a few days ago. He wanted to check out all our home improvements, but Andra had other ideas. As soon as he sat down on the couch, our eternal wiggle worm snuggled up to his chest and didn't move a muscle for 15 minutes straight!! Just sat there and snuggled peacefully with her Grandpa. I think she probably liked the sound of his heartbeat and his low, rumbly voice. It was so sweet. She NEVER snuggles anymore...she's too busy wiggling and trying to explore. I think she knew her Grandpa needed some cuddle time. And that's certainly what he got.

I also have to post the picture below. Every few days, I get lucky enough to send Andra into a giggle fit. This was one of them. It's never the same thing that makes her laugh. It changes day to day. There's nothing better than getting her laughing so hard that she squeals and screams with delight. Now THAT's a beautiful sound. Her personality is showing more and more each day. She's also starting to mimic everything we do...which of course makes me think she's REALLY smart. :) 

Family Vacation

We're back home now, and I'm happy to report we had a great time in Florida! We spent the week in St. Augustine being beach bums and sightseeing a little. It was Andra's first plane ride, and she definitely earned her wings. She was very well-behaved on the flights (shew!!). She was a little hyperactive on the flights home (bouncing back and forth between our laps), but that's to be expected from a wiggly 11 month old.

Andra enjoyed the beach...after some adjustment. The first two days, she was scared of the sand! She'd stand in it, but she refused to sit on the sand and would start crying as soon as you sat her down. I think the texture must've felt funny on her legs. By the third day, she decided it wasn't so scary afterall and became a bonafide beach baby.

We also went to this really fun restaurant, thanks to my big sister's recommendation! It's on a dock, and at each table, they have huge windows and a little trap door you open and you can feed the fish swimming below. Andra liked feeding the fish, but was even more excited about all the seagulls (which she was fascinated by all week long)! Here she is pointing and "talking" to the birds. She also mastered her wave on vacation and waved to just about every person we saw on the beach, in the pool and at the airport.

And finally, a couple beach photos. I put Andra in her prettiest dress and then made her sit in that scary sand stuff. ;) She humored Mommy with a smile. I think we got a keeper! When I handed off our camera to a stranger to take the photo, she kept saying what a "cute family" we are. I love hearing that word. Family. It makes me burst with pride, and I'm so grateful that God's blessed us with Andra. Our family.

Andra Waves "Bye Bye!"

To all my loyal readers, we'll be "unplugged" for a week or so. We're taking our first official family vacation...headed to the beach in Florida for some R&R and to introduce Andra to the ocean (hope it's a fun trip and that she doesn't try to eat too much sand)! We'll have plenty to share when we return...and photos of course! So as we head out, here's Andra waving "bye bye" to everyone (it's her latest accomplishment!). I apologize for the bad videography in the beginning...it's a little difficult to manage baby, dog and camera simultaneously.

And speaking of goodbye...my baby bro Jonathan will officially be a Boilermaker very soon. He's moving to Purdue while we're in Florida, so we met for lunch so I could say goodbye (but not for long!), wish him luck, and share all my big sisterly wisdom with him before he's officially independent. So good luck, Jonathan! Study hard, play hard (while remaining within the law) and enjoy college while it lasts! You're in my prayers and we'll miss seeing you around.

Garrett is 1 year old!

Well, the parade of birthdays continues...and this one is especially close to my heart because it's my sister's baby boy Garrett. He turned one over the weekend, and the entire family and lots of friends were there to celebrate. I'll always remember Erin and I being pregnant together, and I think it's so cool that Garrett and Andra are so close in age and will truly be growing up together.
Now that Garrett's had his birthday, that means Andra's next! Yikes!!

Here's Garrett getting ready to blow out his candles. It cracks me up that he also has a handful of his sister's hair. ha!

"Hmm...I wonder what this could be??"

Nothing beats diving into birthday cake!