Baby's first camping trip

Last weekend we took the girls out on their first camping trip. We found a campground that sits right on the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania. My parents had planned to go out camping to test out their RV this season, and we thought it would be a nice weekend to get away as well. While Nana and Papa slept in their climate controlled RV, we did it the old fashion way in a tent. It was a nice warm weekend. The first night out was a little chilly, but otherwise, we were very comfortable. The girls slept surprisingly well. It was a pretty low-key outing, which was just right for us. We went on one short hike and spent an afternoon at a small beach on the lake. The water was chilly and grimy, but the girls had lots of fun. Mady got to practice riding her bike around the campground. Other than that, we enjoyed cooking out and staying up with a campfire.

8 months old

 It is always fun to reflect on how much babies change in the course of a month. We have a number of fun new developments to report at the 8-month mark. Cami has sprouted her two front teeth on the top. It looks like she might have daddy and Mady’s gap. She has started “waving” goodbye this month (opening and closing her fist). She also likes to “clap” her fists together. She is eating some more fruits and vegetables, as well as an abundance of Cheerios. She doesn’t like rice cereal very much, and clearly prefers feeding herself over being spoon-fed. She has had plenty of practice developing those fine motor skills. She is still a little uncoordinated, but she can pinch and grasp her food and usually succeeds in getting it to her mouth.

She isn’t yet crawling, and we aren’t expecting it to happen very soon. She can support herself briefly on her hands and knees, but only if we put her in that position. She isn’t pushing up by herself yet. She is getting pretty sturdy in a sitting position. We don’t worry about her tipping over anymore and she has become very adept at rotating in circles while on her tush.

She has also started using consonants this month. She has figured out how to say “baba” and she says it quite a bit. Carrie and I have been trying to encourage her to learn “mama” or “dada.” So far, she seems to be pretty content that “baba” captures everything she needs to say to us.

Wild Animals

Saturday, May 5^th was my 31^st birthday. Carrie and Cami spent the morning volunteering at a “Mom Swap,” so Mady and I had some quality time together. She took me out on a Daddy-Daughter Date to Starbucks where we got drinks and an apple fritter to share. We used to do this pretty regularly at EMU, so it was fun to revisit one of our old pastimes. We (I) also whipped up a peanut butter pie, which is my favorite dessert. When Carrie and Cami returned, we took the girls to Nana and Papa’s house for the afternoon and went to the mall to go shoe shopping for me since all of my shoes were falling apart. While this might seem like a funny way to spend a birthday, it was actually really nice to go out shopping without kids. Then we went back to my folks for dinner and pie. Steve and Krista came out to join us. All in all, it was a really nice birthday.  

On Mondays, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is free to all Cuyahoga county residents. We decided to cash in a vacation day and take the girls out to see some animals. Grandma even came along. It was her first time at that zoo in 40 years! For the rest of us, it was the first time in forever. Despite a brief torrential downpour and some lingering rain and gloominess in the morning, it shaped out to be a nice day. We saw elephants, a lion, bears, gorillas, monkeys, sharks, kangaroos, and various other critters. Mady enjoyed riding the tram around.