Standing Tall

Brynn stood up for the first time at the end of June. In July she perfected standing and sitting back down along with cruising. She also finally went from crawling on her belly to her knees. She's quick!

The expression says it all!

What a cute pose!

Crawling

Where's the water?

In the back of the car waiting to go hiking

Wow! What's this stuff?

Watching Daddy mow the lawn

Posing at GG's house

Raiding the fridge for breakfast

First Word

Unfortunately it wasn't Momma or Dadda (though she says them now too), but "cat" was Brynn's first word. She actually started saying it back in May. It sounded like "tat" at first. She would say it only when she saw one of our cats. Greg didn't believe me when I told him she was saying "cat" at 7 months old until he heard it for himself. She currently calls most everything a cat, even dogs. We're working on that one. She does know a cat when she sees one though and today said "cat" when she saw Milo of Milo and Otis on TV (see below). Ti is her favorite cat since he lets her pet him. She is starting to say "Ti" too. Here she is with him.

Kitsap County Fair

We went to the fair yesterday. It was $.25/person before noon and free for Brynn. We mostly looked at the animals. Brynn loves animals. The chickens seemed to be her favorite. She calls everything a "cat" or "dada". We're trying to teach her the names of other animals! Here are some good ones Grandma Wendy took of Brynn petting chickens!

Minnesota Friends

We got back from Minnesota on June 30th and I started this post about our trip the following week. Then the power supply on our computer went out and we had no computer for a week. Since then we have been incredibly busy and I haven't gotten a chance until now to get back to it. Plus we had about a week of way too hot weather and we spent a lot of time away from our 90+ degree house. Finally it has cooled down into the 60's... just the way I like it! Anything above 80 is too hot for me without air conditioning.

So anyway, we visited our friends Ken, Kofi, Caleb, Silas, and Luke in Shoreview, MN at the end of June. Kofi is one of Greg's friends from Western. She and I became instant friends when we met. This was mine and Greg's third trip to Shoreview. We went in 2003 and 2006 also.

The flight out there was Brynn's first and she did great. I do admit to giving her Benadryl each way (the dye free kind of course) :)! We were anxious that Brynn would be extremely fussy. But both ways she played, ate and napped. I brought the swaddle blanket and wrapped her in it for the naps then covered her with a blanket. I knew if I didn't she'd be too stimulated and be grabbing at everything. It worked like a charm. She slept 45 min on the way there and almost 90 min on the way home in my arms. It was special holding her in my arms while she slept. She isn't a cuddly baby so I enjoyed that time. On the way home, after holding her for well over an hour, I looked under the blanket to see if she was awake yet. She was awake and smiled at me. So precious!

We had a wonderful time with Kofi and her family. The were very hospitable. We enjoyed swimming at a lake, waterfalls at a state park in Wisconsin, bicycle riding, walking in the city and parks galore. Greg and I were jealous of the multitude of parks with long, wide, paved walking trails.

Plane Trip

Brynn is sleeping under the blanket

Snail Lake, MN

Kofi, Luke, Me and Brynn

Minneapolis

From left: Silas, Luke and Caleb

Brynn's First Date

Brynn and Luke enjoyed riding in the bicycle trailer while Greg pulled them. Ken pulled the bigger boys in the other one. We were out for about 2 hours. We stopped at Burger King when we got caught in a downpour. When we put the little ones back in the trailer for the 10 minute ride home it was dark outside and they screamed the whole way home. It was so sad. Brynn seemed to be afraid of the dark for about 1-2 weeks after that.

Willow River State Park, WI

Silverdale Waterfront Park

Kofi and Luke visited us in May