Finally!

It is official! Rachael has said "Mama". Well, she actually keeps saying it over and over. I guess the lesson is to be careful what you wish for. I now have little Rachael hugging my leg and saying, "mama, mama, mama" a lot. She is very proud of herself, though. She says "Mama" and looks at me, she says "dada" and looks at Mike. We are now working on "Rachael". When Rachael is eating, we like to look at the pictures on the fridge and talk about them. She likes to walk around with a particular picture of all three of us from a Cubs game last summer. She waddles around the room, shakes the picture, and says, "mama" and "dada" . She then shoves the picture in her little red barn where all her favorite things go (this week). In this picture, Rachael has just finished shoveling in handfuls of delicous black beans and avocado. The messier the better!

Recent travels...

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we visited my parents in Michigan City to have a turkey dinner. My mom made a great meal, but unfortunately, Rachael had been sick for a few days, and spread it to the rest of us. I have learned that parenthood brings lots of opportunity to be vomited on...Mike, the champion eater, couldn't even look at the food! My friend Andrea came by to visit which was great. I felt sick too, but sucked it up so I could enjoy some turkey and time with Andrea and my family. I didn't feel so well the next day, and slept most of it away. Sadly, we also spread it to my parents who had to delay their trip to North Carolina by a day. I guess sharing yucky stomach viruses is just part of being a family, right?

Luckily, we were feeling better for our trip to Seattle! Rachael took her first flight over the Thanksgiving holiday, and she is an amazing little traveler. Since I hate flying, it helped to be able to focus on Rachael instead of thinking about the flight. Rachael had no problems with take off or landing. We gave her a bottle, and she didn't seem to have any issues with the change in air pressure. She slept too, which made the trip much easier for us all. We had a great time in Seattle. Rachael enjoyed all the toys that Marjean had collected for her. We spent time with Joe and Lee (Mike's brother and his wife) and their "ga" (dog) Yoshi. Rachael hasn't quite got the word for dog mastered, so she points and says "ga". I guess she recognizes the difference between da-da and dog is the "g" sound. We look forward to our next visit somewhere now that we know Rachael enjoys traveling! The pictures are of Rachael with her Grandpa (my dad) and with Mike's brother Joe, sister-in-law Lee, and Rachael's 'cousin' dog Yoshi.

Busy, busy, baby!

Wow! Rachael has kept us very busy these last few weeks. She is really on the move. She is walking more adeptly each day, and she is discovering new things. She enjoys playing games, and I think we have quite the comedian on our hands. (she takes after her mommy, I guess) Last night, in the bath she was tugging at the hair on Mike's feet and pretending to eat it. She would grab at it, put her hand to her mouth, "offer" me some, and then do a little "num, num, num" action with her mouth. Then giggle a little. It was pretty darn funny. She also likes to be chased around the living room and giggles uncontrollably when we pretend to be stuck under the coffee table. Here is a recent picture of us! Can you believe she is only 10 months? She looks so much older...