Holiday Fun!

Mikayla had a lot of fun during her first holiday season. She got to have Thanksgiving at her house, she met Santa Claus and she opened lots of her own presents on Christmas.

Here are just a few standout moments:

Meeting Santa - Hmmm...should I laugh or cry?

Impersonating Santa

Having fun with Great Uncle Mark

Opening presents...

And opening more presents!

She almost had as much fun as we did! We can't wait for next Christmas!

SEVEN Months Old!

Okay, I see a pattern here. It seems that by the time I put Mikayla's monthly pictures up, she is already a month older than the pictures...today is no different. I will be sharing Mikayla's seven month photos with you, but she is, in fact, already eight months old! Oh well. At least I took the pictures on time right?

Trying to crawl...

So here is Mikayla at seven months old! She has been a busy girl:
- She is growing a bunch of hair (it has at least doubled in length from .5 inches to 1 inch!)
- She can stretch pretty far and still get back into a sitting position
- She can play the piano (maybe I should say bang the piano)
- She is laughing more than ever
- She cries when I leave the room
- She tries to climb onto anything within reach

Look at me! I can climb!

Mikayla at SEVEN Months

Mikayla at SIX Months

Mikayla at FIVE Months

Mikayla at FOUR Months

Mikayla at THREE Months

Mikayla at TWO Months

Mikayla at ONE Month

Mikayla Eats People Food!

Mikayla is officially a big girl. She finally got to start eating solid foods. She was soooo ready! She used to stare us down while we were eating - it was clear she wanted some. So on her six month birthday, she sat in her new high chair (which she also loves) and ate some banana squash. Here are some pictures and videos so you can pretend you were there:

"Okay - I'm ready for this solid stuff"

"Banana Squash...so strange"

"Give me that spoon!"

"Get in my belly Banana Squash!"

"More!!"

Here are the videos so you can REALLY feel like you were there:

Mikayla's first bite (full sized video here)

Mikayla eats banana squash (full sized video here)

Mikayla gags on banana squash (full sized video here)

SIX Months Old!

Mikayla is SIX months old! Half a year! She celebrated her half birthday by starting to eat solid foods (more details next post) and by getting her picture taken professionally. I dressed her up fancy for this month's photo to commemorate her fancy professional photo shoot...and also because I like to dress her up fancy whenever I get the chance!

I'm SIX months old, but I still like to eat my pig!

I still have a gummy smile - no teeth yet.

I still have bright blue eyes like Daddy

Did I mention I still like to eat my pig?

Mikayla at Six Months

Mikayla at Five Months

Mikayla at Four Months

Mikayla at Three Months

Mikayla at Two Months

Mikayla at One Month

Halloween!!

I came to a realization this Halloween; babies are just as much fun to dress up as dogs! Since she was born, I really wanted to dress Mikayla as Mini Me because otherwise it is such a waste of a bald head. Ironically, there are no infant Mini Me costumes to be found - anywhere! (Great business opportunity for those listening). So I had to settle for a toddler costume. Luckily my mom was able make some significant adjustments to get it to fit Mikayla. We made a cute evil family with Chris as Dr. Evil, Mikayla and Mini Me and the dogs and I as sharks with Frikin' laser beams on our heads. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture with the dogs, but here is the rest of our Evil family:

Mikayla needed another costume for my work party since Chris couldn't accompany us as Dr. Evil (Mini Me wouldn't be the same without Dr. Evil). So Mikayla went as a Del Monte pea instead. It was fitting since I work at Del Monte, it was also cost effective since I had already bought the outfit and used it as a dog costume many years ago. I hate to hurt Nibbler's feelings, but I think Mikayla was even cuter in it :)

Nibbler was a little jealous...

Pumpkin Patch!

Ever since Mikayla was born I've been looking forward to taking her to the pumpkin patch. I think pumpkin patches are so much fun, but they are even better with kids. So a few weeks before Halloween  we dressed Mikayla up appropriately in an orange onesie and overalls and headed out to 'Joan's Farm' a very cool local pumpkin patch. Here are some pictures of our adventure:

Family at the farm

 Mikayla is a sheeple!

 It's just like the cut-out!

  Forget the pumpkins, this dead grass is amazing!

 Sticking out the tongue for Aunt Lisa

 This bag tastes like popcorn!

I'm surrounded by pumpkins!

Hmmm...I wonder how these pumpkins taste?

Nom nom!

What's this?

It's like a bumpy pumpkin...

Gourds blow my mind!

Cupie Doll

When I was a baby, my parents thought I looked just like a cupie doll, so they took a picture of me next to one my mom still had from her childhood. It is a very famous photograph, perhaps you have seen it?

Recently, Mikayla has been smiling with her lips rolled under her gums. I think it must be related to teething. Anyways, she looks really funny when she does this, not unlike a cupie doll. Of course we still have the cupie doll from the original picture, so we had to take some pictures of Mikayla doing her cupie face next to the cupie doll. If only she had more hair, I think she could have done a better cupie impression than me!