6 Months Old!

It is hard to believe that she is already six months old. Sequoia is now such a big girl! She is wearing 6-9 months clothes and weighs about 16 pounds. We are on that last box of diapers debating if we can go one more pack of size 2 before we have to size up to size 3 (time to move to cruisers--the special crawling diapers).

She can't quite crawl yet, but she is trying very hard. She is a master at pivoting and rolling, and she can almost sit all on her own. She is also very proficient at grabbing toys and hanging onto them for long periods of time.

Sequoia is also very vocal. She loves babbling and giving us raspberries. She has a mantra that repeats to herself when she is falling asleep--she will say her name to herself over and over again (quoia, quoia, quoia). She will also say "boo" when we are playing peek-a-boo, "poo" when her diaper is getting changed, and an assortment of sounds that do sound a lot like "I love you" and "Hello." I think "Dada" is only about a week a way (I'm hoping she'll have it down by the time Daddy comes home from Quals).

On her 6 month-day she tried rice cereal for the first time. Since then, she's now tried oatmeal and sweet potatoes. She absolutely loves the sweet potatoes. We are aiming to try some peas this weekend.

She still loves playing with her Space Tube and her Bear Book (which is getting some nice wear and tear marks). She also loves paper, so we're constantly trying to keep Daddy's math books out of harm's way. She has also bonded with Merlin (one of our cats). They love to play together in the afternoon and he is great at just letting her pull his fur and ears.

Check out these cute pictures of the little love on her special six-month day.

Second Zoo Trip

After having so much fun at the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa, we had to go back. So on the 23rd of August, we decided to go back and as a wedding anniversary present to ourselves we became Zoo Members. Now we can take unlimited zoo trips for the next year, hooray!

This time we packed up a sack lunch of peanut butter, honey, and raisin sandwiches for Mommy and Daddy. We had an excellent time, even though it got a little warm. Sequoia didn't get to see her bats this time, since the second we stepped into the viewing area she fell fast asleep. Apparently the flapping of all the little wings was very comforting.

Mommy got a huge treat and got to see the wolves twice! We also got a cute little ocelot sticker for our car with the zoo membership. Then on the way out of the park, we stopped by the gift shop and bought Daddy some yummy fudge, and a little stuffed panther for Sequoia.

We are looking forward to our future trips with Sequoia--check out these cute pictures of this little outing!

Aquarium and Beach Outing

A week after going to the Zoo, we decided to take a trip up the coast to the Newport Aquarium. Sequoia really liked the Aquarium since all the animals were close to the glass and she could reach out and almost touch them.

After looking at all the neat fish and jellies, we took a walk through the outdoor area which housed the sea otters, sea lions, and octopus exhibits. We met a very friendly sea otter which was equally curious about Sequoia as she was with him. He swam back and forth, rolling over in front of her for a good five minutes. She had so much fun (and so did the large crowd of people behind us who were watching the otter play with Sequoia).

After we were all done at the Aquarium, we drove to a nearby beach and introduced her to her cousin Addie's favorite food, sand! Sequoia tried to get two fists of sand into her mouth right away, but as you can see in the pictures, it didn't taste as good as she was hoping. The ocean was a little to cold for her liking, so instead of playing in the water, we took a nice little nap on the beach. Another great day!

First Trip to the Zoo

We met Grandma and Grandpa (Margaret and Mark) at the Portland Zoo on August 4th for Sequoia's big first trip to the zoo! It was a really nice visit and Sequoia had so much fun looking at the animals (those that were close enough for her to notice at least). I also got a great workout carrying around the little 14 pounder in her Baby Bjorn.

She really had fun visiting with her grandparents (and it only took her a couple hours to remember them this time...so maybe by Thanksgiving, she'll know exactly who they are from the get go). Sequoia had a great time being cute and showing off for Grandma and Grandpa.

Amongst her favorite exhibits were the fruit bats (all their flying was very interesting) and she loved looking at the Polar Bears with Grandma.

We finished off our wonderful day with Sequoia's first trip to a sit-down restaurant, the Spaghetti Factory. We made it through the salads, but we got a little tired, so Mommy and baby got to take a little nap in the car for the rest of dinner. What a wonderful day! Here are some great pictures from our little excursion.