Reina's Favorites at 8 months:
Food: Raspberries (fresh), peaches cut up (but those slippery buggers can also make her a little impatient), cereal puffs, and bits of things found off the carpet. If I come to sweep her mouth to see what garbage she found she quickly clamps her jaw shut so I can't steal it from her. I've been making my own baby food to add protein in her diet and she loves it just as much as everything else. I haven't discovered anything she doesn't like...even fish! You can freeze homemade baby food by putting it in a muffin tin and stick it in freezer until hard, then let them thaw a few minutes on the counter until you can pop out each individual serving size of food. I store in a ziploc in the freezer and take a serving out as need be. My sister Sanni told me this inventive idea.
To Do: Her new thing now is to clap her hands all by herself, crawl EVERYWHERE (right now she is pulling daddy's Robert Jordan books off the book shelf). And just this week Grandma Guinn and daddy taught her to pull herself up from sitting position to standing! You go girl! Since Grandma Guinn had surgery and is in a foot cast, she likes to stand up to Grandma's recliner and squak to get her attention. Reina still loves peek-a-boo and will play it with herself if she finds a shirt, a pajama, anything made from cloth. She loves it when we sing and dance with her. Some of her favorite songs are: "You are My Sunshine", the Finnish "rowing" song, "Bimbala Bima" (also Finnish), and "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam." Reina also loves to babble...she actually says "mama" like 25 times a day, especially when she wants something.
Funny things she loves: She still likes to head-bang (literally), something she picked up at 5 months. The past month or so she has been closing her eyes really tight...like you do when someone splashes water. For some reason it looks so funny on a baby. She notices that we laugh so she'll do it more and more. I'll try my darndest to get a picture of this but she gives no warning. She is very flexible and often gets herself into splits (well, splits like an L) and prefers to sit side-saddle (legs dangling to one side like riding a horse). She's hilarious when she's cocking her head to one side while observing people.
Daddy's Favorites at 28 years: (all answers are what Mommy believes are Daddy's favorites...he's not home)
Food: Red Robin Whiskey River Barbecue Chicken Burger and Bottomless Fries, Burger King Whopper (although rarely gets), Tillamook's Udderly Chocolate Ice Cream, any diet soda, Sweet Tomatoes salad that he creates along with their clam chowder, and my homemade hamburgers. (These are favorites, not staples...except for the ice-cream. We're trying to cut back on that.)
To Do: Spending free-time with mommy and Reina, especially running trails with me while Reina's in the jogging stroller. He also likes to read sci-fi/fantasy books (currently reading Jim Butcher novels), listen to talk radio (Glenn Beck, Laura Ingram), play Guitar Hero/Rock Band with whoever will play (usually Steve his bro, my bro Teem, and maybe even Mommy).
Funny things Daddy loves: Daddy loves to watch literal version videos on Youtube over and over (in fact, one of the songs was on the radio and he knew 90% of the words to the literal version song)! Likes to check-out his "nerdsite" websites everyday i.e. Forgeworld, Bell of Lost Souls, Blue Table Painting...just to name a few and dreams of days where he can paint and play Warhammer...which doesn't happen. And also likes to watch Mommy be silly with Reina.
Mommy's Favorites at 28 years:
Food: Pumpkin pie with whip cream (a whole pie), beans in any form (not green beans), Tillamook's Black Cherry Vanilla ice cream, chocolate chips, salt and pepper popcorn, blueberries, any kind of soup, and lately I've been really craving Mongolian Grill.
To Do: Anything with Daddy and Reina together which may include trail running, camping and recently picking out Halloween costumes together. I like going to Zumba or Quad step at the gym (those that are bored to workout should really check out Zumba), going to Spanky's (a local consignment store where I can take my clothes in and get store credit to buy Reina clothes, or myself)! I like to take pictures and would love to own a great camera some day soon! Of course I love to ballroom dance but since I still nurse Reina it's been on hold for a while (dancing time is Reina's needy time).
Funny things Mommy loves: Giving Reina a bath (just so I can see her splash in the water with that naked bum), watching "America's Next Top Model" (completely lame I know, but sinfully addicting), picking up things I find for my home that doesn't exist, playing Madlibs with my family and using very juvenile words.
