Prepping for Christmas

Winter is upon us, well, the early Maryland variety of winter anyway. No snow on the ground yet, temperatures in the 40s, occasional rain. Hardly the snow and freezing temperatures I grew up with, but it's enough that Karina needs to be bundled up more than she was earlier in the year.


She continues growing and learning. She has her first tooth coming out on the bottom in front. It's not big enough to see in any pictures (unless we pried her mouth open and rammed the camera inside like the dentist does, but we aren't that mean so we won't), but it's quite sharp! I've been bitten several times when I let her suck on my finger. She hasn't had a fever or been overly cranky as I've heard about other babies when they were teething. For a couple nights earlier, she refused to nurse before going to bed. That was completely out of character for her as that is part of her nighttime routine. Looking online, it seems that these hunger strikes aren't that unusual for teething babies, and she has been broken of it and is nursing at night like normal again.

She has an infectious laugh like most babies. Of course, she's ours, so her laugh is cuter than any other child's. It is a continual source of amusement to try and figure out what will make her bust up, but based on recent results, it seems Mommy and Daddy might have a future in doing stand-up comedy for the seven to eight month old set. Mommy's the one yukking it up for her in these pictures.



Yes, that is a goatee I am sporting in the picture above. After Thanksgiving, some of the guys at work decided they were going to grow out their facial hair. I decided I might as well do it for a few weeks (much to Tanja's chagrin). I shaved it all off on Friday, but not without leaving myself a mustache first. I've never grown a mustache, so I wanted to see what it would look like. It was comical. I left the mustache on for about 20 minutes before Tanja came down and freaked out about how hideously grotesque I looked. I thought it was funny, but agreed it wasn't worth saving and shaved it off.

Anyway, Karina can be quite ticklish. She giggles with delight whenever we start tickling her tummy. Feet work too on occasion as seen in this picture with Mommy's disembodied hand tickling her tootsies.


Karina's getting excited for Christmas. She loves reaching for a certain ornament on the tree that is at her level when she's on our laps on the couch. After several days of work, this morning she managed to take a ribbon off one of the presents under our tree. The best part about Christmas, though, is definitely the boxes!


This box comes courtesy of Tanja who spent a few hours the last two Saturdays at a Scholastic books warehouse that happens to be just down the road from us. They were having a book fair and offered volunteers payment in certificates for books in exchange for hours worked. It was a good way to get Karina a few books for now through the next few years as she learns to read.

Our last bit of news is that Karina is now mobile - well, sort of. She has started crawling, although it seems we might need to take her in to the mechanic to look at her transmission. She only has one gear, namely, reverse. She doesn't even check her blind spots either, she just gets up on her haunches and starts pushing herself backwards. I'm already dreading the day she starts to drive if this is what she is starting with!

It's really funny when she spreads her legs as she's backing up and winds up pushing herself into a sitting position. Here she is demonstrating the technique and wedging herself underneath our buffet in the dining room.