Crawling

On December 29, Rachel officially became a crawler. She has been crawling very short distances for awhile now. She would crawl 2 or 3 steps and then lay out flat on her belly to grab something. She was also good at scooting around the room or even pivoting around the room. She was also very good at scooting backwards. When going backwards though, she would eventually run into something and get frustrated that she couldn't go any farther. Tim's dad and I finally found the right motivation for her. My laptop. I put up a picture of her on it and she was going around the whole room chasing it. This video is her second time ever that she crawled. Now she is a total pro. Watch out Kitten and Sarabi, Rachel is coming for you!

First Time on a Swing

Tim's mom, Nana, and I took Rachel to Lake Poway this week. As we were driving up, she was falling asleep. I wouldn't let her because I wanted her to enjoy the park with us. We walked and looked at the ducks. There were two very annoying geese who were pestering everyone who got near. After we looked at the animals, we went to the playground and were excited to see that they had baby swings. As you will see in the video, Rachel loooooved the swing! I can't wait to take her back again because she had such a good time. I am so glad I didn't let her sleep because she had such a good time.

Rachel enjoyed crawling on the playground.

She wasn't quite sure about this one. I got this happy picture, but most of the time, she wasn't sure why she was in it.

Rachel slid down the slide with me and then her Nana helped her slide down it again.

Absolute joy being on the swing!

The two annoying geese!

Hotel del Coronado, Balboa Park, and Seaport Village

In the days following Christmas, Rachel and I stayed very busy with Tim's parents and Nana. On December 26th, we went to the Hotel del Coronado to see the lights.

On December 27th, we went to Balboa Park and Seaport Village just to walk around. Nana only has a couple of more weeks here before she goes back to New Zealand and so we have become San Diego tourists in the meantime.

Heather and Nana at Balboa Park

I think Rachel looks so old in this picture.

Seaport Village

Tooth

Rachel got her first tooth the first week of December. I finally got a couple of pictures where you can finally see it.

How helpful of her moving her lip out of the way with her spoon.

She was over me taking pictures, but it worked out because you can kind of see it here as well.

Christmas at the Pearsons

We went to my Mom's house to celebrate Christmas afternoon.

Rachel was very excited to open this gift.

She is not sure which one to go for first.

Tyler and Lacey opening gifts.

Brianne and Chris opening gifts.

Tim, Rachel and I stayed late and watched the Chargers win on Christmas evening. Gooooo Chargers!

Christmas at the Hodgsons

We went to Tim's parents house on Christmas Eve. We had dinner there and spent the night.

Rachel is eating at the dinner table with everybody else. I gave her a few bites of my food, but she still prefers her baby food.

Sam, Heather, Nana, and Rachel had a little jam session on Christmas Eve. Rachel really enjoys music and had a great time.

She needed to taste the coffee table to make sure it was safe. I love this picture and her reflection in the glass.

Don't look behind you Rachel, you will see some of your gifts.

Dang, look at all the loot that Santa brought!

Rachel loves the musical instruments that Uncle Matt got her.

Tim had to go out to the garage to search for his gift. It was a HD TV.

If you look at Matt in the background, it really looks like something smells bad.

Breakfast the next morning.

Rachel, I don't think that is how you are supposed to be sitting in your highchair.

Lunch with the Girls

Rachel and I got together with Marie, Emma, Kristyn, and Jillian last week. Since the Lewko's were unable to come to Marie's house a couple of weeks ago, we caught up with them at Panera last week.

Rachel and Emma both seem very interested in the shoes that Rachel just got.

I think Emma has a question.

Rachel kept pulling the bow out of Emma's hair every time she got close enough.

Jillian looks happy with her Little People Car.

All three girls in their strollers.

Rachel's legs look so short in her stroller. I swear she is not that short. She looks like she wants to hold Emma's and Jillian's hands.

Heather's Birthday

We celebrated Tim's moms birthday last Monday. The boys were so good by preparing the whole dinner for her.

I hope you had a wonderful birthday Heather!

Christmas at Aunt Cathy and Uncle Ernie's House

We celebrated Christmas at my aunt and uncle's house the Sunday before Christmas. It was officially Rachel's first Christmas!

Here she is opening her first Christmas present. Too bad this one wasn't actually hers. She is just helping others out.

Rachel and EJ had a great time playing together. He was so gentle with her most of the time. What a good little cousin.

Rachel and Grandpa David are having a moment. What a great Grandpa she has.

While most people were watching the Chargers game, I was in playing a question game with Corinne and Julia. Julia was the "question master" and asked us questions about her. She really wanted me to win so she would call on me every time I raised my hand (and if I didn't raise my hand, she would stand there and wait until I raised it). Corinne was getting so mad, she would cross off the points that Julia would give me. Even if I answered a question wrong, Julia would give me hints until I said the right thing. I was trying to lose towards the end because I found out that the prize was that I was going to be the new "question master".

Mom and Grandpa. I was so happy I got a picture of Grandpa where he wasn't sticking his tongue out!

Christmas Pictures

We went and got our family Christmas pictures taken at JCPenney.

She was really well behaved. She didn't smile as big as the 6 months shots (where she had wide-opened mouthed smiling in every picture) but smiled in almost every shot that they took.

Looking at this picture, it just reminds me how quickly she is growing.

What a big girl!

Christmas with the Stephens Family

We celebrated Christmas at the Stephens house a couple of weeks ago. We made homemade pizzas and just hung out and talked. We also exchanged gifts.

Tim got a bottle of Jager. Thanks Marie and Doug!

Doug is helping Emma open her gifts.

I think Emma enjoyed the paper more than the gift itself.

Rachel enjoys ripping at the paper but looks like she really has to concentrate on it.

The girls are playing in Emma's play yard in the balls. You can see that they both still stick everything they can get their hands on straight into their mouths.

Thanks Doug, Marie, and Emma for a great time!

Rachel and Spike

Rachel and I hung out with Becky, Eric, and Grant 2 weekends in a row. Rachel and Grant tried to play nice together...

...but apparently Grant tastes really good. Rachel just couldn't control herself. Every chance she got she was trying to pull his ears, eat his hand, face, foot, anything she could get her mouth on. You can just see it in her face in this picture. "I am going to get you!"

Again, trying to play nice...

...and again, she cannot control herself.

We went up to Canyon Lake and watched the annual boat parade. We went last year as well, but I was still pregnant then.

It was cold and rainy, but she was a trooper!