sisterbison.....running with babybison: Adventures and Misadventures at 6 Months

Zooey has had a busy month. (Read: Zooey's parents have had an INCREDIBLY busy month!) In addition to fun antics at home like rolling over, transferring toys from one hand to the other, getting closer and closer to sitting on her own, starting to enjoy books and even turning the pages sometimes, Zooey had a couple fun out-of-house adventures this month.

One short adventure was to a pumpkin farm in the S Suburbs. I can't endorse the location (it was kitzchy and weird), but it certainly was good to get a few photos of Z in her Halloween costume! Before Z, the only time I thought kids were cute was in October in their adorable furry Halloween costumes. Since Z, I can appreciate the cuteness of other babies, but still....aren't all kids cuter in fuzzy Halloween costumes? This will not be last pictures of Z as a bunny, I promise!

Last weekend, we went to County Line Orchard in Hobart, IN which I do endorse. It is a very well run pumpkin patch and apple orchard and has a nice kids' farm as well. I must confess that we had a minor (major?) parenting fail. I've been pretty stressed about trying to get some cute photos of Zooey- she is just adorable right now and I want to be sure we capture her at this maximum cuteness! I thought Zooey next to a pumpkin or two would be just perfect! So we found some great looking pumpkins and plopped her down next to them. She was a bit too enthralled with the newness of the outdoors to give us any good smiles. She really seems to enjoy new experiences- she does not cry, she actively looks around and pays attention- but when she's not home or at daycare or Grandma's (familiar environments) she smiles and laughs a bit less. But Adam, being the fantastic spouse he is, got down on his stomach in the dirt of the pumpkin patch to attempt some good shots. Despite the lack of smiles, I think we got some cute shots.......but......that's not the whole story.......

What good looking pumpkins!

Grandma placing the baby

"Hey, this isn't so bad. I have an arm rest, I'm chillin'"

"I'm not sure what you guys want from me here"

"Weeee! I'll lift my legs, getting in a good core workout"

"Maybe I'll grab the grass with my right hand.
Yeah, that's the ticket.
Ooh, maybe I'll grab some grass even FURTHER to my right"

.......and then she fell to her right and faceplanted. She landed on her belly and her face. Face full of dirt. Crying. Our never crying little girl, crying. And it was all our (I guess my) fault. Poor little thing. We cleaned her off, calmed her down and (perhaps foolishly) tried again. You probably don't need me to tell you what happened this time. Faceplant. This time I was close to her but was trying to get my hair out of my face so I could see her and wasn't able to get to her in time. Poor Z. She was also hungry by this point so it took some maximum parenting to get our little one back in good spirits. I guess as a full time doctor and only part time mom I'm bound to make some mistakes. Luckily no harm done though Adam was none too pleased with me for the rest of the day. (And Grandma, to her credit, tried her hardest not to laugh at newbie parent mistake 101.)

We then meandered over to the orchard....

Dad comforting Zo after the Great Pumpkin Incident of 2013

Still shell shocked from the fall.

Recovery!

And the the kids' farm.....

After watching the goats playing.

And miscellaneous other fun!

Zooey weight: 12 lbs. Pumpkin weight: 30 lbs. Pumpkin gets the stroller.

Diaper change in Elly!

It was an absolutely beautiful day. I'm so glad we had Grandma Nelson with us to enjoy it!

Last weekend, we also tried solid foods for the first time. Butternut squash. A perfect fall food. As expected, Z played with it a lot more than ate it, but she did put some in her own mouth and was accepting when we put it in her mouth as well. I think we have 40 minutes of video of this first food adventure. Want me to post it? Overkill? :)

Zooey is such a happy baby. It's hard not to be happy around her because she is always looking for a reason to smile (diaper changing time? yippee, let's smile! breastfeeding time? wait, let me first give you a grin! bath time? let me hold my feet up for you to clean the fuzz from my toes! playtime? the best! giggles all around. tummy time? not my favorite, so I'll just roll over and give you a sheepish grin.) We know how lucky we are. And we are doing our best to enjoy every minute! Even the 'minutes' that happen between midnight and 5 am:)