SECOND TOOTH!!

one week after my first tooth came in.... my second has arrived right next to it - on the bottom. i have been extra tired and crabby today. not even very interested in playing.

7 months old!

i am growing up so fast! at 7 months i am really becoming mobile...moving from a sitting position to my hands & knees to my tummy to my back... spinning around 360 degrees on my tummy, reaching and scooting to get where i want to go. i am strong enough to be on my hands and knees and rock back and forth , but still retreat to my tummy when i want to reach or move around. i like to kneel on the stairs in my living room (sometimes pushing up to my toes) and then sit back on my bum. someday soon it will click in my head how to move these knees of mine and then my mom and dad won't be able to keep up with me!

now that i have my first tooth, i am a really good eater - chomping my food! i get impatient if my mom takes too long to bring the spoon back with more cereal on it. i like banana, pear, mango, papaya and peas. applesauce is still quite sour, but the taste is growing on me. i really like teething bisquits because i can hold them with my own hands.. transfer them back and forth from one to the other, bang it on the highchair-tray, and suck it til it becomes so soft that a slimy mess is all over me and anything that i can touch.

i love to jump, jump, jump and flap my arms, scream and yell to hear how loud my voice can be, gargle and sing at the same time, pick-up small items with my hands, suck any and all of my fingers, grab my toes and sometimes put them in my mouth. i love being in water - kicking and splashing - and playing my piano - bang bang bang! i find it very perplexing when my mom puts her hands over my ears because everything sounds different. i can sometimes wave goodbye.

i wonder what i will be able to do next month!

helping move

i went up to duluth with my parents who helped my grandma and grandpa move into their new house! i had a lot of fun playing with my cousin lussi and my mom says that i was sooooo good while everyone was cleaning and moving everything (even taking a nap on the floor in the midst of the noise).

on sunday morning, i took a bath in the bathroom sink and afterwards dozed off with my dad while he was reading the paper. i love being in the sunlight in their new living room. it is sooooo warm!

my first tooth came in!

my mom discovered my first tooth popping out of my bottom gums on thursday 16 march. i need to get used to this new SHARP thing in my mouth. i cut my finger on it once - but have learned quickly not to do it again. i have been chomping on my teether toys a lot lately because i think another tooth will be coming soon next the first on the bottom - and maybe even two more on the top - my gums are so puffy and i am drooling like a faucet. i was at my grandma&grandpa salmela's new house last weekend (see my auntie brit?) and had my first teether-bisquit. I LOVED IT! look how messy i got!

(sleeping) woven fingers

the olympics and the walker

my uncle chad came to visit me. he just got back from the winter olympics in torino...he brought us a bunch of cool stuff. i liked trying on my mom's hat.

my mom dressed me in jeans so i could look just like my grampa salmela in my walker art center t-shirt. i finally fit into it (my grandma bought it for me before i was even born).

all dressed up for the weizels

yummmmmm

i went to see my doctor today, for my 6 month check-up. she said i am developing so quickly! i now weigh 14 pounds, 14 ounces and am 25 inches long. i'm in the tenth percentile for both height and weight.. but my head is in the 50th!! i had another round of shots today too - which made me cry so hard i lost my breath. my mom and dad gave me some tylenol first to help me feel better this time.

i am now eating my favorite mixture of organic brown rice cereal and banana two times a day. i love it so much i let my mom get 95% of it in my mouth instead of on my face! you can see that i am sitting in my own high chair now. i like it even better than my walker because when i throw my toys off the side, the have a longer fall and make a bigger noise.

vintage red ball rocker

look at my cool 'new' rocker! my mom was able to retreive this one from my grampa's old business partner, who bought it from my grandparents many years ago in 1989. this is the old rocker that my mom and all of my salmela-aunts and uncles played on when they were kids. just think, it is almost 38 years old! i think i've received a family heirloom. cool dude!

playing with lussi

i got to play with my cousin last weekend. she is a little older than me and knows how to walk and talk ... one day i'll be able to walk and talk with her!

6 MONTHS OLD

today i turned 6 months old.

i played around in my 'ROCK AND ROLL PRESCHOOL' t-shirt all day. i love standing (with my mom's help) and jumping. see me flapping my left arm up and down? i can't believe my mom was able to get a picture 'cause i move sooo fast.

i also ate some brown rice cereal today. i went shopping to the seward co-op with my parents to get it just for me on my first ever 'half-birthday'. i loved it and i think it is going to help me sleep really good tonight.

weekend in duluth

my momma and i spent a long weekend in duluth with my grandma and grandpa salmela. while it took me a little bit to get used to being in a new place, i had a lot of fun 'cause i got to play with my cousin lussi's old toys! like this big activity saucer.

i also got to sit in her highchair that attaches to the table. while sitting at the table with the big people, i drank water from a sippy cup for the first time -(it made me soooo frustrated when i couldn't get the water to come out)- and also tried applesauce. wow! i'm not a fan. my mom and grandma were laughing really hard at the faces i was making. i think it was too sour.

and my favorite thing to do at grandma and grandpa's house is taking a sauna! i love the warm steam and sitting in the round blue bucket. i can't wait to try out their new sauna in their new house! only one more month before we can try it!

i had a lot of fun, i was excited to see my papa when we got home. i love being at home!!

reading books & eating avocado

i am making great progress in the development of my motorskills. i am very intentional when grasping toys and my mommy's hair. and when i don't have anything to grab onto, i practice by opening and closing the fingers in my right hand. I practice reaching by flapping my left arm up and down and up and down in broad movements. i also eat avocado or banana with my papa while my mom is at work. num num num!

nuk for sale

i do prefer to suck my thumb...but i also like to play with the pacifier like any other toy in my toybox.

i'm growing into a BOY

my recent progress:
i am beginning to master the whole sitting-thing and the 'transfering toys from one hand to another'-thing. i put everything in my mouth and put my fingers in my mom's mouth. i can grab my mommy's hair and even my very own toes. i can belly-laugh and sing along with my mom and mpr. i have started crying whenever my mom leaves the room...or comes home from work (that's when i realize that she was gone in the first place). and i'm beginning to be 'strange' with 'strangers'...sure signs that i'm growing older and more and more aware!

sitting-up & double fisting!!

wow! look at me! i can sit up all by myself for long periods of time...AND i can grab a toy in each hand and alternate putting them into my mouth where i can chomp chomp chomp. it must be the avocado and banana that i've been eating that's given me so much strength and ability. (hei lussi, look at my buddah!)

first sketch

my dad gave me a colored pencil today...this is what i drew. -i think he is impressed by the composition ... he only says he wants me to be a pilot... ;)

5 months old!!!

pink after my first sauna

eating with papa

i can even hold my bottle by myself!