Grandma Mary was up visiting for the last couple of weeks while our nanny Olivia was gone on vacation.  In that amount of time, Little Linnea has made big strides in her daily activities.  On the first day, we noticed that she was doing a bit more moving around than in the past, so we set up a nice padded barricaded PlayLand in our living room.  I'm not sure why we even dismantle it at night, since we just put it back the next morning - but I guess it saves a little on the dog hair clean up.  Mocha and Lucy are quite fond of PlayLand except for the fact that Linnea is always in it.   The dogs, by the way are doing great with the baby and they let her fondle their feet and tails for about 20 seconds before up and moving.

We officially witnessed crawling motion with the chest off the floor.  According to all the food packaging instructions, that means Linnea has also officially graduated to being able to eat finger foods and teething biscuits.   That's a good thing, because we're already giving them to her.  Finger foods - the kid adores them.  She knows two baby hand signs so far - more (tapping her fists together) and milk (squeezing her fingers shut on one hand).  When given any sort of cube-shaped or drop shaped item of bite size, Linnea instantly puts one in each hand and gives the sign for "more" - as if to say that she already knows she's going to need more before she even tries them.  

Speaking of food, there is hardly anything we've found that turns her off.  The one thing was pesto pasta - not a good face on that one, and spit it out.  However, we've managed to get great reactions from beets, coffee, bacon, hot sauce (not really), hummus, pickles, Tim's Cascade Potato Chips (who wouldn't like them), lentils, broccoli, plain yogurt, and tea.  As a matter of fact, when Grandma gave her a sip of tea last night, she gulped it down like she hadn't had anything to drink in 3 days and she was rather appalled that Grandma wouldn't give her more more more.  

You're probably wondering about the Bee Sting.  Yeah, that wasn't a good mothering day.  It was a nice day outside.  The backyard was freshly mowed and Dad was doing some yardwork, so we wanted to join him.  Linnea has been practicing her walking skills, so even though I knew there would be some bees walking in the grass, I thought I'd watch very VERY carefully as we pranced around singing and walking little walking steps.  Much to my surprise, a heartfelt cry came out of nowhere and I lifted her up to wipe the grass off - to find a bee attached to her itty bitty foot.  Well crap - that was stupid.  So, she's totally teary eyed and in obvious pain as Miguel and I rushed her to the kitchen for some baking soda, ice packs and attempted distraction.  She settled down fairly quickly and I took her to the park to swing for a bit.  Luckily she had little to no swelling and aside from the couple hours of whimpering and broken mother, is no worse for the wear.  

So, what does every child need that is trying to learn to walk and has bees in the backyard?  Shoes!  Pink Shoes!  Grandma went straight to the baby store to pick up some lovely itty bitty sandals and Linnea just adores them.  She's pretty certain that she now has to work extra hard and pick her feet up 3 more inches to clear the shoes from the ground - so she looks a bit like a soldier when she walks - but she's already smitten with her fancy feet.

It was a sad moment when Grandma got in her car for the last time and drove away.  Linnea and I stood and watched as her car moved out of sight.  We had so much fun visiting, making dinners & breakfasts, learning, crawling and crying.   Time moves so fast when you look back at the memories.  Thanks mom, for being a part of all of the hustle and bustle - even taking our last chicken to her new home (she wasn't ready for chicken heaven just yet).  We look forward to seeing you next time!  Oh the fun we'll have then too.

Tonight as I was feeding Linnea before bed, I noticed a twinge of pain that was unfamiliar.  Low and behold, upon further inspection with my finger - a tiny point in her bottom gumline!  Teeth ladies and gentlemen - have arrived!  Of course, actually seeing the teeth was impossible and out of the question without major fussing and fighting before bed, but soon those photos will show pearly whites in her cheeky smile.   Stay tuned! 

We went to our friend Adam's house last night for the first bonfire of the year.  He and Lenore live a ways out, so you can hear the calling of the coyotes, see the stars if they aren't covered in clouds, and generally feel like you're camping.  Carne Asada and 2 splendind birthday cakes in honor of Hector's birthday were a nice surprise.  Willow and Owen took control of all the marshmallow roasting and left the rest of us to chat. 

Johnny told me about the mansion he stayed in for a couple of days on San Juan Island.  It had a custom door with an Arbutus tree carved in 3-D; a branch served as the handle.  It had lovely gardens and a lot that overlooked the sound and the Olympics beneath a perfect sunset.  Gardens with perfectly manicured bonsaii and vegetables growing throughout.  I wondered 2 things: #1,  What did these people do for a living to get a property like that?  #2, Now that they have it, do/can they appreciate it?  We don't really know the answers, but it does put things in perspective again.....not to mention the article I heard that morning about people barely surviving in an area of Vietnam where the government had approved a dam that would displace them all with water.  What a vast difference in livelihood.  

Andy and Katie are interested in getting bees.  Nate has bees as of 2 weeks ago.  I think eventually, we'll all have bees and chickens if we're not careful...but that's what we love, living a simple life and being stewards of the earth in some fashion.  Hearing about the mansion, and how those people live in such a manicured, beautiful place makes me think about our house, and our life.  We have it pretty good, and I enoy living in a little place.  I came home at midnight to see my freshly mowed lawn with our rock landscaping, plethora of "forget-me-nots" bursting with blue and 2 brand new daffodils adding their yellow splash to the mix.  I thought "I like coming home".  I don't need a mansion to be happy.