Baby

This little girl is getting very very busy. Now that she can get around, she is a very happy little girl, and loving being able to investigate all the interesting things that are at her eye level.

One day, a big brother took her outside. She found a mud puddle, and had lots of fun!

After I got her cleaned up, she fell asleep almost immediately.

One day during school, she tipped a book box over and ended up on top of it! She was not happy, but not hurt so I grabbed a picture quickly before rescuing her.

The big thing right now is going under things.

One day, Esther took Little Miss outside and put her on a sheet to play. Mr. Imagination played with her.

“Why can’t I go outside like everyone else?” Look at that sad face!

Mr. Handyman loves to hold his sister; here he was singing after church.

Happily banging away on top of a trash can.

“Yes, I’m cleaning out the cupboard for you. You mean I shouldn’t be tasting all the containers while I do it?”

She was so pleased with herself the day she discovered the pantry shelves and that she could pull containers off! The next step was the discovery that the lid of the brown sugar container was loose. I have now moved that one up higher.

Little Miss is now eight months old, and I decided to post eight month pictures of the other children. People keep asking if she looks like the others—you judge! The first five are scanned copies of prints from photo albums—we didn’t have a digital camera then.

Esther tried to help with dishes in the rental house we lived in until she was about 10 months old.

Mr. Handyman

Mr. Inventor still loves babies—real ones now!

Mr. Intellectual

When Mr. Diligence was little, we made our living by raising, butchering, and selling chickens. We also butchered chickens for other people. We would spend two days a week in the butcher shed. One day, Mr. Intellectual (almost 3) was taking care of Mr. Diligence (around 8 months) while we butchered. They got hungry; it was usually 1:00-2:00 by the time we went in for lunch. When I went in the house to clean up and finish lunch, I found a brown trail leading from the door to the pantry. You can guess what my first thought was—yuck! Then, I found this baby, covered with the brown stuff, and then I saw the container beside him and smelled what he had. Peanut butter! Mr. Intellectual had gotten the peanut butter container off the shelf we kept it on, and the two of them had a feast. Funny, Mr. Diligence still loves peanut butter more than almost any other food! Oh, and I spent a good while cleaning up instead of finishing making lunch!

Mr. Sweetie was our first baby to experience a New Zealand winter. He discovered the woodbox built into the wall of the living room one day, and had a wonderful little playhouse!

When Mr. Imagination was about eight months old, he got to taste chocolate for the first time, when I made a birthday cake for Mr. Handyman. He apparently approved of the flavor!

And here is 8-month-old Little Miss!

We seem to keep taking pictures of Little Miss! She is a very happy little girl most of the time. As you can see below, she loves her bath.

Now that she can crawl, she likes to go in the bathroom and check out the bathtub. Mr. Imagination was playing with a balloon-powered boat.

She found the toys in the boys’ room one day.

She wasn’t sure about getting water dripped on her head.

Which brother will she choose? Mr. Diligence, Mr. Handyman, and Mr. Inventor were all trying to get her to come, and this time she chose Mr. Handyman.

Mr. Handyman took her for a walk.

One day in Family Worship, we were reading one of the last chapters of Job, where God is asking Job if he knows as much as God. To illustrate, Gayle asked Little Miss a series of questions, none of which, of course, she was able to answer!

I love those little bare feet!

Mr. Inventor holding Mr. Imagination and Little Miss.

Will someone please tell me where the last month has disappeared to? This little girl is already seven months old! These pictures have been taken over the course of the entire month—warning, there are a lot of them. My sister-in-law from America has been here with us for a month, and we took a trip, so I have an incredible number of photos to share here. She left yesterday, so maybe now I’ll have time to post again. To start out, here is our little charmer. This first picture shows her reaction to a strip of green pepper a month ago: She hated it! After a couple of tries, she wouldn’t even touch it anymore.

Checking out a sleeping bag.

Peekaboo!

I finally found the doll that  one of my sisters-in-law made many years ago when Esther was a baby! She made matching dresses for the doll and Esther. This baby has been wearing the dress, but I couldn’t find the doll until I cleaned the boys’ room a few weeks ago.

My two daughters.

On the road: she has discovered the joys of carrot sticks…

…and shells. This was at Farewell Spit.

Enjoying the sun and grass at Cape Farewell.

Vehicle problems meant that most of us spent several hours one day at a beach. One way we entertained ourselves was by taking photos!

Little thief! She stole her big sister’s apple!

With Mommy at Split Apple Rock.

Back home again—she’s now crawling, which means that she can clean out the cupboards! Watch out, world. How do you like that innocent expression?

She’s also pulling up to anything she can get her hands on—usually so she can taste it!

Mommy’s plate and spoon are good, too.

Yesterday morning, the children put the tray on her Bumbo so she could eat a banana. She sure made a mess, but loved the new flavor.

Look who turns six months old today! Her biggest brother let her and Mr. Imagination try on his new earmuffs.

Mr. Imagination and Little Miss love each other dearly. She thinks he is absolutely hilarious (when he isn’t hurting her), and he loves her (but has trouble expressing that love properly at times).

She’s working on crawling. We placed guesses today, writing on the calendar what day each of us thinks she’ll start crawling.

One morning she got up early. When I had to attend to some personal business in another room, I left her sitting a little way from the couch with some toys, as in the second picture below this. When I came back, this is what I found—a baby under the couch!

I often sit her down by the kitchen door while we’re doing school at the table beside this door, and she enjoys looking out the window. This day, I let her have the clothespins, and she enjoyed pulling them out.

It was so much fun investigating Mr. Inventor’s eyes, nose, and mouth!

One morning, Mr. Intellectual made himself some scones (American biscuits) for breakfast. She figured out how to grab one when no one was watching, and got it into her mouth and a bite taken out of it before anyone noticed!

I was chopping peppers, and gave her a slice. She made a terrible face when she tasted it, as I expected. Usually, she’ll like something after a few tastes, but when she tried the pepper again she made a face again. After a few tries, she made the face when she even looked at the pepper, and pretty soon she wouldn’t even touch it!

I guess you can tell I’ve been doing things besides writing blog posts. It’s already been a month! I thought maybe a couple of weeks.

My baby is five months old today, so I’ll start the catch-up process with some pictures of Her Royal Cuteness.

Early May, almost four months, with Mr. Handy Man:

Tummy time usually lasts only a few minutes.

A friend sent a mobile, and it was immediately loved. This is mid-May, when she was four months old.

Toes—the ever-present toy.

She loves to investigate the texture of various fabrics.

One evening, she was happy for half an hour or so, sitting up on Daddy and playing with her toes.

Late May, on a quilt a lady from South Africa, who lives in the North Island, made after visiting one afternoon.

Kissing big brother!

And now, on to June! Asleep on Daddy.

Kissing Mr. Sweetie.

Mr. Sweetie played with my camera one afternoon, and I found this when I looked at the memory card.

She loves to sit in her Bumbo on the kitchen counter and investigate everything within reach.

Her favorite place to sleep—in someone’s arms.

For a few weeks, we were treated to the sight of this cute little tongue all day every day. She’s pretty much quit doing it now, though, in lieu of sucking on her lower lip!

Checking out the cabbage I chopped for a coleslaw.