Baby's Best Friend

Now that you're mobile, Chelsea tends to stay away from you as much as possible. But sometimes, I'm still able to capture just how much you guys love each other!

First Family Vacation

When you were nine months old, we took our first family vacation. This was your fourth trip overall, but so far, we had visited people on our trips. This was our first trip, just us, just for fun. We rented a cabin in Mountain Bluff, Georgia. You loved exploring a new environment!

Our cabin had a beautiful view - we could see Tennessee and North Carolina from the back deck!

It was so secluded, this is the closest we came to meeting any neighbors:

We had a great time exploring "downtown" Blue Ridge. There were lots of cute shops and restaurants.

We went hiking along the Ocoee River, which is part of the Rhodedendron Trail in the Cherokee National Forest.

The weather was beautiful, and you loved being able to spend so much time outside. You were really great in the car, and slept really well in the cabin, too! Chelsea wasn't so well-behaved; she was pretty anxious throughout the trip. But overall, we had a really great time!

Plus, Mommy and Daddy enjoyed some peace and quiet too!

Apple Picking

One of my favorite memories from when I was a little girl was going apple picking with your Auntie Sara in Virginia. She adopted this as a tradition, and she goes every year. Your daddy and I have gone a couple of times since we moved to Atlanta, but not consistently. This year, we thought we'd tag along on Auntie Sara's annual trip to Ellijay, Georgia to visit B.J. Reece orchards. The scenery was beautiful.

You had so much fun playing near the trees and reaching up for apples.

After we had picked lots of apples, we took a break for a picnic. Just like Mommy and Daddy, you're always up for a snack!

There are lots of other things to do at the orchard, too. You're a little too young for the petting zoo this year, but you did get to make friends with a baby goat through the fence!

You also got to pick out a pumpkin in the pumpkin patch!

Later, you painted that pumpkin with just a little help from Mommy!

Fall is in full swing here in our house! So far, you really seem to be enjoying your first fall. You're even putting up with Mommy's incessant apple-themed baking and cooking, now that we're stuck with several bushels!

Overdue Photo Dump

Your mommy has seriously been slacking at updating this thing. I know I'm overdue for a blog post when I notice tons and tons of photos and videos in my phone that haven't made it on here yet. When that happens, I feel obligated to just post all of them with a few random updates. So. Here ya go!

One thing that we've made a lot of progress with lately is eating. You used to eat purées, like this salmon here:

Now, you're eating thicker solids and finger foods. It shows, too; you're growing so fast, you're almost too big for your fall wardrobe!

You've also had quite the full social calendar. You've had lots of playdates and outings, and you had tons of fun at Donovan's first birthday party!

You've really been on the move with crawling...

...and you've made some significant progress with standing.

I'm sure walking isn't far away!

But no matter how big you're growing, you're still my Baby Bear.

Play Ball!

When you were about nine months old, we took you to your first Braves game. You had been to a couple of Daddy's baseball games...

{cheering Daddy on at age 4 months}

...but this was different: your first professional sporting event was a big deal! Mommy and Daddy each have different favorite baseball teams, but we both agree that the Braves are our second favorite, so you will probably grow up rooting for your home team. Unfortunately, they're horrible this year, and they didn't do too well that day against the Mets. But we still had a really great time!

Your Daideo and Auntie Sara were really glad they were able to join you for your first game.

You slept through a lot of it (it wasn't a very good game), and I don't think you really understood what was going on down on the field. But you enjoyed the music and cheering, and you loved making friends with other fans. Also, you learned about how chopping is for baseball and not for football.