Swimming in June

Lydah is now crawling all over the place. We're trying to teach her what things she can play with (like blankets and CD cases) and what things she can't play with (like electrical cords and the kitchen trash). She's doing really well responding to "no" and she completely understands us when we want her to stop doing something. In the past few days she has decided to start throwing food on the floor if she isn't interested in eating it. Among her favorite foods are: bananas, cheese, and squash. She doesn't care much for cottage cheese and wheat bread. Fortunately for Mom and Dad she has been sleeping regularly from 7:00 pm to 6:45 am -- almost 12 hours straight! We thank God every day for the little treasure he has loaned to us for a time.

Swimming with friends in the backyard.

Lydah slipped in the tub one night and bruised her head pretty badly.
But babies heal fast and it disappeared in a couple of days.

Lydah doesn't seem to mind sleeping in awkward positions.

She's always happy after a good long nap.

9 (Months) Going on 17 (Months)!

That's right, our little 9-month-old is an overachiever! (Of course, that's what her parents think.) Lydah's latest achievements (of basically the last 2 weeks):

1. Crawling on her hands and knees (no more of this belly crawling)
2. Pulling up on furniture and 'cruising' along
3. Turning pages, opening flaps, and touching the pictures in baby books
4. Saying 'mamamama' (Mommy), 'dadadada' (Daddy), and 'lalalala' (Lydah?)
5. Eating table food! Yum!

Lydah plays peek-a-boo with Grandma Miller at dinner. Grandma bumped and bruised her head earlier that week, but she's much better now.

Lydah's 100-year-old, Great-great-grandmother Lida Miller feeds her an ageless favorite: Cheerios.

Lydah plays on Grandma and Grandpa Probst's rocking horse.

Memorial Day Reunion

Every year the Coates family meets at Durley Campground outside of Greenville, IL for a family reunion. These pictures are compliments of Bob Coates, my great-uncle, who is much more of a shutterbug that I'll ever be. Thanks, Uncle Bob!

With her soon-to-be aunt, Katrina, who will join our family officially on May 17, 2008.

With her Uncle Kyle.

With her great-uncle Gerry Coates.

Hitching a ride on Grandpa Coates.

Dandelions and Canned Goods

A few more pictures for you to enjoy from Lydah's first springtime.

Don't worry, we only allow her a teaspoon of dirt every day.

Yep, she's into everything now!

Mobility!

No pictures this time, but just a quick note that our baby is now officially mobile. As of yesterday, Lydah can scoot along the floor. She's not actually crawling, but she can push her body around by grinding her toes into the carpet and pushing. Yesterday she did it so much that her poor little toe has developed a blister. We'll keep you posted on all these earth-shaking milestones as they come.

Around the House...

Just a few pictures from around the house. Lydah is now "pulling up" on her own as of yesterday. She is also getting better at communicating to us through her various cries. One funny story to share... last night I (Greg) was in charge of putting Lydah to sleep while Courtney went out for a babysitting job. Lydah was crying in her crib and refusing to go to sleep so I figured, "Hey. I'm the dad. I can do whatever I want, right?" So I just brought her in to the living room with me to watch the nightly news. She was spellbound. She just sucked on her pacifier, watched the news with me, and occasionally scratched the throw pillow next to us. She then wiggled her way off of my lap and just laid her head down on my knee and closed her eyes. It was perfect. So I brought her into her bedroom and she literally lunged in the direction of the crib. Now that's being put to bed Daddy-style!

Trip to Atlanta

The three of us decided to take advantage of Greg's spring break to take a short trip down to Atlanta and Milledgeville, GA. Why Milledgeville? It is the home of none other than Flannery O'Connor, one of Courtney's favorite authors and the subject of her senior honor's thesis in college. While in Atlanta, we visited the world's largest aquarium, the Georgia Aquarium, which just opened last year. We all had a wonderful time and would like to share our pictures from the trip with you!