Seven Months Old: International Traveler

RICHLAND, WASH. -- Geesh, it has been quite the month! Our little family packed our bags  and bid farewell to Boston. We flew straight to London, where we treated ourselves to a little retirement/congratulations vacation (retirement for me, congratulations to Isaac on finishing 10 years of education). It was a much needed break from reality. We tried to have a good mix of site seeing tossed in with relaxation. I think we found just the right balance. Marin was a trooper through it all... the red eye flight, sitting in her stroller for good chunks of the days, and for the 9 hour flight back from London to Seattle. She is such a good girl! Here are a few photos from our oversea adventure: 

Marin's first time on the swings in St. James Park. Her face says it all! 

Isn't she the cutest?!

Hanging out on daddy's shoulders in Hyde Park

Feeding the birds in Hyde Park.

Playing in the water at the Princess Diana Water Fountain Memorial 

Hanging out with Uncle Casey who came up from Germany to play with us.

She loooooves the swings! This was in the Princess Diana Memorial Playground next to Kensington Palace.

Enjoying the Princess Diana Memorial fountain on the Fourth

Kind of ironic we celebrated her first Fourth of July in England. 

With the London Bridge and London Tower (home to the crown jewels) in the background.

Big Ben and the Parliament building behind us.

Watching a little tennis match at Wimbledon. 

Seven Month Stats:

• I haven't weighed her this month. I need to get on that. 

Eating:

• This girl can finally drink from a sippy cup! Hallelujah! 

Sleeping:

• Pretty sure our London tripped messed her sleeping up immensely. The poor little thing didn't know what time zone she was on. And now that we're on the west coast... even more far removed from the schedule/time zone she was accustomed to, she is even more out of whack. And add teething to the list. Fun nights. Here's to better sleeping in the coming weeks! 

Wearing:

• Nine month clothes still fit this munchkin best. 

Tricks and New Skills:

• This sweet little girl can say dada and mama like a champ. Her first time recognizably saying "mama" was when our movers were packing up our apartment. I set her down for approximately 30 seconds to sign some papers and she freaked out and yelled, "MA MA," it was darling. The first time she said "dada" (in front of Isaac) was in London. We were walking around a park waiting to check in our place and she was sitting in her stroller while Isaac was pushing her, and looked up at him and proudly declared, "DA DA!" Isaac melted right on the spot. Though, I am pretty sure she referred to some guy at the pool the week prior as "DA DA" when she saw him from behind with a hat on. To her credit, it did look a bit like Isaac. 
• She started crawling a few weeks ago and has upgraded to pulling herself up on things. Heaven help us!
• We introduced Marin to swings while we were in London and I don't think her life will ever be the same. She had an open mouth smile and giggle plastered to her face the whole time! 
• Marin likes to scream when she gets excited, or really to communicate anything at all. It's half hilarious and half annoying. They can be pretty high pitched.  
• I think she's starting to develop separation anxiety. The other day I put her on the rug next to the shower to play, while I took a much needed shower, and you would have thought I'd abandoned her and gone to China. She squealed and screamed like I've never heard her. Ridiculous. 

Well, that's about it. It's amazing to me that she's already seven month old. The things she learns in such a short amount of time astounds me. We have been spending our days at the pool (it's been in the triple digits here) and running random errands trying to get our new little place in order. Can't wait until we're all settled... and I'm sure this little munchkin feels the same!  Happy summer!