Baby on the Move!

She is going to kill me for this one day, because somehow these pictures will surface when that really hot guy has just asked her to prom, but I couldn't resist. Rachel has been suffering from a fairly bad diaper rash for the last several weeks, and the doctor diagnosed her with a yeast infection. I guess this is pretty common in babies, and I was given some cream to use on her. However, after a couple of days, her rash got so bad that I started leaving her naked in her pack 'n' play for a good two hours a day. This, as you can imagine, can get quite messy at times, but she actually seems to like being in there.

She has learned to occupy herself for up to 2 hours at a time independently. She sits with her toys and books and plays and babbles. Some people are amazed by this, but I am pretty happy with this because it allows me to get my chores done without constant interruption. I am very very proud.

Speaking of proud, Rachel is now a fully funtional crawler. She always managed to get around, because she pulled herself along with her arms. Talk about upper-body strength! However, in the last 3 weeks, she has mastered the full-fledged crawl, and she gets this look of determination on her face whenever she is headed off somewhere. She gets those legs churning and smiles from across the room and just zooms toward whatever she is after. I wish I had it on video here, but vimeo is not cooperating with me.

Rachel now has two official teeth. I spent a good 10 minutes trying to get a good picture of them, because she has a skill for hiding them with her tongue whenever I have the camera out. I think I got a couple good ones here, though not necessarily in a good picture of Rachel overall. We have started her on some more solids, and she will munch on raisins and pretzel rods and various other things we give her. She

uses the sippy cup more regularly and really enjoys yogurt juice -- yogurt and juice mixed together is not a pleasant thought to me, but apparently it is quite tasty because it is the only drink she consistently downs without taking 5 or 6 hours.

But with all of these amazing developments, I think my favorite has to be that Rachel blows kisses now. Granted, she puts more effort into placing the kiss on her hand with force than she gives to sending the kiss to whomever she intends to receive it, but the thought is definitely what counts here. I don't have a good picture or video yet, but I intend to make that my next photojournalistic endeavor. As you can see, her personality continues to thrive, and it makes for lots of fun pictures along the way! :)