Ouida Mae

Kimberly got some good video of Ouida Mae walking around the local fabric store this week.

Sorry, we’ve been slacking at this again. Ouida Mae had a grand birthday in December, and a great Christmas (maybe Kimberly will links to pictures later).

More recently she’s been a little under the weather, as have I. This weekend we got some snow, though, and she got to touch it. At first she was kind of upset that she had something on her hands, then she didn’t like that it was cold.

Also, after a month of intermittent runny noses and watching me all week, last night she took a tissue from the box and then rubbed it on her nose before trying to give it to us and then pulling it apart in little bits. Very cute.

Because it was a nice day out and some friends from church were going, Kimberly decided we should all go to the Nashville Zoo today. We set out at around 10am and walked around until almost 3pm. Ouida Mae had a good time and was generally engaged the entire time. She showed a lot of interest in the various types of animals, but she loved the aquariums the most. I think she could sit and watch the fish for hours.

meeting up with friends at the zoo

watching the elephants

Her favorite by far were the camels at the petting zoo. She grabbed the fence, jumped up and down, pointed at a camel and said “Doggie!”

Ouida Mae checks out the camel

We also got a membership while we were there, so expect more zoo pictures in the future…

We really are terrible about updating this. If you want that to change, you might email Kimberly and ask her to spend a few minutes on here instead of MDC each week…

Anyway, I won’t be able to due the missed time justice. Here are some high points.

Ouida Mae has six teeth. Four upper and two lower, but they seem to just keep coming.

Ouida Mae crawls like lightening and cruises a lot, but doesn’t quite stand by herself.

She’s learned a few words, notably “doggy”, but she mostly babbles in her own language only she understands (maybe).

She was dressed as Chewbacca for a few Halloween events.

She’s currently recovering from a bout of bronchitis.

For the 4th of July we went to East Tennessee to visit with family.

Kimberly, Ouida Mae, and Rosa at The River

Ouida Mae in the 4th of July dress from Happy and Joyce

JB, Ouida Mae, and Dar at The River

Malachi, Ouida Mae, and JB in hippie attire

Ouida Mae at swim lessons

Ouida Mae and Kimberly at swim lessons

Toothy says hello

We took a trip to the Wilson County Fair.

At the petting zoo

watching the animals at the petting zoo

Sleepy in the sling

Later in the summer we took another trip to East Tennessee to visit with JD and Arlette.

riding on JD's boat

At 9 months, Ouida Mae was going to town on goldfish.

OM NOM NOM

In October, Ouida Mae went to a fiend’s birthday party. There were a lot of babies there, and one dog (part border collie). Ouida Mae seemed most interested in the dog.

party hats for all!

Anyway, that’s a quick recap. Hopefully we can do better in the future…

I hate that I so seldom get a chance to update this journal. Ouida loves to play with my lap top, so it’s very hard to get anything done on it when she’s awake as she’s climbing all over it and trying to pull the keys out.

She was six months old on June 11 (there is a video in the works). Last week at the doctor she weighed 16 pounds. She is sitting, crawling, pulling up, and eating solid food. I believe she slept through the night last night, but it’s possible I just slept through nursing her. She continues to act like she’s cutting a tooth with no evidence to support it.

We try to take her out and expose to new experiences as often as possible. Here she is in her new sun hat:

At the American Artisan Festival in Centennial Park:

And at Percy Priest Lake at Long Hunter State Park:

Since Ouida Mae was only a few weeks old I have been putting her in the garden tub with me and letting her float in the deep water. For the most part she has always loved her baths, and she has learned to kick and play in the warm water. Last week I tried supporting her on her belly for the first time and she smiled and giggled as she tried to lick the water.

This week we took her to the pool for the first time. I knew she liked to be in the water, but was more than a little apprehensive about how she would react to the temperature difference between the hot bath and the cool pool water. Turned out it wasn’t so bad…

A little nervous at first...

But with a little encouragement from Mom...

all was right with the world again!

All dry again:

Our little Oompa Loompa

Ouida Mae was five months old on Monday. Here is a little video we made to commemorate the day:

We got a couple of decent photos from the event too:

Here are some videos from the visit with the puppies two weeks ago.

No. 1  The Larch.

No, no.  Umm… how about some video Kimberly got of Ouida Mae babbling.

Yesterday, Kimberly brought Ouida Mae to where I work and I got to show her around a bit.  Everyone said she’s cute.  Afterward we went with a few coworkers for some previously scheduled Thai food at Noodle House in La Vergne.  Celina was gracious enough to take a few pictures for me.