Great Wall

Nina told us she really wanted to get out of town and go see the Great Wall.  Who are we to deny our sweet baby?  We took the high-speed train up to Beijing (5 hours) and then drove 2 hours to a quieter section of the wall.  It's a good thing Nina can nap on our laps and loves riding in her carseat.

When we got to the wall the sun was out and the pollution was worsening, so we headed straight to the top for the best possible photo op.  Poor thing was a little tired, but she was a trooper and stayed cozy in the carrier until we got back to the car... and a bottle of milk.

It was a long/short trip, with the added bonus of her getting to practice crawling in the hotel room!

Flowers at the Park

Nina now has the ability to roam around and discover all the flowers, grass, and dirt that she can when we are at the park. And no, the sunglasses are not just a fashionable accessory; she only wears them when it's really sunny, otherwise she pulls them off.

And in case you didn't already know, in China you just get used to the fact that other people are going to touch your baby, pick up your baby, and play with your baby. Yep, that's some random - friendly - grandma holding Nina. At least Nina is quick to make friends.

Happy 10 Months!

Each month the photo shoot gets more interesting and a lot shorter - this girl does NOT sit still.  Today the name of the game was "Lunge at Mommy" but don't worry about the edge of the couch.  At least we got her beaming smile and her signature out-takes.

Whoa!

Hey, get up!

Here I come!

Look Mom, no hands.  (And so it begins.)

Slip slidin' away.

I'm crawling just as fast as I can!

Ready, Set, Go!

Check it out y'all, this baby is going places!  Last weekend we took Nina to Beijing to see the Great Wall (more photos of that in another post soon).  At the hotel she got lots of practice crawling around on the floor and on the bed.

Crawling in Beijing video

Needless to say, as parents we were incredibly excited to see these first true "steps" in crawling, as uncoordinated as they were.  In less than a week Nina has become incredibly confident and curious, surely a dangerous combination.  She actually followed me into the kitchen this morning, stopping along the way to push and pull her high chair.  Yikes!

Climbing Up video

Play Date

With the air quality being "Very Unhealthy" we did not go outside at all. Instead we invited Joshua to come play, and they had a blast. Somehow they ended up sitting right by each other, the perfect way to really get to know someone. (I put the pants on Nina's head. She thinks it's funny.)

Nina On the Move

Finally Nina is really covering some ground with her rolling, twisting, spinning, reaching, and lunging.  I'm still OK that she is not actually crawling yet, but it sure is fun to let her play on her own, turn away for 30 seconds, and see where she ends up.

Here are two little videos from our hotel in Chicago.  As hard as I tried to keep her on the blanket she kept wandering off...

http://youtu.be/ONIXvallwD8

http://youtu.be/ONIXvallwD8

Happy 9 Months!

Whoops... we were packing up for October holiday on Nina's birthday so I just barely managed to take the monthly photo but apparently never got around to sharing.  So here they are!

It's getting to be a real challenge to position Nina with Monkey without her eating him or pulling him over.  Oh well, you can still see how big she is getting!