Recovery

It's been a long couple of weeks here for Ida Jane. Between getting her teeth in (at last count, four were visible, two on top and two below) and getting a really nasty virus that had her coughing and took away her voice, she's been through a lot.

She was too under-the-weather to travel to New England this week, which has been rough on everyone. It would have been fun to see all of her friends and relatives, but, as we know, baby controls the schedule. And, in this case, teeth and virus have been the primary itinerary items.

One thing that helped was the sheer quantity (and quality, Ida Jane would probably add) of her toys. In fact, we wonder if she'll ever get lost in them:



Ida Jane also loves her animal friends, and they love her back. Olivia always makes her feel better.



And Herman is very patient, even when she crawls all over him. It feels better when you play with your friends.



As of now, she's still a little grumpy about showing her teeth off, but stay tuned for mouth-updates. Sorry again to everyone that we missed this week. We hope to see you all again soon.

10 mos. and counting!

Ida Jane turned ten months old today! As a nice coincidence, her cousins Grayce and Maddy were in town at Uncle Howard's to celebrate.



It was so nice to meet them for the first time!

Ida Jane also had a very enjoyable trip to Ohio and Indiana over the past week with Mama and Dada. She had her very first swim at a hotel outside of Pittsburgh. She took to it like a fish to water, of course, and loved kicking her legs and exploring the new environment.



Needless to say, it won't be her last.

Ida Jane also spent some great quality time with family. Here she is, enjoying a book with Grandma. She loved learning about new things from Grandma, which often required some serious concentration, as you can see.



Grandpa was good for some laughs as well. Here we are, getting ready for a boat ride.



Cousin Evan was there as well. The two of them hammed it up quite frequently. Here they are, goofing around on a chair.



There were some unexpected visits for Ida Jane as well, like meeting Muddy the Mudhen at 5/3 Field in Toledo.



Sometimes the smile says it all: