Merry Christmas!

Christmas is drawing near and we are so, so excited to see you all!!!! India is loving her first Christmas tree....although she did look at her Daddy a little funny for bringing a tree into the house. Whenever we're not looking she finds her way over to pull the needles, grab a ball, or just sit underneath.

As the big girl she is she has started to demand more solid foods that she can feed herself. She doesn't want help anymore....Ms.Independent. This is a messy, but fun, experience for us all. She is cutting more teeth and has again been cranky and in a little bit of pain. Strangly we saw the teeth before the crankiness this time. I guess they are all different.

Thank you again to everyone who is sending adorable outfits for India. She is the best dressed baby I've seen!

We hope you're enjoying the Christmas season as much as we are.

See you soon!

Love,

Linwood, Sara, and India

8 months old - what a big girl!

India is becoming quite the big girl! This past week she has graduated from the baby bathtub into a bath ring. She just loves it..kicking and splashing whoever is close by! She has a harder time reaching her toys but does a good job of splashing them towards her.

We lowered her crib mattress to the lowest setting so that she doesn't jump out. She is pulling herself up on her knees and to standing whenever possible. We put her in her new lower crib to see how she liked the new view and she just played and played in there! It is such a blessing to have a baby who can entertain herself.

Shopping is so much easier now that India can sit in the cart. She loves being able to look around at everything and everyone around her. When we were picking out her Christmas tree she entertained all the other customers by squealing and screaming with delight! We even gave in and got her one of those singing toys. She is so spoiled:)

We are so so excited for the upcoming holidays and our trip east to see everyone!!!!

Until then, Love you all,

Linwood, Sara, and India

Laughing and Screaming

Crawling Video

I'm Gonna Bite You....Soon

India is officially teething. She has 4 teeth on the top and 4 on the bottom, waiting to break through. In the meantime no one in the Washington household is sleeping much. Poor thing is pretty uncomfortable this week.

Another first for the week is being able to hold herself up in the standing position by herself. She hasn't figured out how to get up or down but while she's there she has a great time!

We think that we have a little gymnist on our hands...that is before she begins her basketball career. We don't have a photo yet but she can make a front bridge pushing up on her hands and feet. It is sooooo cute!

We cannot wait to see you all at the holidays! It won't be long now!

Love,

Linwood,Sara, and India

Giving you the raspberries

This one speaks for itself.

7 month birthday

India has just turned 7 months and we have found a solution to our technical difficulties:) Here are some pictures that we've been saving up for you. India is just never still...turn your back and she's across the room, under the bed, tangled in blankets, chewing on something.... She also loves to jump on the bed and is fearless when it comes to heights.

We love you and will see you soon!

Linwood, Sara, and India

Moving around (3 weeks ago)

Technical Difficulties

Happy Fall!

We are so sorry for not posting for 2 weeks. We are having problems with our camera and haven't been able to get the pictures onto the computer. Luckily we have plenty in reserve to show you until we unveil the new ones:)

India continues to be such a joy. She is doing to army crawl to get where she wants to go. Still rocking on her hands and knees but hasn't made any forward movements that way. She is a pro at sitting up and can go from sitting to crawling. EVERYTHING is going in her mouth. She eats 3 meals a day of babyfood plus her milk. She experienced her first snow this season and didn't seem too bothered by the cold flakes. From the times she wakes up until the time she goes to bed she is laughing and talking and playing!

We're looking for some good babysitters so if any of you want to stop by you're always welcome:)

We love you and hope to be able to share our new pictures with you soon.

Linwood, Sara, and India

What a big girl!

India had her 6th month check up last week and she couldn't be healthier. She is now 16 1/2 pounds (which is average) and in the 80th percentile in height. Between that and her long fingers she is sure to be Daddy's little basketball player. In fact, this week she went to see her first basketball game, Daddy's! She was so excited and was jumping around watching the men bounce the balls. She was cheering her Daddy on too, guess we have a new activity for Tuesday nights. It was so cute!!

Everyday we watch her personality unfold even more. In the mornings she is just a ball of energy, talking up a storm and throwing her arms and legs all around. She is laughing constantly and making raspberries. Her latest foods are cantalope and cheerios. She doesn't have the "pincher thing" down to pick up the cheerios. She can pick them up with her fists though and we put one in her mouth every once in a while. She chews just like a grown up:) Dinnertime is the one time her temper unfolds. If she is not being fed faster enough or she wants more after the food is gone.

We miss you all and love you!
Linwood, Sara, and India

Six months old

India Bianca Washington

6 months old

15 plus pounds (we'll find out exactly on Friday)

Objective: To eat, sleep, and play at will.

Experience: I have been a baby for 6 months and know how to get whatever I want from my parents and grandparents. They rub my feet, give me baths, and even feed me. Life is good!

Skills: I can squeal like a 16 year old girl, babble words that don't sound like my parents, roll from one side of the room to the other and in circles, sitting up while playing and talking, I can spread my toys all around the room, and I can rock on my hands and knees. I have moved forward by pushing with my legs but haven't quite mastered the arm/leg coordination of crawling.

If you are looking for someone with these skills and abilities, you can call my parents. They'll probably say "no" but you can call anyway.

Jumping Video

I hope that you can open this... It's a video of India jumping in her Jumperoo. She is just so cute we can't stand it!!!

"I Get Around"

It just seems like the weeks are flying by...each one better than the last. India is just full of personality and smiles! She just loves playing with her toys and has discovered that if she throws them, we will get them for her. She continues to chew everything and gets upset if a toy is taken from her. She has developed a rather efficient way of moving around. She will get up on her knees and push herself forward while still on her elbows....kind of like an inch worm.

The highlight of this week was definately seeing Grandpa Zutell on the way home from his elk hunting excursion. You can see his antlers in the background of the picture:)

We just want to thank all of you who have and are providing her with clothes and other things that she needs. We really, really appreciate it!!

Love you all,

Linwood, Sara, and India

Growing like a weed

Hello All!

India seems like she is growing inches everyday. She is wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes. This past week India went to her first baseball game, the Rockies vs Padres. She's not crawling yet but up on her hands and knees rocking back and forth in bliss! Dropping her off with the babysitter hasn't gotten any easier but we know that it's harder on us than it is on India.

Bath time is ever so joyful, she's learning how to separate by throwing all the toys out of the tub she doesn't want. She kicks and splashes water everywhere with her hands.

This week she has eaten zucchini and apples, both of which she really seemed to like. If we could just get her to see that she can't eat and suck on her fingers at the same time.

We love you,

Linwood, Sara, and India

5 months old and got a cold

We hope that you all enjoyed your Labor Day weekend as much as we did. Ours was jam-packed with walks, a trip to the park, a picnic, and lots of quality family time.

We've also reached a new milestone...India has gotten her first cold. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later now that she's started to go to the babysitters, but it is so sad to see. Her poor little eyes are red and she has trouble breathing through her nose. Other than taking a few extra naps she doesn't seem bothered by it all that much. As parents I think that our failed attempts to make her feel better were far more bothersome than the cold itself. We have learned our lesson...sometimes you can't make things instantly better, you just have to be patient and wait it out. Today she is almost back to normal and so are we:)

We Love You All!

Linwood, Sara, and India

Coming Soon....Baby Gates

Just when we thought India couldn't get any cuter.... here we go again! Going to the babysitter has really helped her social skills, she's now talking to anything that smiles at her. Don't get it wrong, we're still her favorite people:)

The world of solid foods is very exciting...we've progressed from green beans to sweet potatoes, to peas, and now she is eating bananas. She loves bananas! The first night we fed them to her she ate almost an entire banana herself. Of course I should have been a better monitor because she ended up with a belly ache.

India's days consist of eating, drinking, rolling, sucking on her fingers and occassionally her thumb(somehow she found it without your help Gram:)), grabbing any and everything in front of her, skootching across the floor, reading, trying to eat books, and playing in the tub. She has almost mastered sitting up alone. Once she's up she always gets distracted, lunges for something that catches her eye, and falls over.

We love and miss you all. We don't have any big plans for this holiday weekend so feel free to stop by and visit:)

Linwood, Sara, and India

"We are Family"

Hello ALL

Family and freinds let me start by saying thank you and I love you for the wonderful time I had during my 1st trip to Virginia.
In this weeks edition of the site I wanna send my appreciation, in other words a shout out.
During my 1st trip to the East Coast it was great!! I was showered with lots of love for 2 whole weeks from loved ones I had never met. I recieved love from people that I never new existed. :-)
From old folks to young and fun. Ladies to teach me things and males to protect me.
I can still feel the love!!!
To all of you Thanks
I Love You
India aka I.B.