For Keira's first Halloween, she was a duck! I thought her costume was adorable, even if it was from Costco. I am beginning to realize that I am probably not going to be one of those moms that sews all of their kids' costumes and does a lot of crafty stuff.

Keira didn't mind wearing the hood on her costume, so that made it even more adorable.


The best part of the costume is her poofy duck butt!


We went to a Halloween party hosted by one of our play group friends. There was another duck there!

We also went to a party hosted by one of our neighbors. She had a little photo shoot area set up for the babies!

Keira and her best buddy Cora decided to have a little pre-party in our front yard.


Keira with her daddy. Don't they both have beautiful eyes? Keira's grey eyes are really unique. I think she may have inherited them from her great-grandpa Hardy.

Matt made us some happy face masks. Don't ask.

We stayed home on Halloween night, and we were flooded with trick or treaters! Next year we need to stock up on more candy. Oh, and we need to keep our little candy fiend away from our stash.

Don't worry, Keira didn't actually eat any of the candy!

Keira: Baby Model

A few weeks ago, my little point-and-shoot camera was destroyed when my water bottle leaked water into my purse and soaked the camera. Since I needed a new camera anyway, and I want to be able to take good pictures of Keira, I decided to get a DSLR camera instead of a point-and-shoot. Of course, once I got it home I didn't really know how to use it. So, I signed up for a photography class and the teacher asked me to bring Keira!

The class was held at Kate Sessions park. I forgot how nice that park is!



Keira looks worried. In this one. Maybe she doesn't like having ten giant cameras aimed at her for hours at a time?

The teacher demonstrating a good pose for being photographed with your baby.

Keira at 8 months

At 8 months, Keira continues to be a joy to Matt and I. This little girl is just too sweet - I am not sure how Matt and I got so lucky! She has developed a real fascination with her Dad. He is her idol! She thinks that everything he does is hilarious and/or cool. We wait for him to come home at night by looking out the front window, and she is ecstatic to see him at the end of the day. She is a really active and independent baby, and she seems fearless. Nothing bothers her! I hope for her sake that she keeps these traits. What a fun life she will have!

Play Time at Home

This is how Keira and I play when we are at home by ourselves:

Step one: Set up room by getting out the Ikea toys and building a tower out of empty boxes.



Step Two: Inspect and then destroy box tower.


Step Three: Crawl back and forth through Ikea tunnel.


Step Four: Crawl from tunnel to Ball Pit.


Step Five: Play in the Ball Pit for a while.


Step Six: Remove blanket from baby play gym.


Step Seven: Pull up onto baby play gym and remove all hanging stuffed animals.


Step Eight: Attack Mommy!

One of the nice things about living in San Diego is that you can have a swim day in October. Matt and I took Keira to the Tierra Santa pool, which has an awesome baby pool with a bunch of slides and spray toys. Keira loved it! She really wanted to be able to walk and swim by herself so that she could play with the other kids, but she'll have to wait a while more for that!

I am so happy that we discovered this pool -- I know that Keira and I will be here a lot next summer!

After our swim adventure, we decided to continue pretending we are on vacation and head over to Shelter Island for a baby-friendly happy hour. Keira is a real joy to have around. We can take her anywhere and she is happy and friendly - even restaurants! It was fun to sit at the hotel restaurant and watch the boats and the people in the pool. I really had that "vacation feeling" which I love so much. I was bummed to move back to San Diego after Shanghai, but I am starting to rediscover this city and realize that it is truly a great place to live!