Our first family trip to the beach

On Mother's Day we all went to the beach (well minus Brody since we didn't know where the dog beach was). We got Alyssa all lubed up with lotion and a big brimmed hat. She wore her swim diaper and new bathing suit(size 24 months and it fit!). She liked the sand and seashells a lot however all she wanted to do was eat them both. When we took her down to the water she was a little unsure. She absolutely loves the bathtub and splashing, but thats warm water. The ocean was still pretty chilly so she was a little unsure. After a few minutes she started having fun and smiling. After we were finished playing in the water we sat on a blanket under an umbrella so that new baby skin didn't get too much sun and burn. She wasn't a huge fan of the clean up though. They had an outside shower we washed off in, but it was all cold water, no warm at all. And then we still found more sand in the bath that night that was hiding in all of her roll creases.
Dave cooked us dinner and since it was May 10th, Alyssa's 8th month bday, she was allowed to try some of the chicken (before it was added to the chicken chilli). She liked it a lot. She tried some ground beef last night and really liked that too. I chopped it up really small and put it in a pile on her tray and she fed herself while Dave and I ate. Entertainment and nourishment all in one.
Since she is 8 months now she can start eating chicken, beef, pork, egg yolks, cooked dry beans, and whole milk yogurt and cheeses. Our family and friends should be happy about this because everyone always wants to feed her. Maybe its because shes so chubby, I don't know. As soon as someone picks her up they want to give her a sip or bite of whatever they are eating and I am pretty strict with what I let her eat. I follow the doctor's instructions completely, which I'm sure isn't always necessary, but I'm just trying to do whats best for Alyssa's health and teach her good eating habits. I am trying to feed her organic foods since I don't want her eating all those pesticides. Especailly in little girls, they are now saying all the hormones in meats are causing them to have their periods earlier. We don't need that. I am having a lot of trouble though finding organic foods in Jacksonville. I make her own baby food so there aren't any perservatives, salts, fillers, etc. Since I can't really find much organic, I planted my own vegetable garden for her last night! Hopefully in a month or two we will have all the zuchini, squash, eggplant, tomatoes, cucumber, and peppers the family can eat. Now I just have to keep Brody from peeing on them or eating them himself.
She is now pulling up on stuff easily and is starting to stand by herself for a few seconds. The last 2 weeks she has really been doing new stuff all the time. Its crazy how much can change in just a few weeks in a baby's world.
I think she might be getting those top teeth. its been about 2 months since the bottom ones came in so its about time for the top. She woke up in the middle of the night 2 nights ago crying and she has been doing a weird thing with her tongue. Its like she rubbing her tongue on her top gums. So I assume she is teething but I can't see or feel anything yet.
When I get around to it I am also going to post an album of Alyssa's Baptism from a few weeks ago. I posted a video of Alyssa at the beach at www.youtube.com/dlalewis