Nap Time

In yesterday's blog post, I noted that Jenna and I took a walk while Leah and Devin took a nap. I couldn't resist taking this picture.

Look - Leah really can be still.
Pretty on Pink

(Sorry Devin but I had to post it)
And speaking of nap time, I took these pictures yesterday while Hope was napping. Although I lay her down on her back, she usually immediately pulls herself up on her side, then eventually rolls over to her tummy. She pulls her legs up and sticks her little bum in the air - sometimes it can get pretty high, but yesterday was a more moderate day.

We Love Jenna

At the beginning of last week, I called my mom and Jenna was visiting so I chit chatted with her for a few minutes. I told her Hope and I were planning to visit that weekend. A few days later, I called my mom again and Jenna was visiting again so I chit chatted with her again. Apparently, once I told Jenna that we were planning on coming up, she spent a lot of time at Grandma's to make sure she didn't miss us. So my first "back home" post is dedicated to Jenna.

Jenna stopped by to see us a couple of hours after we arrived on Saturday.

We spent a little time outside where Jenna played on the slide.
Jenna had some new pretty rings that she was wearing.
On Sunday, Jenna got up to go to church with us. After we ate dinner, we went for two walks. One with Leah and Devin through the woods, and then once Leah and Devin laid down for naps, Jenna and I walked down to the barn to see if we could see the baby kittens. They weren't out and about, so we visited with the cows instead.

Jenna loves babies.

BAM!

And just like that, it was gone.

Hope and I were "back home" over the weekend. Monday evening when I tried to log in to check my email, I discovered that my hard drive had died. Yes, this is the hard drive on my new computer that we got this past December. And to think that I traded in a computer that was almost a decade old for this. Anyway, Joe is diligently working to install a new one right now. In the meantime, I am able to use Joe's laptop for a quick post. Hopefully my new hard drive will be up and running soon, so check back for photos from our weekend visit.

Here is a photo of Hope from Saturday when we were outside watching Jenna play on the sliding board.

We Went to the Dr and the Dr Said....

That's what you get for jumping on the bed!

Thank-you to Mrs. Smith, my 5th grade teacher, who gave Hope the "Five Little Monkeys" book. Anytime I read it to Hope, it sticks in my head for about 4.628 days after reading it.

Here is Hope with her book, reading to her monkey in her jammies - both which were also gifts from Mrs. Smith.

Hope really did go to the Dr. today for her four month check-up. She weighed 15 lbs, 7 oz and was 25.75 inches long. She has gained 3 lbs, 7 oz and grew 1.75 inches since her last visit on May 6. Hope also got a few shots today. She liked them as much as usual, but she was over the pain and hurt feelings by the time we left the Dr's office.

We are now starting solid foods. For the next week or so, Hope will be getting used to rice cereal.

She had her first serving of rice cereal this evening.

Note the bib change.

Hope has also been paying a bit more attention to the dogs lately. Sometimes they really crack her up and she giggles at them. As big as Hope is getting, Morgan is still a lot bigger....

Even though this was just perfect timing, Morgan really is still quite the drama queen.

Grandma Shower

This is definitely a catch-up post. At the end of May, Hope and I went to a surprise Grandma Shower for Terry, a co-worker of mine. Terry's daughter was expecting a baby girl July 8th. Baby May (I'm not certain of the spelling of her name) was born 10 days early on June 28th and she weighed 6 lbs.

Terry got lots of goodies to help her when she babysits.

Hope spotted a cute boy - Little Nick came with his Mommy, Trish. Nick is three months older than Hope.

Oh Mommy! Stop teasing me!

Dan helped out with feeding time.

Terry practiced being a Grandma by holding Hope.

Hope hung out for a bit with her buddy, Michelle.

I anticipate that at some point in the future, Hope and new Baby May will have a playdate together.

Hanging Out with the Locals

This evening, Joe, Hope and I went to the community carnival. Joe was the blog photographer for the evening.

Hope liked looking at the brightly colored stuffed animals.

We tried the bowling game.

We won a stuffed crayola crayon playing skeeball.

Joe and I grabbed a sandwich for dinner while Hope chilled out and listened to the music entertainment.

Hope watched the helicopter ride.

We played the duck game.

Hope watched the Ferris wheel and zipper ride go around and around.

During our less than a mile drive home, Hope caught up on some Zs.

Surprise Surprise!

A week ago, when Hope turned four months old, I wrote that I wouldn't be surprised if Hope was sitting up by the time she turned five months. I am a bit surprised that I could take these pictures today, when she four months and one week. Hope will sit by herself for short periods of time (about long enough for me to focus and snap ten quick shots). We're obviously still working on posture and balance, but I see a whole new world opening up for playtime activities.

And, for the record, the outfit that she's wearing was not planned. It was outfit number four today, as she has been spitting up and slobbering more than usual today. (If I planned the outfit, I would have bothered to comb her hair too.)

I should also mention that Hope proved me wrong when I mentioned that she stopped practicing talking. She has been jibbing and jabbering pretty much nonstop for the past couple of days, and she has been crowned Queen Raspberry.

Crab Feast

This afternoon Hope and I went to my firm's annual crab feast. The weather was gorgeous. Here are a few photos from the day:

Peter was teaching two of his children, Evan and Audrey, how to pick crabs. He was born and raised down under - I wonder if he learned to pick crabs before or after he moved here from Australia?

Sue held Hope while I ate (a pulled pork sandwich, no picking crabs for me). They had sunglasses for the kids.
After Sue, Hope went to Ela, who she stayed with for the remainder of the afternoon.

Schwartz and his girlfriend, Teresa, came over to visit. Schwartz - it looks like she likes kids....

Ela fed Hope her afternoon bottle. About an hour later, Ela saw the formula for a second time....

What a cute couple!

Natalie smiled for the camera and I didn't even need to ask her to. I guess she's done this before.

Carrie you look at Natalie and Natalie you look at me.

Okay, now switch!

Catching Up

"Catching Up" is an appropriate title for two reasons. First, the USB cable to my small digital camera had been missing for about a month when I finally found it last week. Actually I found it the day that the new one I ordered was delivered. Go figure. So, I have a lot of catching up to do related to going through the pictures and blogging. And second, the first catch-up photo I am posting is from a visit Hope and I had with an old friend about a month ago. We visited with Barb, who I knew from high school but we became better friends in the late 90s when we worked together for a bit. (Side note - you know you're old when you are able to refer to different periods in your life by what decade they were in). I had not seen Barb since she was seven months pregnant with her first child, Madeline, who is now seven. I really enjoyed our visit and appreciate having the opportunity to catch-up a bit. Barb has three wonderful children.

Barb is on the left holding her two year old, Brendan. Seven year old Madeline is in the middle holding Hope. Four year old Jonathan is on the right.

Baby Boy Coming Soon

Hope is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Carrie & Greg's baby boy - her future childhood friend, possible future boyfriend, and maybe even possible husband, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. If nothing else, maybe Baby Boy will be a good friend to Hope, who will maybe come to her defense one day when they are at the Ravens/Steelers game together and Hope is being harassed for being a loyal fan by some sore losers. It's very much a possibility, especially the sore loser part. Maybe even in the interest of winning over Hope's heart and soul, Baby Boy will re-evaluate the brain washing that is sure to be instilled by his parents and become a black and gold fan himself? Never say never.....

But enough dreaming about the future possibilities, on Tuesday we had a surprise baby shower for Carrie at lunch. Since I didn't take any pictures of my own, I am going to cheat and use Holly's, so you can go to the link below to see photos from the event.

http://thechisolmtelegraph.blogspot.com/2009/07/sprinkle-sprinkle.html

Carrie got a lot of blue baby stuff - including several hooded towels so Baby Boy won't need to use princess pink hand-me-downs from Natalie. Carrie is well into her third trimester, and Baby Boy will likely be making his appearance at the end of August - we can't wait to meet him!

Four Months Old

It seems like it was just a few days ago when I was posting comments about Hope turning three months old. It has been a busy month. Hope is now rolling over - both ways. When she is on her belly she will often pull her legs in and sticks her little bum in the air and acts like she going to take off crawling. She goes absolutely no where, but it is cute to watch. I wouldn't be surprised if she is sitting up by the time I am writing about her being five months old. She does not like to lean back at all - she likes to be sitting up straight whether you are holding her, playing with her on the floor, or if she is in the bath tub. She has discovered splashing while in the bath tub, so now I get a little bath when she does. Her little arms and hands go in and out of the water at the speed of lightning. She loves to play with her feet, and she rarely keeps her tongue in her mouth. She chews on her fingers and hands - a few times she has had only her thumb in her mouth. I pull it out as soon as I see it, sometimes it goes right back in, and sometimes it doesn't. We have made it this far without a pacifier or thumb, I am hoping she goes the stretch without either. She drools big time. She puts a lot of weight on her legs, but she pretty much always has. All of her motor skills seem to be developing well.

She still "talks" sometimes. She doesn't practice as much as she did a few weeks ago. She really pays attention when other people talk. I wouldn't be surprised if she is a late talker, but I also wouldn't be surprised if one day, because she has studied everyone else's mouth movements so much, she just starts spitting out words.

Hope sleeps about eight hours a night. She usually takes a short 25 or 30 minute nap in the morning, another one in the evening, and then if we are lucky she will take a two hour or so nap mid-day. Sometimes we have trouble with the midday. I guess she doesn't want to miss a thing. I thought babies were supposed to sleep more than this....

Hope likes toys that make noise. She has a little "car" and she is very good at turning the steering wheel. She also likes her little singing teddy bear and her little doll that says a bedtime prayer. She will giggle, which is hilarious to hear. I also read several books to her every day - I prefer to read at least one Dr. Seuss and she doesn't seem to mind. She reaches out and tries to grab the pictures.

Hope is a really good baby. She doesn't really cry or fuss much at all - usually only when she is sleepy and fighting off sleep.

I asked Joe if there was anything he wanted to add - he said "It's magically terrific." He's always been a man of few words.

I took Hope to Sears today to have her picture taken. The following are my favorites poses:

While I was happy with the Sears photos, I wasn't ecstatic, so when we got home I took a few of my own. Yes, I realize that one day she may be upset with me for not just taking, but also posting naked pictures of her.....

I mentioned the drooling right?