Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Watch out world, she's mobile!

On Monday afternoon, after a good nap and a snack, I set Madeline down on a blanket in the middle of the family room to practice rolling. (She recently mastered rolling over both ways). I figured she'd roll around a little and probably suck on her fingers a lot. I head off to check email and get a phone call. Fifteen minutes later I find this:

She was going to town on a pile of newspapers. She had made it about five or six feet across the floor. Here's a picture to give you some perspective (she started on the pastel blanket on the right).

Monday, September 21, 2009

Vacation Flashback: the Beach

Of course, we couldn't go to Cali without going to the beach. The beaches on Monterey Bay are absolutely gorgeous, though I wouldn't complain if they were about 10 degrees warmer. But it's the beach! Who doesn't love the beach?

Emma, apparently. The sand was dirty and the water was cold, both of which led to tears. She spent most of her time like this:

But after a couple of days of talking her off the towel, we got her to go into the water (but only if one of us was holding her):

Madeline was unfazed by the beach:

Though she spent much of her time like this:

or like this:

(In case you couldn't tell, Maddie is that little white hat sticking out of the yellow blanket and blue towel.) Yes, it was cold, but despite the chilly temperatures, we had a swimmingly good time!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Vacation Flashback: Monterey Bay Aquarium

We love the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and it was the perfect outing one morning before the fog burned off the beach. It was espeically fun to go with cousin Kate--she and Emma are only 3 weeks apart, and they are finally old enough to really have a good time together.

Emma and Grandpoppy learn about waves.

Amy and Kate check out the touch pool. (Emma would have nothing to do with it.)

Emma and Kate playing with boats.

Emma shows off her gymnastics moves on the water trampoline.

Grandpoppy and Madeline.

Emma and Kate busy playing with some fish.

Can you find the seals?

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Vacation Flashback: Driving, Dives, and Swings

After our day in San Fransisco we drove down to the Seascape Resort in Aptos, CA. On our drive down we stopped for a special lunch. Dave's family are fans of the Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, so we visited Duarte's Tavern in Pescadero for some Crab Ciopinno.


After being in the car, we headed for the playground for some quality time with Grandpoppy. Up next: the beach!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Vacation Flashback: San Fransisco

Way back at the end of July we went to California to go to the beach with Dave's family and see his grandparents. We spent a day in San Fransisco with Grandpoppy and Uncle Matt. We started the day at Pier 39. Dave showing Emma the sea lions. She was a little afraid at first, but after some coaching by Grandpoppy, she decided she loved them. "Art, Art" has become her new favorite animal sound. Emma and Grandpoppy looking for sea lions in the bay. Looking down at Maddie, huddled in the bottom of the stroller. Uncle Matt was nice enough to take Emma on the carousel. Emma even liked dead sea lions. Kern boys. It's not San Fransisco without crab for lunch! Emma enjoyed the view more than the food. Maddie the super-traveler. We dragged her around town and she was happy as could be, falling asleep at the most opportune times (such as at our next stop, the King Tut exhibit). Believe it or not, this was Emma's second time seeing King Tut in her two short years. Next it was on to Ghirardelli Square. It is a sad, sad omission that I didn't get a picture of my Midnight Delight sundae. Sigh. A thousand calories of pure bliss. It was a lovely, jam-packed day that ended like this:

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Friday, September 11, 2009

The Crew at the Zoo

Some friends invited us to go to the Dallas Zoo last week, so we went. Emma had a wonderful, stroller-free time strolling the grounds with her friends.




Thursday, September 10, 2009

Old Friends, New Friends

We enjoyed visiting with some friends from law school who were in town for the BYU game this past weekend. Here are a picture of the kids, minus 3 who were stuck in NYC with their mom. Only one of these kids existed when we all graduated four years ago. My, how time flies.

Daphne, Becca, Quinn, Emma, Madeline

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Howdy, Longhorns

On Labor Day we took a fun little roadtrip to the Fort Worth Stockyards. The Stockyards preseve Fort Worth's roots as a cattle town, with shops, museums, and a "real" cattle drive down the main street. We had a lovely time seeing the cows (and then eating some later that night!).

I think Emma liked the fake cows the best.

"The Wells Fargo wagon is a-comin' down the street..."

Dave and Emma befriend the locals.

Isn't this the cutest cowgirl you've ever seen?

Another pretty cowgirl.

Maddie was promoted to sitting up in the big stroller, and she was a happy camper all day long!

Emma demonstrating her long horns.

Here they come!

A close up. I love the one with the curly horns!



We got into a bit of trouble while we were there...but don't worry. Our friend who took the picture is a public defender and got us off. :)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Madeline: 4 Months

Miss Maddie turned 4 months old a couple of weeks ago. Here are her latest stats from the doctor:

Weight: 10.8 lbs (4th percentile--yes, you read that correctly)
Height: 25 inches (78th percentile)
Head: 15 inches (1st precentile)

Did you read those closely? Basically my baby has the physique of an anorexic supermodel. Rest assured, however, that she is on a growth curve (albeit a lightweight one) and is growing fine, proportionally. She is long and lean, her father's child for sure. When you compare it to last time, she shot up 2 inches in as many months, which may explain why her percentile went down in weight.

*Madeline continues to be a mellow second child. She goes with the flow for just about everything, as long as she is well fed. (I assure you, she does eat!)
*Maddie is beginning to sleep through the night (hallelujah)! She does still wake up maybe once a night but usually puts herself back to sleep within 5 minutes. She still eats in the middle of the night maybe once a week.
*Her sense of humor is growing and we love discovering new ways to make her laugh. A current favorite game: when I pretend to eat her toes or fingers.
*We recently promoted Maddie to the sitting position in the stroller and she loved it!
*Since she rolled over a few weeks ago, Madeline has become a mover and a shaker. It is no longer safe to lay her down on the couch, and if I put her on a bed it has to be in the very middle. With rolling and pivoting, my wiggly girl can move at least a foot in all directions.
*With her new mobility, her favorite place to spend time is on the floor where she can experiment. She will be happy there for almost an hour sometimes!
*She is beginning to show an interest in real food. The other night at dinner she even sucked on some asparagus (roasted with garlic and parmesan cheese, no less!) However, I'm going to hold back on solids for a little while since she is such a lightwight.
*Maddie has discovered her feet with vigor lately, and she can often be found holding them in her hands. They have made it into her mouth a few times, but I have yet to get a picture.

What's up with all the pictures?

This is how we usually find her--with something in her mouth!