Ain't that the truth...

Anna is preparing for a Fourth of July weekend in North Carolina with all her grandparents. I think she's ready for a weekend of everything she wants :)

The Versatile Boppy

I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with the Boppy, a horseshoe shaped pillow that supports the baby for easy breastfeeding. It turns out that's not all the Boppy is good for. You may have noticed from past pictures that the Boppy is just nice for anyone to hold Anna with.

It can also be used as a perch:

to better view the world when you are two months old and can kinda hold your head up, but not really.

Or it can be used as a support system to better hold your remote controls:

Catching Smiles...

Anna has been smiling now for a few weeks, but they are hard to catch on camera because by the time we take the shot, she has a different look. She has the most smiles when she first wakes up from a good nap. Here are a few I caught today:

And no, all her smiles don't involve her tongue out, but many do!

By the way, Happy Birthday, Anna! She's two months today!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

Mom & Dad were married 4 years ago today. We've been celebrating when we can this week - catching dinner out before the Nats game on Tuesday & grilling Matt's favorite kind of steak last night. Matt surprised everyone by coming home early tonight carrying these...

These have certainly been four wonderful years!

Ladies Luncheon

Anna hosted another Ladies Luncheon today. This time Olivia (and her mom Holly) joined us as well.

Clara says, "What kind of party is this?"

My left hand tastes so good...

Anna has just discovered how tasty her left hand is...here it is on the way to her mouth...

Anna's 3rd Nats game...

Go Nats!

Doctor Visit

On Friday Anna had her 2 month check-up. She's now 11 pounds, 15 ounces and 23 inches long. Both height & weight are in the 90th percentile. She still has a "peanut" head - 50th percentile, which was also confirmed at the store this week when I was hat shopping for her. Even the newborn hats were too big!

Tummy Time!

Here's a video of tummy time taken on Saturday:

Why sleep by myself?

Anna says, "If I cry, Mommy will come get me and let me sleep on her. So why should I bother sleeping upstairs?"

While Anna sleeps fine in her bassinet at night, she doesn't seem to like to take naps in there during the day. It seems odd, but I guess she has come to associate the bassinet with night sleeping only. Besides sleeping on top of me during the day she will also nap quite well in her bjorn carrier or her swing.

Now, I do enjoy letting her take one or two naps on top of me each day, which is probably how we got to this point. I enjoy watching her so much - especially when she partially awakens with a few funny faces and noises, adjusts herself, and falls back to sleep. And now that I've mastered the art of one-handed typing (right now), I can even get something done.

However, she now specifically seems to not sleep well upstairs during the day. I guess she is starting to be aware enough of her surroundings to have habits. So now that she seems to be developing specific habits, I feel I should be more aware of what habits she is developing. So we're working on the upstairs nap. I've decided not to stress about it too much - for instance, today Anna had two 20 min. naps in her bassinet, but by 1:30, when she had not had a real nap since waking up at 9:30, I just let her sleep on top of me for a good 3 hour nap. At some point we may have to sacrifice a day's sleep to get used to the upstairs naps, but for now, we'll just try it little by little :)

Anna's first big road trip...

Over the weekend, we took Anna on a trip to upstate New York to see Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Nana's sisters Great Aunt Mary (and Uncle David), Great Aunt Marty, and Great Aunt Ann, Grandma Jane and Aunt Diane, Uncle Pete, Uncle Danny and Aunt Bridget, Aunt Becky and Uncle Jeff, Great-Grandma Ginny, and lots of friends and neighbors. While there, Anna got to go to Aunt Becky's baby shower and see her yet-to-be-born cousin again (and show off to tons of ladies!).

The car ride, both ways, was similar. Anna was great for the first seven hours, and then had serious meltdowns during the last hour. Here are some pictures:

Snuggling with Grandma

Uncle Pete gave me a mowhawk!

Grandma Jane loves to hold me

I just got continuous attention all weekend!

With Aunt Becky and future cousin

Nana just loves singing to me

No matter where I go, I'm adored!

Ladies Luncheon

Anna hosted her first luncheon today. Clara came over (and brought her mom, Lindsey). For those readers who followed our blog before Anna was born, you may remember Clara & Anna also spent New Year's Eve together (in utero).

You won't be twice as old as me forever, Clara!

Don't go, Uncle Pete

Uncle Pete gave Anna one final dance to calm her down before he left for work this morning.

For those of you who remember Uncle Pete as an infant, take a closer look at the outfit on Anna. It may look familiar to you.

Anna loves visitors!

Besides having a visit from Uncle Pete, Corinne joined us for dinner last night:

So this is my Uncle Pete

Our Little Nats Fan

Last night Anna had her first trip to a Washington Nationals baseball game & she seems to be a big fan (not a bigger fan than the New York Yankees, of course, but we think it's her second favorite team).  The whole evening was really fun for everyone - including Uncle Pete who is visiting from Boston.  I must admit that Mom & Dad were a little apprehensive about the evening.  Over the past few weeks Anna's fussiest time has been 6-10 pm, the exact hours we would be  traveling and at the game, but she was great!  I think she was taken by the new scenery, new sounds, and new family member to give her sweet holds :)  She did great sitting with us in the seats & had a few great walks around with Dad - where apparently she was a big star with the other fans.

I was a little nervous about the car ride to the game as well, where I would be alone with Anna through northern VA to pick up Uncle Pete at the airport, into DC to pick up Dad at work, and finally through DC to the game.  Anna has begun to really dislike the car when she is awake - specifically when stopped at a stop light or in traffic. So you can imagine I was a little nervous about the trip during rush hour - but I guess the whole trip ended up being a reverse commute & Anna ended up sleeping through most of it.

Overall, a very successful evening & a fun time had by all.  Our only regret is that we forgot the camera - next time.

Black and White world!

Some pictures from the weekend:

Looking good for church!

What a cute girl!

80's girl!

As soon as we put the music on, she started to dance:

Walking in Nottaway Park

This morning, we went for a walk at Nottaway Park near our house in the sweltering (99 degrees) heat. To keep cool, we stuck to the paths that run through the woods.

Posing for the camera with Dad

Cruising through the woods

Another artistic study

Note the receding hairline (and resulting mohawk!):

Don't go, Grandpa!

Thanks for coming to visit!

Again!

The first of perhaps 20,000 readings of "Time for Bed."

Ain't that the truth!