You are my sunshine...

you make us happy when skies are gray!

"Grama-Grapa" visit

Grandma and Grandpa, or as Anna calls them, "Grama- Grapa," came to visit us last week. Anna and Abby had a great time playing with their grandparents! Here's a few great shots from the week:

11 weeks!

On Sunday Abby turned 11 weeks old. She has been spending much more of her awake time happy. She has also been very busy eating and watching Anna. I read somewhere that the 3 month baby often eats more than the 2 month baby because their appetite increases. I think that is true for Abby as she seems to be a very hungry little girl! She also loves to watch Anna play. If she is sitting in her bouncy seat or swing while Anna is playing in the same room her eyes follow Anna everywhere.

Here I come!

Abby is so strong! I guess Anna was about the same age when she started lifting her head up during tummy time, but I think Abby has actually been able to do this for a little while and I just haven't gotten it on camera yet. The real amazing part though, is that she can crawl! Okay, not crawl on all fours, but if you put her down on her stomach she makes serious forward progress. Her legs are much stronger than her arms though, so the way she moves forward is by scrunching her legs up under her and jolting herself forward as she drives her face into the ground. I love letting her practice, but I have to figure out a way to prevent her from dragging her poor little cheeks across the rug.

Petting Zoo!

This past weekend we went to the Reston Petting Zoo. Anna was at first a little tentative about feeding the animals, but then she really got into it. (By the time we were leaving she was continuously saying, "I love feeding animals!") The best part of the visit was a safari ride to see the bigger animals. We got to see cows with huge horns, zebras, camels, emus, and rias. The cows and emus walked right up to the wagon so we could feed them!

feeding a goat

feeding a goose

A zebra on the safari ride

A cow with HUGE horns

Double Stroller!

Anna & Abby have been enjoying some evening stroller rides this week in their new ride:

Is there a "G" version of Little Red Riding Hood?

Since Abby has been born I have been telling Anna stories during times when she needs to be patient - mostly when Abby is nursing and Anna gets a little bored or needy. I thought it would be neat to tell her traditional fairy tales, but I've realized that I don't know them! So I've been re-reading a fairy tale now and then so I can tell them to Anna. I've been re-reading stories from The Little Big Book for Moms, which my parents got for me after Anna was born. I'm continually surprised that the traditional fairy tales are scary. Anna's favorite story is Goldilocks and the Three Bears (which I didn't have to re-read) and isn't very scary (except Anna doesn't like the part where the chair breaks so sometimes I have to say that the chair got fixed or just say it's not broken after her protest). The Lion and the Mouse is another great story, which Anna likes as well. The next story I found, Jack and the Beanstalk, is not that bad, but the Giant does die in the end and the Giant also threatens to eat Jack during the story. Today I re-read Little Red Riding Hood. I actually had tried to tell this story to Anna a few weeks ago when she kept asking for a new story. As I was trying to tell the story a few weeks ago I kept picturing the wolf in the Grandmother's clothing and thinking, "How did the wolf get there? Did he actually kill the grandmother? No, that wouldn't happen in a children's story." I can't remember how I told the story a few weeks ago, but I didn't have anyone killing or eating anyone. Then today I read the actual story and realized the wolf does eat the grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood! What? I don't remember this as a child. Why didn't this bother me? The story (at least as it is told in The Little Big Book for Moms) ends with a hunter killing the Big Bad Wolf and cutting the grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood out of the wolf's stomach. So I guess it's a happy ending, but it's really gruesome too! I was hesitant to tell Anna the story, but I figured that children had been hearing this story for years so how bad could it be? When I finished telling the story Anna asked me to tell it again, but "Not new Little Red Riding Hood, old Little Red Riding Hood." She said, "Wolf not eat grandma." I think she was referring to the G rated version I told her a few weeks ago. I don't blame her. Too bad I have no idea what I said.

Playing together

In the past week Abby has been content to just hang out more while she is awake (opposed to being held or fusing). This has given Anna a greater opportunity to "play" with Abby. Yesterday she fed Abby some pretend cheese using her kitchen spoon and plate and fed Abby from one her doll bottles. Anna also had fun setting up all her friends around Abby for some pictures:

What a ham!

Okay, so either Abby is truly a ham or the flash on the camera makes her laugh. Seriously, when the camera starts flashing, she starts smiling:

Happy 4th of July!

A special visitor for my birthday :)

Abby turned 2 months old yesterday and she got to celebrate by spending time with Nana! Abby & Anna are having a great time with their Nana!

snuggling with Nana :)

2 months old!