Tonight I made Gary one of his favorite dinners (penne with steak and arugula-- here's the recipe, you really should try it), so it only seemed fair that Emmylou get something good, too. Since the pediatrician okay'ed starting stage 1 foods like applesauce, bananas and sweet potatoes on our last visit several weeks ago, we figured tonight was the perfect time to move beyond the magic boobs and try something new. Here is the video we took of her trying some applesauce tonight, her first venture into solid foods and what is sure to be the beginning of a lifetime appreciation of all things edible (since she's related to me). She had some funny reactions which surprised me until I finally tasted the applesauce myself-- that stuff was really sour! If you can't see the video, here's a still picture of her in her Texas bib.

She's graduated! No longer content to just lay in the bassinet of her stroller, Emmylou has moved on to using the actual seat attachment now. Awww, my little girl is growing up.

This blog is magic (see previous post)!!! Last night, Emmylou slept from 8:00 until 5:30 this morning when she had a quick meal and diaper change, and then went back to sleep until 8:00! Why didn't I freak out earlier? Did she finally sense my desperation and get back on track?! Whatever it was, I just hope she's back to sleeping through the night for good.

Okay, a few people have been giving me a hard time because I haven't blogged in a few days, but it's because we've just been up to our usual activities-- Baby Yoga, the pool and a little shopping. Not too much that's super-exciting and picture-worthy. To add to it, Emmylou has been really fussy lately and it's been almost 3 weeks since she's slept through the night! Last time she went through this (after her first round of shots) I freaked out thinking it was the end of peaceful sleep for either of us, but in one week she went back to sleeping like usual. Of course, now that I've tried to refrain from freaking out-- this all started again after her second round of shots on July 11th-- she still hasn't gone back to her usual habits! Uggh! I'm hoping that just making a big deal out of it here will bring her back to normal (I know it's not logical, but my fingers are crossed).

Today was pretty bad (fussy-wise) but I think I can feel a tooth starting to sprout so I guess it's understandable. We spent the afternoon at Nordstrom and wandering around the mall. Here is a photo of us after Baby Yoga last week. On Thursday mornings there's a big farmer's market right in front of the yoga studio in the street and we wandered around for awhile and bought some veggies. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't have any of the actual market in the background, but you can see the pretty sunflowers Lulu just had to have.
P.S. I don't know who that man is behind us (although he does happen to be wearing a cowboy hat!).

And here's what the flowers looked like when we made it home.

Tonight we had a little Texas in our own backyard! Well, almost-- Emmylou and I went to a concert in Patterson Park (the one across the street from our house) featuring a western swing band! I pushed her in the stroller up the hill near the pagoda and we sat on the grass and listened to songs like Bob Wills' "San Antonio Rose," "Faded Love" and the one with my favorite lyrics, "Roly Poly" (Daddy's Little Fatty). Unfortunately, Gary was hosting a happy hour so he couldn't join us and Emmylou slept through most of it, so I didn't have a dance partner. Now I can't wait to get back to the Broken Spoke! Check out this dress I found for Emmylou that I'm dying over-- it even has the real pearl snaps and smiley pockets! My dad said he and Joyce are going to get it for her so she'll be ready for the Spoke too!

We just got back from the pool and although I don't have any pics of Lulu swimming (I try to keep both hands on her when we're in the water), here are a couple of her enjoying a swing and sandbox for the first time.

Not sure about this...

Maybe it's okay...

I think I like it!


In the squishy stuff...

Almost a faceplant...


So happy...

Emmylou is getting so much stronger these days-- rolling over, scooting around on her back and... flying!

Although Emmylou and I were a little upset that Malan was kicked off of Project Runway last night, we still managed to have a great day today. We started with Baby Yoga this morning and then met up with Dad, Joyce, Sarah, Luke and Josh back at the house after they drove in from DC for the afternoon. First we went to Faidley's for lunch to get the best crabcakes in Baltimore (in my humble opinion), followed by a trip to Fort McHenry, a visit to the aquarium and Inner Harbor, and then dinner at Samos. It was a full day, feeling especially so because of the heat, but we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and it was great having everyone here. Here are a few pics from the day...

Who's scarier-- the shark or Gary?

Lulu in her shark hat her Pawpaw bought her...

The whole crew (but minus Gary).

Emmylou has experienced a lot of firsts lately and yesterday was another. We went to DC and it was her very first time on a train! We look pretty calm sitting down, but in actuality it was pretty crazy coming and going-- I had Lulu strapped to my chest, a huge diaper bag on my left shoulder, a collapsible stroller hanging over my right shoulder and then I was carrying the carseat in my arms. All of this in 100 degree weather! My dad said I was brave, but I think I may have been more stupid than brave. But we made it and got to see Dad, Joyce, Steve, Sarah, Luke, Josh and Aharon who were all in DC for some meetings. We had a great time playing around and eating lunch in Georgetown and then went to the National Air and Space Museum afterwards. My favorite part was the planetarium show that I used as an excuse to sit somewhere to let Lulu take a nap. The A/C, recliners and stars were heavenly and Lulu wasn't the only one who caught some zzz's. The trip home was a little scary because the train was packed and delayed for over half an hour, but Lulu finally settled in for another nap and before we knew it, we were at Penn Station and Gary was picking us up.

Picture us here...

watching...


Tonight Lulu went to her very first movie! We went to the Bengies Drive-In, a place I've been wanting to check out since we first moved here, with Eric and Missy. Unfortunately (okay, fortunately) for Lulu, she slept through almost the entire cinematic masterpiece. I wasn't too crazy about seeing that movie in particular (I know, apparently I'm the only person in America who feels that way), but I'm glad we went so we'll know the ins and outs for going in the future. I have a feeling that since they play new releases, it's about the only place Gary and I will get to go if we want to see a movie in the next several months. If you click on the hyperlink for the Bengies above, you'll have to check out their "house rules." They are like movie-nazis there! I think the guy who owns it takes it a bit too seriously, but then again, when you have the kind of people we have in Baltimore, it's probably good that it weeds out the scary folks. One of their biggest rules is that there is absolutely no photography of any kind allowed on the premises-- they'll even confiscate cell phones with cameras if they see them! So although I'm still battery-less with my digital camera, we couldn't have taken a real photo of us there if we'd been fully charged.

Dear Emmylou,

I can’t believe it has already been four months since they pulled you out of my tummy! Four months since I instantly fell in love with you! And it just keeps getting better and better. This past month has brought a lot of changes. You have become so bright-eyed and animated, laughing and talking and singing to us throughout each day. I never thought I'd gush like this, but I can't help it-- it's the sweetest sound I've ever heard! I had so much fun watching everyone visit with you in Texas during our last trip. I know it was busy but you were such a trooper, especially on the plane rides! I guess you really took that little talk I gave you to heart before our very first trip down there. Just wait until you get to go to all the other fun places I have lined up for us since you're such a good traveler! I can't wait!

This month you have continued showing us your good-natured, sweet personality. You still hardly ever cry unless it's for a good reason, even though we're pretty sure you'll be getting some teeth soon. You continue to love taking baths and now also really love swimming and being outside. You're still a great sleeper and although I think it's time for you to move from the bassinet in our room to the crib in your room at night, your daddy doesn't think so. He says he sleeps too well knowing you're right there with us. Some of my favorite moments with you are in the middle of the night and I guess I'm not quite ready to give those up either, so if it's okay with you, we'll just keep you in our room for now.

Besides your current obsesssion with ceiling fans, this month you are also still loving your Whoozit toy which you sometimes try to stuff in your mouth at once like a giant hamburger. You'll also spend a good 30 minutes at a time occupied with trying to get as many fingers in your mouth as possible at once, which is kind of nice since those are already attached to you and don't require me to repeatedly pick them up off the floor when you drop them. How convenient!

I'm excited that you will get to try some real food in the near future. Today I bought you some applesauce, bananas, sweet peas and sweet potatoes! We'll have to see how those go this weekend. I wonder what you'll be eating in another month. The stuff I bought you today seems pretty harmless, almost yummy. I hope I'll be able to bring myself to buy you the disgusting ones (i.e., whipped meats) when you need them. I'll try not to make faces when I feed them to you. Anything to keep my baby healthy!

Today I tried something new-- I took a short video of you with our digital camera to commemorate your 4 months-old-ness. I'm sorry it's sideways-- I'm an amateur at this tech-y stuff and once I realized I needed to re-shoot it turned horizontally, the camera battery died. Since I accidentally left the recharger in San Antonio, I had to work with what I got the first time. I'll try to do better in the future and maybe we'll actually get a real video camera soon so our clips can be longer than 15 seconds! This doesn't really show everything you're doing these days, but I hope one day you'll still enjoy seeing yourself like this. I know we'll have many more fun times to come to capture and I couldn't be more grateful for each experience I have with you.

I love you more than words can say!

Mama



your whoozit toy...

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Lulu and I started Baby Yoga today! It was fun and she seemed to really enjoy it, so I'm glad we'll be going to that for the next few weeks. There were 4 other mothers with their babies there so hopefully we'll get to know them better. Lulu only fussed once during the session because it was time for her to eat, and I was more than happy to acquiesce-- Downward Facing Dog is really hard to do when you're as out of shape as I am! It was also kind of funny when we were instructed to "bench press your baby." Since yoga, Lulu and I have been hanging around the house because we had a guy come and fix our ceiling from the leaks we had a while ago. Here's a picture of Emmylou this afternoon surrounded by the ridiculous amount of things she has to entertain her here at the house:

but here is a picture of her very favorite thing (ever) in the house:

I guess we could have saved a lot of money on toys, etc. But apparently it's a widespread phenomenon that all babies find ceiling fans fascinating (that's what everyone tells me), so I'm thinking I can make a fortune inventing mini-ceiling fan mobiles for cribs. Why has no one thought of this before?

We're back! Emmylou was fantastic on the plane flying back on Monday and after a little extra sleep to catch up, we're back on schedule. Unfortunately, Emmylou had to go for her 4 month check-up with the pediatrician yesterday and got a new round of shots. She really didn't cry as much as I thought she would and now, almost 24 hours and several doses of tylenol later, she's back to normal. Here are her current measurements:

Weight- 14 lbs, 6 oz, 75th percentile
Length- 25 3/4 in; 90th percentile
Head circumference- 16 1/2 in; 75th percentile
She is really growing! He suggested we start giving her fruits and veggies, so you can be sure we'll be documenting that here soon. Also, tomorrow we start Baby Yoga together!

Okay, I'm getting really bad about taking pictures for this blog-- I missed so many good photo opps while we were in San Antonio and Austin-- but here are a few cute ones I did manage to get.

Emmy with Aunt Emmy

and with Aunt Lizzie

and with Tessa's grandaughter, Amelia

Here are some pictures of what Emmylou has spent the last couple of days doing.

Watching Wimbledon...

Watching the World Cup...

Baby Bjorn-ing with Lizzie at Target...

Reading a new book with Grammie...

Since our Fourth of July wasn't so exciting with all of that rain causing us to miss the fireworks, here is a photo of someone who was a little more festive:

That's Roxy, Emily's chihuahua. Too bad Lola doesn't have a matching outfit (I'm sure you'd have a hard time telling them apart since their mothers are identical twins).



We've been enjoying our trip to Texas so far. After spending Tuesday night in San Antonio, we went to Austin Wednesday night and stayed at one of my favorite places on earth, the Hotel San Jose. We got to swim in the pool in the afternoon (look at the photos of Emmylou swimming with her Grammie!), walk down the street to yummy Guero's for dinner, and then visit with some friends over wine in the hotel courtyard before going to bed. My friend Corinne brought her adorable baby, Ramona, to meet Emmylou. Ramona was born 6 days after Emmylou so I know when we move back to Texas they will be good friends and play together often. Thanks also to Ashley and Cole, Leslie, Lucy, Shannon and Sean for coming out to see us!

We got back to San Antonio Thursday afternoon and swam in Grammie's pool before heading over to dinner with Dad, Joyce, Steve, Luke and Josh, which was very nice. And tonight we got to go to a fun dinner with Emmylou's Mimi! Even though it's been busy (we've also done water aerobics, lunch and visits with Grammie's friends and some shopping here and there), it's been a blast. Everyone is talking about how much Lulu has changed since seeing her last, and it's been fun watching her coo, laugh and 'talk' with everyone. She's really having conversations these days and watching her crack herself up is hilarious.

Happy Independence Day! Although we were originally going to be in New Orleans this week, plans changed and Emmylou and I came to San Antonio instead. We had a great afternoon trying out Grammie's new pool and then we went to get burgers for dinner. Doesn't Emmylou look exhausted? I promise I didn't let her drink the ENTIRE bottle of Shiner Bock. There will be plenty of time for that once we move back. Unfortunately it started storming during dinner so we didn't make it to the fireworks show like we were planning, but it was probably for the best considering we both would have been snoozing halfway through.

Um, I wouldn't want to call the hostess at a restaurant we recently ate at dumb, so I'll just assume she thought Emmylou incredibly brilliant and advanced for her age when she gave her a kid's activity packet (with crayons) when she sat us at our table. Although I'm sure there will be a time when Emmylou thinks it's loads of fun to solve word riddles and connect the dots to make an elephant, we're not quite at that stage yet. (Ridiculously enough, that wasn't even the first time she's been given that stuff at a restaurant!)

Yesterday we had a lovely afternoon of swimming at the pool followed by BBQing at the house with our friends Eric and Missy. Remember their puppy I took a picture of around Easter? Here is Bella now. They said she gained 6 pounds last week alone!