Story Time

We do our best to read to Cecilia every night. Here are some pictures and video of Joanne reading "Moo, Baa, La La La" last night.
She loves to try and turn the pages and is usually pretty good at it. She started doing that on her own at about three months - it was pretty cool. From what I understand she is instinctively trying to imitate what she sees us doing.

We used to read her "Goodnight Moon" every night once we put her in the crib but have gotten away from that a bit. We got three copies of that book as gifts when she was born - I guess it's popular. I think some of the books we have been reading her are too advanced, the best ones for her now are really big and have simple pictures in them.

Here is the video.

2 little monkeys sitting in a tree...

These are my two favorite monkeys in a tree. One of them isn't very happy about it... can you guess which one? :D

Apple Picking

We went apple picking with Ben and everyone on Sunday. It was a perfect day and nice to get outside. Plus, the apples are delicious (I just ate one). There are lots more pictures here and I think Jen took some too so when she sends them I will consolidate.

More Eating

Here are some more eating highlights - it is amazing how quickly she caught on to it. She really likes the food and opens wide as soon as you start feeding her. She has been on a strict diet of rice cereal and bananas since her tummy got upset, but hopefully soon we can start giving her other stuff again.

She is always trying to take the spoon away from me. She even tried - very unsuccessfully - to put it in her mouth.

Camera Shy

When Cecilia starts crying because she is hungry I have this trick where I stick out my tongue and give her a big rasberry and it (almost) always temporarily stops her crying. I wanted to document this phenomenon on video last night so when she started to cry I started the camera rolling, ready to go. As soon as she saw the camera pointed at her she stopped crying...I tried it three times and then gave up and gave her the bottle.

Peek-a-boo!

Who's there behind daddy?

Oh, it's Cecilia!!


Look, I'm flying!!!

Sick

Poor Cecilia has been sick :( She had diarrhea and a bad diaper rash most of the weekend. I think we went a little too fast on feeding her different types of baby food. The worst part of it all was on Friday night and I wasn't paying attention when I was changing her and I hurt her when I was cleaning her off. She cried and cried and I felt really terrible about it, but I learned to be very gentle and careful from then on.
She is getting better though and luckily her demeanor barely changed at all, she was as lively and happy as ever.

Grandma Visit

My mom was in town this weekend for a visit.

Here is a video of her feeding Cecilia. There is a lot of background noise as some of Jen's family was in town for a wedding and we had a big dinner. It was fun and the boys were really happy to have all of their first cousins at their house at once - Abigail, Olivia and Cici - too bad we did not get a picture.


There are a few more pictures on Picassa.

Mother and Daughter

Too Fast

Our little girl is growing so fast... Here she is in her new Exersaucer! She was pitching forward a little bit at first, but now we stuff a towel in there with her so she stays upright and she loves it!


She doesn't quite understand yet that you can play with all the toys on the Exersaucer, but she's getting there. :)

Cognitive Dissonance

I swear parenting is like being in a constant state of cognitive dissonance. I was taking care of Cecilia most of the day yesterday (it was Columbus Day and daycare was closed), and when she went to sleep at 745 I was soooooo relieved to be able to relax in front of the TV and not have to be responsible for her. Now I just dropped her at daycare and got home to start work - and I miss her so much!

After a Bath

We have lots of adorable pictures of Cecilia after her baths, but here's one from Jen that stands out. It was kind of funny too...we were at their house for dinner last week and she had a HUGE accident. She pooped and it got everywhere, and then peed on herself when Joanne was changing her! So we gave her a bath in their sink and here she is afterward.

My Best Friend!

Cecilia has a new best friend! Her name is Mary Ann the Monkey and as of yesterday she gets to go to school every day too! Thanks very much to Aunt Arlene who brought Mary Ann home from the zoo to be friends with Cecilia.

I got some good advice too, which was to find Mary Ann's twin and store her away just in case something happens to the original.

First Bites

We started Cecilia on "solid" foods last Thursday. So far she has eaten rice cereal, sweet potatoes, pears and and applesauce. She is definitely getting the hang of it but I am not sure she enjoys it really. There are lots of really cute pictures and some more video on Picassa, but without further ado here is video of her very first bites!

Visiting the Lerner Homeland

Ben and I coordinated a trip to the Lerner Homeland (aka the Hudson Valley) last week for all of our families. We stayed at Jerry and Arlene's on Saturday and then visited Uncle David and Linda on Sunday. Joanne, Laurel, Zachary and Rachel stopped by too. We had a really nice weekend - it was great to see everyone and it is a really beautiful area, especially this time of year.
Cecilia was totally uninterested in Lucy (the dog) and Jacob was very protective of her. I guess he doesn't think dogs should be around babies and he would run over and stand between them anytime Lucy got near - it was adorable.
We did not get many pics, here are a few more and I will add to this post if anyone sends us more (hint hint).