The Great Nemo 4th B day Party

Our big event started in the afternoon. After a bit of playtime outside, the boys (yes, it was all boys, this year Jake chose the list), came inside and we did some Finding Nemo-themed crafts. Making little aquariums in baby food jars was a huge hit - I think Gram made 5 of them!

And on the sidelines, Abby woke up and started to flirt, especially with Vicki, Aidan's mom.

There was also a large outside water pistol fight, which reportedly had most of the boys in tears at one point or another. They liked to squirt much more than being squirted, apparently!

Abby agreed, it was time for dinner. Mike made burgers and hotdogs, and we also had pesto tortellini, my beans and rice salad, and veggies. It was delicious!

Jake was super excited about the blue Nemo cake he and I had made the day before, and insisted that we lower the lights so the candles could be seen.

The boy has a lot of air, but his aim was not so good. It took him about 5 tries to blow out his candles. He declined to make a wish this year. He was excited to tell everyone that the Nemo and Dorrie on the cake were squirters that he was going to use later in his bath.

Ah, finally success, and clapping.

And the reward, as expected, getting to eat the spoils!

And Vicki kept Abby nice and happy.

Here are Amee and Matthew, both looking radiant, but for different reasons! She's about to have a baby girl and he's just happy to be eating cake!

The present opening was a grand occasion, it turned out, for the 4 boys to cooperate. Jake had lots of helpers and opinions about the order in which to open everything. They were super respectful - moving packages around for him, observing closely, but never opening any of them. And of course, they did help test out a few key items once they were opened!

Finally, everything was done, and the parents looked relaxed again. We gave all the boys little Nemo treat bags and thanked them for coming. Jake was actually pretty gracious!

Then the fun continued today. Mike and I were completely wiped out, but Jake informed us that the big pile of presents was waiting for him this morning! First out was his huge new crane. He and Mike put it together and Jake played happily with it all day long, in three different rooms of the house and on the back deck. You just never know what needs lifting until you have a crane around!

The second and only other item for today was his excavation dinosaur kit. He used a hammer and chisel to dig out plastic dinosaur bones and then assembled the dinosaur afterwards. This was a very cool toy and he LOVED doing it!

So, there's my little budding archeologist /builder. 4 years old already. I cannot believe it!

Abby's 6 month check-up

A quick report, as I am supposed to be napping before Jake's b-day posse arrives.

Abby weighed in at 23.12 pounds, height 28 inches at her well-baby visit on Thursday. Dr. proclaimed her healthy and robust, doing just fine, as we knew she was. 4 shots and a few tears later, she was back to flirting with all of the nurses, and everyone in the waiting room. She is shameless! And extraordinarily popular.

In other dr. news, I got an epidural cortisone shot for my back from the pain management specialist I was sent to see, who says I have a bulge in disks L4 and L5, but no herniation there, and already it is having huge results. No pain sleeping last night at all, no pain when I sneeze, and less and less pain during the day. It's supposed to take 3-5 days to kick in and it's only been 2. Whew!! It's like getting another body to live in.

Will write more later when able to give the b-day report with pix. The house is super decorated and the boy is beside himself excited!

Visiting Grandma Lynne - first swing and first tooth!

Grandma, Jake and Mike went to the playground last night while I put tired Abby to bed. All that play on the floor exhausted her!

I love this one of Jake and Grandma. Not only is it a nice shot of them swinging together, but I think it's the first time I've seen Jake sitting upright on a swing. Woo-hoo!

Thanks so much, Mom, for having us and helping us all have such a nice time! Our trip back today was very long again, but the first thing Jake asked when we arrived home was "When are we going back to Grandma's house?" He's hoping it will be soon!

Oh, and I almost forgot today's Abby news: we have a first tooth that poked through on her bottom gums!

Visiting Grandma Lynne - at Home

Grandma, in addition to offering Jake some nice gifts, got him a great big piece of chocolate cake and a lit a 4 candle to let him celebrate an early b-day. He was happy about that!

Later, Jake, Grandma and Abby spent some nice time together playing on the floor. Jake was very intent on having Abby look at his new toy camera from the museum, which shows pictures of dinosaurs and space travel.

And Abby was very intent on tasting the camera!

Then Jake showed her some pretty, spinning lights!

She was fascinated!

And here she is, looking pretty in the cute shirt that Selen sent her, that just happens to have my pet name for her on it! Thanks, Selen!

Visiting Grandma Lynne - The Museum

We took our first family trip as a foursome this week, to Philly to visit Grandma Lynne. After only 3 days of packing and one very long day of travel, we burst into her house and took it over completely.

Then we discovered that Jake REALLY missed his crib. He wouldn't sleep or nap in the comfy bed we made for him on the floor in the guestroom, with a mattress, a sleeping bag and lots of pillows. After 24 hours, we were like prisoners of war - exhausted, dark circles under our eyes, jumpy at every tiny sound that might indicate a small person coming out of his room to call us, again. And he was a wild child. High on adrenaline, we could barely keep him in the same room with Abby - he was largely out of control.

Finally, there was a happy ending. We explained that if he didn't sleep we wouldn't be able to do anything fun the next day. That, and pure exhaustion on his part, finally worked. The next day, we trekked downtown to the Academy of Natural Sciences for Jake to have his first view of real dinosaur bones! He was suitably impressed.

We also saw some beautiful live butterflies.

It was a great outing!

Abby at 6 months

So, Abby is 6 months old this week. So, what's new?

1. She sits by herself. Actually, she insists on sitting for several hours a day. She regularly wiggles and moans if you try to hold her or lay her down and looks pleased as punch to look at the world from a vertical position. She spent 10 minutes of her double stroller ride today in the old carseat, holding her head up awkwardly because she wanted to be sitting rather than reclining. I guess it's time to take out the car seat and strap her into the seat! Though 5 minutes later she was napping happily, which was my goal all along!

2. She reaches. She's been reaching for objects for several months, but in the past week or so it's changed. She fixes her attention on an object and DECIDES she wants it, then tries to maneuver either her hands or body or both to get it. It is very deliberate, and is followed by a great deal of moaning and squealing if she cannot reach the object. And nearly every object that comes within a foot of her is fair game for reaching and discovery of its features. Today she had a first encounter with the baby fishbowl and one of Jake's trucks, each for over 5 minutes. She was not yet able to figure out that she could reach into the fishbowl to retrieve objects, but she did knock it over by accident and pick up what fell out. She's also able to lean quite a ways forward to combine 1 and 2, and reach things while she's sitting that are not directly in front of her.

3. She travels. All around her crib, every which way, every night, no exceptions. She seems to be locomoting mostly by rolling, but is so subtle, it's hard to catch. She's lifted her whole tummy only once that I could see, as a precursor to crawling. She does a lot of moaning crab imitations, with hands and legs up in the air wiggling, while on her belly, as if to say, I know this will work eventually, but I don't know how to do it!

4. She socializes. I thought baby Jake was all charisma, but Abby is in another league entirely. She beams at every new face and waits for a response. She reacts to all smiles as well. This week she flirted shamelessly with our neighbor's 3 month baby boy Drake, and reached out to hold his hand as they sat next to each other in the couch. She laughs when Jake's face gets within 6 inches of hers and reaches out to fondle his hair. If Jake says "Hi Abby" and looks her right in the eyes, she gives him a goofy grin every time. She touches my face when eating and likes me to suck on her fingers several times a day. And she has a very sweet smile she reserves just for Daddy - all he has to do is look at her from behind me and I can tell he's there.

I went back to Jake's site to see him at this age.

Notice the same mat and many of the same toys! But I was surprised to see his weight and height too. He was 20 pounds and 26 inches. Abby has a dr's appt soon but I estimate she's about 22 pounds still and 27 inches or more. I do have big babies!

Anyway, she's a thriving, jolly 6 month old and we all adore her!

My Girl in Green

Our Week with Grandma Fran

Jake and Mike took Grandma Fran back to the airport today. We had a really full week! We filled nearly every morning of her visit with an outing: took her downtown for brunch and a stroll, to the Lake beach, to some specialty shops for some shopping and lunch, to Toys R Us to pick out birthday presents for Jake, to a bunch of Mike's favorite food stores for shopping, and we had Gram and his family over several times to play and take pix in the studio while she was here.

Fran doesn't like pictures of herself, so I have none to share, but great times were nonetheless had all week!

Jake seemed to thoroughly enjoy her company. He and she played with his train set in the den for hours! She was so good with him - patient and attentive. They really got along well. I'm glad, as that was one of the most important goals for me for her visit. After three years since he saw her last outside of the webcam, Jake now knows he has a Grandma Fran who is more than a computer image, who loves him and is totally devoted to him. And boy did he make out like a bandit at Toys R Us! He was really very happy this week.

Oh, and Jake also got to see fireworks for the first time! Fran stayed home with sleeping Abby and Mike and I let Jake stay up REALLY late to see the fireworks at the Lake. He didn't like the booming noises but loved the colors and decided he did want to stay to see most of it, though we left before the finale, in the rain, and he cuddled with Didi in the car on the way home. It was a special night for the three of us - thanks, Fran!

Abby was spoiled with adoration as well. Grandma Fran helped play with her and keep her happy during all those interstitial moments throughout the day when we find ourselves having to leave her unattended while we do four things at the same time. Little Abby loved the attention, and Fran got to see how cute she is as a round, happy 6 month old.

Thanks, Fran, for all that you did to make this trip possible, and for spending a whole week putting up with our crazy family life. I know it was challenging at times since our kid-focused routines are so different from yours at home. And thanks for your compliments on our children and our efforts in raising them. We appreciate that very much!

Most of all, I think Jake will ALWAYS remember the time and love you gave him this week!