June

This is the first time (June 8) that I found Alice sitting up in her crib.

The second weekend in June my parents, Uncle Paul and Aunt Carol, and cousin Christine and her friend Jess came to visit. Saturday Paul, my dad, and Jameson installed 9 new windows on our main floor (all except our living room picture window). It went well and they look great! Again, we are thankful for help from our wonderful family.

Grandma enjoying some playtime with Alice.

Alice successfully making her first few crawls!

Jameson getting Alice to crawl by motivating her with the laptop.

Jameson congratulating Alice for her new achievement :)


Alice learned to pull herself up to standing next to the couch, ottoman, and coffee table. Here she is standing by the couch.

This is the first time I found her standing in her crib when I went to get her after nap time. I found it absolutely adorable and was so proud of my big girl! She also became quite fond of her new skill and (unfortunately) now practices it almost every time I put her in her crib- not so cute when she is supposed to be going down for a nap or to sleep for the night.

When I am in the kitchen, Alice loves to crawl over to the piano bench and pull herself up. After standing up she then looks up at me and waits for me to open the lid and turn the piano on. She then proceeds to reach /move over to the keyboard and press down on the keys- so cute! She also still loves to sit on my lap or next to me in her highchair and play with me.

After putting Alice to bed, Jameson, Jenessa, and I have been enjoying the beautiful evenings by throwing frisbee until dark (and sometimes a little past dark until we decide we really can't see it anymore)

May

6 month picture (she turned 6 months middle of April).


In the past I have held Alice on my lap occasionally when I was playing piano. Now that she is interested in pushing the keys herself, I decided to push her high chair up to the piano and let her play. She played for about 15 minutes this day and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself!

Alice looking out of our front picture window. I think this picture is adorable.

Alice playing outside.

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This is the first time I found Alice asleep on her tummy when I checked on her during nap time. (May 13)

Alice has learned to scoot!!!



Our garden! We planted 6 tomato plants (3 big, 2 roma, 1 cheery) 4 pepper plants, green beans, peas, cucumbers, lettuce, and spinach.

April #2

April 16/17 my parents, brother, and cousin Elizabeth came to visit and helped us get most of our house painted. We sure appreciated all the help!!!




Alice joined in the fun outside!

Here's the finished look. We still have to decide on a trim color and paint the trim, but we really like the color we chose for the house.

We also spent time playing with Alice.

Here's a super precious picture that Elizabeth took of Alice.

What a productive weekend. Thanks again to my family for visiting and working!!!



Alice updates:

Alice is sleeping through the night and has her first two teeth! I haven't got a good picture of her teeth yet, but I'll post one when I do. Both of these notable events happened the week she turned 6 months old (that should make it easy for me to remember years from now if asked). When we went to the doctor for her 6 month check-up the next week we found out she had her first ear infection. Fortunately it was caught at the beginning and after a few fussy days/nights she was back to her normal, cheerful self and sleeping through the night again.

She is now sitting very independently.

Alice likes to play with strings, ropes, etc. Since these things no longer come on baby toys, she spent a long time playing with my shoe.

Alice loves to 'help me' when I go through the mail. She loves crinkling paper, especially the envelopes that have windows. Here she is crinkling part of an envelope.



Other Updates:
Jameson has finished his MBA classes for the spring- HOORAY!!! He is now 2/3 of the way done and at this time next year he should be done! This summer he only has to take 1 week long class in Davenport, which will work out wonderfully b/c we'll spend the week at my parents and I'll get good, quality (& quantity) with them.

Now that he's done w/ classes, Jameson has started playing Ultimate Frisbee with the Waterloo Ultimate Frisbee Team. He played in college and is looking forward to getting in better shape and doing something he enjoys in the evenings (instead of going to night class). When the weather is fit Alice and I will go and watch and spend time playing outside.

I'm still teaching 2-5 year old Sunday School (thanks to Jameson who takes Alice to adult sunday school with him). I really enjoy teaching as I find that anytime I teach something I learn new things myself. I think that part of the reason I love teaching so much! I've also been working with two homeschool students on geometry this year. That is wrapping up but I've really enjoyed doing that this school year and plan to again next year.

I have been enjoying getting outside to enjoy the beautiful weather when I can. I've taken some nice walks w/ my friends Cindy and Rose and their girls. Here's a picture of Alice and I on the swing at the park where we had lunch one day.


Here is Alice playing with her friend Lily.


Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading!

April

Alice & Cousin Lydia

Playing w/ Cousin Arie


Alice in her Easter dress (which she borrowed from Lydia)


Reading

She is now trying to explore everything around her. Here she is opening the door to the coffee table.



Alice is sitting almost independently, she just needs a little support or somewhere there to catch her in case she falls.
Building w/ mommy!


Alice starting eating rice cereal at 5 months. She is now eating cereal, fruits, and veggies and doing well opening her mouth and keeping her hands out of the way.