Busy Bees

We've been busy folks since our last post. I went last Friday to pick up my parents at the airport in Columbia, unfortunately it was past Alice's bedtime and a 3 1/2 hour round trip drive- so they had to wait until the next day to catch up with little girl. Mom and Dad were over ASAP on Saturday!

Alice was supposed to have her "6 month" photos on Saturday...they have been cancelled and rescheduled for an assortment of reasons. The latest reason was a beautiful mark on her face that she got at playgroup. One of the kids had some neat laminated flash cards with photos of her family on them that Alice jammed in her mouth and cut her in the corners several different places...it looked like she had whiskers drawn on her face (wish I had a photo of it now). So we waited it out 1 more day and did them on Sunday.

Alice has perfected her sitting balance and is now working on her next big skill...pulling up to stand! We caught her on the video monitor during a "nap" on her knees in her crib. Needless to say the mattress was lowered immediately! She has been having fun standing up holding on to the back of the couch and looking out of the window and of course...jumping! I caught these shots at our ottoman, which I love the fact that it is SOFT! Also...check out Grandma's face in the upper right-hand corner shot!

Can't wait to see Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa come back to the states on Friday and we will certainly be glad to see them. They have had a wonderful time in Italy, and are keeping up with us on the web!

I'm sitting tall!

Alice is doing lots of sitting these days, she still hasn't perfected keeping her balance...she loses it backwards quite often which keeps me on my toes. And as for our weekend away...Alice was well loved on at MaMa and PaPa's...and I survived! I thought I might throw up as PaPa was leaving with Alice in his car from Jacksonboro where we met up. We were able to sustain on periodic reports and amazingly enough we slept horribly through the weekend, and once Alice was back with us on Sunday we all slept through the night "like babies".

A weekend away

Robert and I have an out of town wedding to attend this weekend and Alice will be staying with MaMa and PaPa in Aiken (Robert's folks). This will be may first weekend away from Alice and I am very anxious! I always laughed at my girlfiends when they described to me how upset they were when leaving their little ones for the first time (even when it was Daddy caring for the baby) or would decline travel plans because it involved leaving their children in someone else's care! I have negotiated with myself all week long and will probably continue negotiating through the weekend!

We are also missing Grandma and Grandpa this week! My mom and dad are in Italy for 2 1/2 weeks. They have had an awesome opportunity to go to Rome with their St Mary's church choir to sing in the company of the Pope. They will also be traveling to Venice and visting with some friends before returning home. Grandma usually cares for Alice while I work 3 days a week, and we have all missed her greatly.

Now for Alice updates...last week she was a babbling fool saying "bababa" and "mamama". This week she has opted to be a little quieter and doing more forceful and short squeals. Personally I like the mamama's. She is eating her solids a bit better now...after I let her start feeding herself! She will pick up the spoon and feed herself afer we load up the spoon for her. What an independent little girl! She is sitting for several minutes now independently and is on her way to perfecting the jungle crawl. It is more like a roll to one side and stretch forward, roll to the other side and stretch forward. We went to our final Kindermusik class this week and Daddy was able to join us. She really loves seeing the other kids and playing with the music.

Alice goes to Aiken for the weekend

Doing the Wash

Alice likes to hang out in the laundry basket and play peek-a-boo and "hide" in the sheets.

Helping with Laundry

Alice enjoyed getting in the laundry basket and "helping" mommy with the laundry. She loves to "hide" and play peek-a-boo.

Alice is mobile

Alice loves her new mobility, she is not crawling quite yet but rolls, scoots and inches to her desired locale. She loves going "under" the ottoman, the crib and the rocking chair, which is the same rocker I crawled under and chewed on as a little squirt.

Alice tries apples

Alice is still getting the hang of all of these new tastes and textures and hasn't gotten the hang of solids yet. She makes all kinds of faces, gags, and much to our dismay blows raspberries...anything but eating! She is a pro at handling a sippy cup and loves to try drinking from a glass when assisted.

Jumping Bean

Alice LOVES her jumper! We remind her that she may just jump her brains out if she doesn't rest every once in awhile!

Easter Dinner

My mom and dad hosted a fantastic Easter dinner which was well attended...Mom, Dad, Robert, myself, Alice,my sister Ashley and her daughter Holly, Robert's Dad and Leigh, Robert's Cousins Alan, Nik and a friend Sinclair, Fanny our friend visiting from France, neighbors Angela and Bobby, and my dear friends Cassy, Kevin and their daughters Eva, Sadie and Mya.

Family Photo

Egg Hunt

Eva, Sadie, Mya and Holly hunted Easter Eggs while the Moms looked on. Alice supervised this year.

Checking each other out

Alice and Cousin Holly had a good time on Grandma's lap. Alice was captivated by Holly's paci and took it out as soon as Holly put it back in. Aunt Ashley said Alice could help Holly quit the paci just by sitting next to her more often! Holly was such a sweet girl and just loved stroking Alice's head.

Eva's 3rd birthday

Cassy's oldest daughter turned 3 and celebrated with a dance party, Alice donned her tutu and praticed some dance moves.

A little cranky

After lots of dancing and socializing Alice was quite tired. Zeus had to check in to make sure Alice was OK.

All better after a little cry

Alice rallied so I could take a few photos of her in her first tutu.