Visit from Grandma and Grandpa Young

On Friday, November 4th, Grandma and Grandpa Young came to visit! They were so excited to get to see and hold Jovie.

We spent lots of time together and did lots of fun things.

Playing on Saturday morning

Grandma's Little Pumpkin!

Proud Grandpa

On Saturday afternoon, we went the the Tidal Basin and the National Mall. These attempts at pictures were not so successful; Jovie was not up for it at the time.

The MLK Memorial and the colorful Tidal Basin

Jovie and the colorful Tidal Basin

A picture of Mommy and Daddy

And another of Jovie

Grandma and Grandpa at the MLK Memorial

Pretty Willow trees by the river

Grandma and Grandpa walking with Jovie by the river

They kind of like her :)

Our family

By the Jefferson Memorial

On Sunday, we went to Mount Vernon. It was a beautiful day, and we really enjoyed the time there.

Jovie, all ready to go!

At Mount Vernon by a tree George Washington planted

Our family in front of the gorgeous view from the back porch

Jovie taking it all in... ;)

Here are some pictures of Mount Vernon against the beautiful sky.

Speaking of beautiful...

Walking around the grounds

Walking up to Washington's tomb

The Wharf on the property

Can't resist taking pictures of the cutest person there!

Daddy and Jovie walking along the river

Sixteen-sided barn

Walking around the grounds

I loved this tree!

The tree George Washington's nephew planted

Jovie enjoying the view

Mommy and Daddy

Grandma's favorite spot at Mount Vernon - sitting on the porch enjoying the lovely view!

Jovie on the porch

Happy to be home and kicking around!

Bathtime!

Grandma giving Jovie her bottle

Lots of love!

We had a great time. Thank you for coming, Grandma and Grandpa!

Try, try, try!

Jovie continually amazes us with everything she tries! Sometimes it seems like she thinks she's six months old. :) She tries to sit up, stand up, and almost holds her head all the way up now. During tummy time, she lifts her head and turns it, rolls from her side to her back, and every now and then from her side to her belly. She scoots herself when she's on her back by planting her feet and pushing up. Throughout the night when she's sleeping, she ends up rotating 90 degrees in her crib.

It seems like she nods when we nod at her. She imitates our facial expressions, and raises her eyebrows a lot when she tries to talk. Speaking of trying to talk, she works on the words that we say to her most: Hi, Yeah, Mama, Dada, I love you. She's almost there! We're pretty sure that one of these days, quite soon, the voice and the lips will work together to make the right word.

I've just started to try to teach her sign language, since she imitates us a lot and even tries to wave. She has a long way to go, especially with understanding what the signs mean, but we work on them and she really watches me. Every now and then she moves her arms to try to imitate me.

She loves when we move her legs, but doesn't like when we try to move her arms. She's perfectly happy to be in control of those arms by herself. She flails them all around during play time, moves them up to her face and gets her thumb when she's sleepy, and often folds them together when she's relaxed and resting.

She has started to get attached to Mommy and Daddy, and want us to be with her at certain times. We try to make sure she is around other people a lot, to get used to them. But of course, it warms our heart that she knows and loves us. She loves when Daddy comes home, and smiles at him, stares at him and coos like crazy! Her new thing is that when she wants to cuddle or is sleepy, she buries her face deep into our shoulder or chest. This is often accompanied by a lot of soft, sweet, higher pitched cooing. When I quietly tell her I love her, the cooing gets even stronger and sweeter. She really responds to that.

It's so fun to watch her grow, learn and try new things. We love you, Jovie!