Family Fun

The last week of October, my last week of full parental leave, Mike took off work as well, and we spent the week together. We ran errands, slept in and generally spent time enjoying being together and enjoying some of the lovely fall weather.

We went to Shenandoah on Tuesday, October 25. It was a gorgeous fall day with lots of lovely colors.

Here we are, getting ready to go!

Pinnacles overlook

The sun was bright!

Happy in the car

Ready to go on Jovie's first hike, up to Stony Man Mountain!

Sucking her blanket on the trail

Didn't take in the scenery as much as we had hoped... :)

At the top of Stony Man Mountain

Our first family summit!

Staying cozy on the way down

Playing on a blanket by Big Meadows

Big Meadows

Trying to show Jovie her first deer

Sunset

Jovie's first Shenandoah sunset

On Wednesday, we went to Burke Lake and took a walk around the lake. The colors were really pretty.

The week was great! We spent lots of time together, just the three of us. And of course, we enjoyed lots of Jovie smiles!

Cribs, Changing Tables and Coos

Jovie is really developing some cute habits! She loves to be on her changing table (usually), and really smiles and talks to us when she's up there.

We are also trying to get her to say "Mama" and "Dada" - may be a bit of healthy competition :) - and she LOVES it! When we say either word, she gives us a big grin! Her whole face breaks into a smile, and she makes a lot of movements with her mouth. She's not really close to saying anything, but we appreciate and vigorously encourage the attempts.

She loves when we interact with her in general, whether she's in her bouncy seat, on her blanket, etc. She'll stare at our mouths and faces while we talk to her, and she smiles and tries to imitate us a lot. She sticks out her tongue more times than I can count each day. :)

And, she's starting to sleep a lot more at night! For the past week or so, she has slept between seven and nine hours each night. So, we've started to put her in her crib. First, she took naps there. Now, she's sleeping there at night. It makes me a little sad, but happy too. And, her first night in the crib, she slept for ten hours. Yay, Jovie!

This is her first nap in the crib.

Her other favorite thing to do in her crib is stare, laugh and talk at her mobile. She does that for several minutes on end. She loves it!

Jovie is developing into an even sweeter and cuter baby, if that's possible! I'd love to freeze this stage, if we could. But we're excited to see what new things she learns, too, as she grows.

Two Months Have Flown By!

Jovie is two months old!

It is really hard to believe. I know, I say that a lot, but I'm amazed at how true it is. She is such a good, sweet, happy baby.

Here are some pictures with the giraffe to mark her growth:

I got a little carried away, and kind of made it into a mini photo shoot...

Her two month stats:

• 12 lbs, 4 oz
• 23 inches
• 75th percentile for height, weight and head circumference

What is Jovie doing now?

She:

• Still really likes to eat! We've had to give her prune juice a few times, and we thought we would get a funny reaction the first time we tried. Nope! She'll eat anything.
• Coos and laughs a lot, and really tries to talk
• Gives you a big grin when she hasn't seen you in "awhile" - when she wakes up, when Daddy gets home from work, even if I go do the dishes and come back.

• Loves to kick around on a blanket in the grass when we take her to parks
• Successfully reaches her toys most of the time she grabs for them

And sometimes your face... :)

• Holds her head up a lot
• Pushes herself on her hands and knees when she has tummy time

• Stands on your lap when you hold her

• Follows you with her eyes, makes a lot of eye contact, really studies your face, and turns her head a lot to look at things
• Really likes it when you blow on her hair :)

• Has developed the little habits that she does when she's sleepy or wants to be comforted. She opens and closes her little fingers against something, which is really sweet when it's her blanket, but harder to handle when it's your skin. :) She also really likes to have her blanky by her face when you are holding her and she's drifting off or relaxing.

While we don't have a rigid schedule, our days tend to follow a pattern. Jovie's days usually consist of a morning nap, followed by eating and playtime. Then we take Howie out for a walk, come back and play a bit. She eats again, then takes an afternoon nap. Usually after that, we go do something fun, like run an errand, go to a park or take a walk. By then, it's time to eat again, and then Daddy comes home. She is mesmerized by Daddy for awhile, and loves to play and talk to him. Then we eat dinner, she plays some more, and then starts to get sleepy. She dozes a bit in the evening in between eating and playing. When it's time to get ready for bed, we give her a bath, Daddy gives her a bottle and she goes to sleep. She's not quite sleeping through the night yet, but she usually goes between five and six hours between the bottle and her next feeding.

Compare this picture to the first picture of her in this towel- what a change!

She has changed our world, and we love it! I can't believe how much I can just sit and watch her play and laugh and coo, or even just watch her breathe while she sleeps (I do wonder if I'll ever get over checking to make sure she's still breathing). We are so grateful for Jovie!