Baby's First Picnic

Joy and friends had a picnic at the park yesterday.

Pictured from left are Joy, Sophie, Nathan, and Matthew.

Here Elizabeth plays patty-cake with Sophie the golden girl.

Cupcake for mom, prunes for baby--what's up with THAT?

"Enough pictures already, Mom."

Phillip's screening exam

Phillip took, and passed his PhD screening exam last Thursday. See the details here.

Let those pearly whites come!

We went up to the mountains to be with Kimberly's family the weekend before the Memorial Day weekend and had a relaxing time. Kimberly posted pictures from our boat ride on Arrowhead Lake a few days ago, so you know about that.

Here's the cool Joy news from that weekend, though: at one point, I was playing with her, and put my hand in front of her so that she could grab it (she's at the "I want to grab and stuff in my mouth anything that I can" phase of life). She caught a hold of my index finger, stuck it straight into her mouth, and chomped down . . . and guess what? There was something more in that mouth than just gums! She's got teeth coming in!

You can just see the two teeth in her bottom gum.

Friends of All Sizes

Considering Joy's engaging personality, it's no wonder she's already becoming very popular:

Here Joy trades grins with our neighbor Kellin.

On Friday, we met up with a few friends (and their parents) outside the library. Nathan and Matthew are eating solids and rolling like crazy, Joy leads the teething race (more on that later), and Anna has seriously mastered the art of drooling.

While we were there, the Hatch family rolled up on their fuel-efficient family vehicle. Talk about multi-tasking--they're bonding as a family, burning calories, saving the planet, and advertising Brent's realty services all at the same time.

Cabin Fever

Last weekend we visited Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson's cabin at Lake Arrowhead.

Here's Daddy looking snappy in his shades and backward baseball hat (when he wore it frontward earlier in the day the wind blew it into the lake).

Joy found the boat ride relaxing . . .

. . . but she says the life jacket might need a little adjustment.

Here's Joy with Aunt Heather and Grandma Sorenson. I know, I know--you almost didn't recognize Grandma without her make-up.

Later, Grandpa and Joy took a little nature walk up the driveway. That's what I love about the mountains: nothing on the agenda except hanging out with family and enjoying nature. And maybe a nap, if we're really feeling adventurous.

Multipurpose Clothing

When is an outfit more than an outfit?

When it doubles as an Ewok costume.

Joy also does a convincing impression of a cherub from Renaissance art. Talk about talent.

Signs of Maturity

There's no denying the evidence that our little girl is growing up.

For one thing, she's discovered that her feet are fascinating things (of course, the rest of us already knew that).

Another sign of maturity is that her opinion of Daddy's alma mater has drastically improved. When we first put her USC onesie on two months ago, Joy seemed decidedly unimpressed (after all, what good's a school that can't beat the Bruins at football?).

Nowadays, though, her feelings toward SC are notably more positive. Maybe she's come to realize that there's more to life than sports. Or perhaps it's just because classes finally ended for the semester--that's enough to make anyone happier about school.

Ouch!

Sigh. The childbirth class prepared us for labor and taught us to put Baby to bed on her back. Our parents reminded us that kids grow up fast and baby clothes are often bigger or smaller than the tags would have you believe. Our friends warned us that nursing hurts at first and it's better to buy a small stroller. But, by golly, why didn't anyone warn me that baby fingernails grow faster than kudzu in Georgia?!?



It seems like every couple days I discover that Joy's nails have grown to the point that she's a danger to herself and others. What's more, they're so tiny that when I try to clip them there's a very fine line between causing injury and missing the nail entirely. The first time I gave Joy a manicure, I drew blood in three places (talk about a painful introduction to mortality, and motherhood). I've gotten better since then, but alas, I still miss occasionally. Sorry, Joy.

Success!!! (Again)

Nearly THREE months ago, we posted pictures of Joy rolling over. For some bizarre reason, she never did it again . . . until this week.

After keeping us in suspense for months, she finally went from this position . . .

. . . to this . . .

. . . to this.

Interestingly, she seems to find tummy time much more palatable now that she has the option of ending it. Until this weekend, she would tolerate it for about two minutes before letting us (and everyone else in town) know that she'd had quite enough, thank you.

Recent Developmental Steps

Yikes! It's been a week and a half since we posted our last baby picture! We know Joy's adoring public is eager for details of her progress, so here goes . . .

Here Joy strikes a demure pose during tummy time. She's definitely mastered the art of holding her head up.

She's also gotten the hang of gripping objects and bringing them to her mouth for examination. ("Mom says water is tasty, but I remain to be convinced.")

Baby still hasn't quite figured out how to roll over, but the dream of grasping that box of Q-tips inspires her to keep trying.

That's all, folks!