Lennox - 8 Months Old

 Oh my, Lenny Mae! What a sweet little rascal you have turned into.  You are such a happy and joyful baby these days.  You thrive on experiencing new things and meeting new people. Which is such a change from last month.  There are no more tears when strangers talk to you and you let anyone pick you up and hold you.  You are quick to share your big dimpled smile and sometimes even play coy when new people talk to you. You duck your head to the side and lean into my shoulder and smile.  It is so sweet!

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Big things have been happening this past month.  Lennox has finally started showing off some of her new tricks.  When you say "pat, pat" she will pat her hands on her lap over and over again.  If you ask her to "shake, shake" she will shake whatever toy she is holding.  Sometimes if you tell her to "clap, clap" she will try to clap her hands together but she hasn't got it just yet, but she sure tries.  My most favorite trick is her "ta-da!".  She does it over and over again on command.  And sometimes she likes to raise her arms up over her head and open and close her hands at the same time.  It is by far the cutest thing she does!

She has been doing more babbling lately. Different sounds have been coming out and more than one sound put together.  Pete thinks she says "Dada" but I don't think it counts until she is calling HIM Dada. :) It is so fun to hear her little voice though.

She has gotten so big that we have finally retired the Bumbo Seat.  I'm a little sad to see it go because it is so convenient. I will admit that I still shove her chubby thighs into it every once in awhile to get a shower in when Pete isn't home.  We have also retired the vibrating chair, she's like Hercules and will lunge herself forward to get out of it.  I'm sad to see that one go too.  She's getting so hard to contain these days! She is most content these days sitting on a blanket surrounded by her toys. 

Since we have been back home in California, she has been sleeping in HER OWN ROOM! And in her crib.  It's funny because Harlow was sleeping in her own room long before Lennox was (But we don't have a choice when we are living away from home). But even though she is so much older, I was still so nervous not to have her sleeping next to our bed.  She threw a huge fit about it on our first night home from Indiana. We arrived home in California a little before 2 a.m.  We gave her a bath, bottle and tried to put her to bed as usual but oh man did she cry!  She finally gave in and fell asleep after an hour and from then on has slept just fine and peaceful in her room at night and at nap time.

She can hold herself up when placed on her hands and knees and will rock back and forth.  She won't get to her knees on her own yet (thank goodness!).  I secretly don't want her to crawl.  I'm just not ready, I feel overwhelmed by how fast she is growing up and crawling will just push me over the edge! I'm sad to see glimpses of baby getting left behind. She is getting so big and capable, once she is crawling and walking she won't need me for much!

Pictures this month were a little more challenging since she can sit up and grab and wiggle around now. But I was also able to capture a little more of her personality because of that.  I love her scrunched up smiley face and the wrinkle she gets on her nose when she does it.  Poor Gus Gus is getting more and more nervous for pictures each month. As soon as she sees me lay out the white blanket she takes off and hides. 

Lennox Mae, what are we going to do with you?  I've been wishing and praying and hoping for a time machine. I want to freeze you in place and never let you grow up! I love you so much baby sister!
 

Friday Phone Dump

I guess I forgot to post this Friday's phone dump...
Sunday is better late than never...

It hadn't rained in over a week in Indiana so I thought I would be adventurous and take both girls by myself to the farmers market to enjoy the nice weather. Within 15 minutes of being at the farmers market we were caught in a monsoon! We were drenched! I literally came home and had to change all of our clothes, underwear included and re-blow dry my hair. But Harlow got to feed the chicken and we also scored some baked goodies before we ran back to the car.

The town that the farmers market is in is called Zionsville and it is so quaint. It reminds me of the Gilmore Girls.

Lennox and Harlow's morning hair is like a work of art. I have no idea how it gets this way but it is pure awesomeness.

It has finally been sunny around here and the splash pad water has finally turned on. So we suited up Lennox for her first water park experience.

Harlow loves this man-made creek that runs right along the splash pad.

A storm was brewing, this picture doesn't do it justice. The sky was pretty awesome.

Lennox loves going for rides on the tricycle and Harlow likes to help push.

Harlow playing a little game of Fruit Ninja at the mall.

Shoulder rides courtesy of big sister (who wasn't finished chewing her muffin apparently).

She boycotted her usual 2 1/2 hour nap so she hung out on the couch playing with her "ipad".

I guess we really love this park, all of my pictures have been taken there lately.

I always catch Lennox in a staring daze while she watches the dogs.

5 Year Anniversary

Pete and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary on July 13th.  We are so thankful my parents were able to make their visit fall on the same weekend.  We had a babysitter! They also made it happen last year too! We all spent the day hanging out and later that night after we put Lennox to bed, I popped some popcorn and gave Harlow permission to stay up with my parents until Pete and I got back from dinner. Pete found a cute Italian restaurant that was ranked #1 in Italian restaurants in Indianapolis. It was called Mama Carolla's Old Italian Restaurant. It was in a cute, vintage-y looking part of town, a lot like Old Town Clovis but better. And the actual restaurant was inside of an old Victorian house that had been kept in its original state.  There were tables throughout the house, upstairs, downstairs, and in the backyard.  I think I loved the atmosphere more than the food and the food was good too!

I am so grateful for such a hard working man.  Before Pete and I were even married, just at the beginning stages of dating, I never could have dreamed that he would lead our lives to the place we are at now.  He is strong, dedicated, driven and giving. I don't think he knows how to tell me no, not that I am complaining. If I have an idea he figures out a way to make it happen.  And the same goes for the girls. No one comes before his family and for that I am the most grateful. 5 years down and eternity to go!

Sharp's Gymnastics in Indiana

This summer Harlow has been taking a gymnastics class at Sharp's Gymnastics in Indianapolis. It is right down the street from our apartment for the summer. There are two former Olympians that were trained in this gym.  She started off by taking a 3-4 year old gymnastics class. It was her first non-mommy and me class and to my surprise (and slight disappointment) she didn't even care that I wasn't in class with her. After her second class her teacher approached us to see if we wanted to try what they call the powerhouse 3 year old class (don't let that name fool you, she's no powerhouse). So we switched classes and were so much more pleased with the class. The other class really was for basic beginners who had never taken a class, it worked more on following directions than actual skills. I remember telling Pete that I wasn't really impressed with her class, especially from being in such a well known gym. Thank goodness her coached asked her to switch! It was just enough push for our cautious, scared-y cat Harlow. She got to see her peers doing bigger, harder and more complex skills and even when she didn't want to do something she saw them doing it and at least gave it a try. Harlow has taken gymnastics in 4 different gyms now and it always amazes me how different they are. I do wish this class had been a little bit stricter on skills but she's 3, I'll give it another year. Sometimes I think that class structure gets stuck centered around age, like 3 year old classes do "these things" and 4 year old classes do "these things" when really I wish they were pushed a little harder to try skills once they show readiness. But, maybe that's just my Break the Barriers upbringing :)

I will say though that this class has been great for Harlow. Her confidence in the things that she is able to do and willingness to try things without objection first has improved tremendously. I still heard her shaky nervous laugh all the way from the bleachers a lot though. But she never left class in tears. Well scratch that, on her last day of class she sat down on the bleachers to put on her shoes and slipped backwards and smacked the back of her head on the bleachers, but class had already finished so it doesn't count, right?

Stretching at the beginning of class.

Lennox, patiently waiting while sister takes class.

Bear walks down the mat.

Crab walks, which she does not like.

Tippy toe walks on the beam.

Getting ready for her forward rolls.

Her favorite part of class is jumping on the tumble trak or playing in one of the many foam pits.

On the bars.

Coach Michelle