Cooing and Talking

Penelope has started cooing to go with all her adorable smiles! Since we think everything she does is adorable, I took a few videos of her when she was being especially cute and talking to both Dave and me. All it takes to get her going is for us to mimick the noises she makes. Here is an edited version of one of the videos, since I can't upload the giant ones I took on my camera. In the meantime I will try to figure out how to compress them and/or edit them so I can post more. This isn't the best one, it's just the one we could get to work for now.

BYU vs UNL

Penelope is a dual-fan. She likes BYU and UNL. Here is the proof--she looks adorable in both scarlet and navy!

This is to prove Penelope is getting baby fat. Look how chunky her legs are!
Look! She has filled out in the arms, too. She used to have lots of old lady skin, now she's got some fat to go with it. Hooray! (and she weighs a whopping 10 lbs 11 oz as of Monday, 6/20)

GO HUSKERS!

Penelope is also partial to the Cougars. She really likes her cheerleading outfit. It probably will not fit when she's 6 mos old, although the size is 6mos. I guess I'll have to buy a new cheerleading outfit. That makes me SO sad ;-) I can't wait for her to grow into the Husker cheerleading uniforms; they only had them in toddler sizes!

Kind of blurry, I know, but look how she can almost hold her head up! She can support her head for a little while when you pick her up. She's really quite strong. Don't let those skinny arms fool you. She may not be able to bench much, but she IS strong.

GO COUGARS!

(She needs pom pons, I know.)

Two Months

Penelope turned two months old on May 28. A few days earlier she started to smile. Now if she's got a full tummy and she's in a good mood it's really easy to get her to do this:
(blurry, cuz she doesn't sit still while she smiles)
or this:
This smile includes kicking and flailing on the new blanket that Grandma Luke made for Penelope. I'll take pictures of the other side soon. This is actually the back side.

The Kay Family Meet and Greet with Penelope Ruth

Just a few pictures of Dave's family with Penelope the weekend they were here (May 13-16): Aunt Nicole and Penelope getting to know each other. I think they're having a staring contest. Nicole says staring contests (or maybe it was eye contact) make babies smarter. In that case, Penelope is a genius!
Nicole

Jonathan, Dave and Penelope. Penelope was saying goodbye to Jonathan. He had to leave a day early because of crazy flight schedules. I think the whole country was flying to graduations the weekend they were here.

Penelope loves Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Nicole!!

But if she loves Uncle Jonathan, she ADORES Grandpa Kay!

I pretty much think Penelope loves men, and we're going to have to really watch her when she's old enough to date! For now I have no problem with P loving the men in her life!

Proud Grandpa! (Ignore the red eyes)

Congratulations, Dave!

Dave graduated from the University of Illinois with two masters degrees!! Dave is now a Master of Urban Planning and a Master of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACE). Hooray! His family was able to come out and celebrate his accomplishment and meet Penelope for the first time. Because he had two degrees, we had two days of convocation festivities. It was nice to be around family--Penelope sure liked being fawned all over! The over-educated family. :) Dave was trying to one up me. I only have one masters degree, and he has two. When I finish my PhD I'll trump his two masters...until then he can have the glory! The yellow hood is for his ACE degree

The purple hood is from his Urban Planning degree.

The Kay siblings (sibs) on the Quad: Jonathan, David & Nicole.

The sibs with dad, Duane Kay.

I love this man!

The whole fam: Jennifer, Duane, Jonathan, Penelope, Dave, Whitney, Nicole

Proud Father and Son

Dave and his Thesis Advisor: Kathy Baylis. She was very good to work with. She was very willing to work around Dave's "I'm having my first baby a few weeks before my thesis is due" schedule. Thanks, Professor Baylis!

Oops, a 2nd time, and can't get blogger to delete it. Note how P is folding her arms. :)

Dave and Nicole

Booties, Dave's Recital & Bath Time

One of my professors knitted Penelope these adorable booties! We have found them to be one of the best gifts! Especially since this is what Penelope looks like after a nap. She still kicks out of her swaddle, and often wiggles at least one arm out. The booties are also perfect because they actually fit her feet (with some room to spare) unlike all the socks we have for her. She's got her mom's long feet. Maybe Penelope will be 12 years old with a size 10 shoe just like her mom!

We have started a regimented nap routine with Penelope. According to the book we're reading "Babywise", Penelope should stay awake for at least 15 minutes after every feeding, then we put her down for a 1.5-2 hour nap. We do various things to play with her and entertain her before her nap. Sometimes she just stares at us while we work around the house. In the morning we bathe and dress her. Sometimes Dave gives Penelope her own personal piano recital. I didn't even know Dave played the piano. Apparently he plays one song: Chariots of Fire. And he plays it over and over again for her. Note how intently she's listening to her Dad perform for her! So cute!

Baths are pretty low key for Penelope at this point. She patiently waits while we scrub every inch of her little body. I'm hoping this is a sign that she'll be a water baby! I can't wait to start swimming lessons with her! I want her in baby/infant/toddler swimming lessons. I have two reasons for this. 1) I think everyone should know how to swim, so why not start her young? 2) Dave and I love to go on beach vacations...so our kids better like the water and know how to swim. :) Mexico, here we come (in a few years or so)!

Jungle Gym

I'm anticipating lots of time spent with our new "Developmental Activity Gym." Penelope sat underneath it for a solid hour last night. There are lights and music that play. She was just contently swatting at the toys and listening to the music. When she gets better control of her flailing I think she'll have even more fun!