Penelope's Birthday

Happy Birthday to Penelope! She turned one on March 28th. She really is a happy girl, and we are so lucky to have her as our daughter! She is always ready with a smile and a squeal for Mom or Dad. As parents we have learned a lot this first year! We celebrated with a few presents from Mom, Dad and grandparents. On Sunday we'll have a small party with friends in the ward.

We went to the pediatrician yesterday, and Penelope is still our long, skinny baby girl. She is 31.75 inches long (can't remember the percentile, but the size of an average 18 mos old), weights 21 lbs and 14 oz (80th percentile) and got two more shots and some blood work done. Sad.

Now that P is a year old we get to start all new things: cow's milk, eggs, honey, (no peanut butter until 18 mos), all kinds of finger foods, a new car seat, weaning from the bottle, hope that she learns to walk soon-ish, etc.

It's been a great year. Let's see what happens in year 2!

I Can't Turn My Back Any More!

I washed Penelope after breakfast, took her tray off to let her play with the straps of her high chair (one of her favorite things), and went in the kitchen to make her a bottle. What I forgot was that she has started reaching over to the table to grab what she can, even when the tray is still on.

I guess I should have realized that she would reach for the leftover oatmeal on the table right next to her. But, I didn't, and she got to have a little fun before her bottle. Good thing today is bath day!

P's First Easter Egg Hunt

We had a busy weekend! But, it was fun! A family in the ward hosted an Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch, so although P doesn't walk or crawl, we knew she'd enjoy picking up the eggs. We were correct.

We placed Penelope directly in front of eggs in the grass and bushes and she promptly bent over and picked them up, time and again.

She's not going to eat the insides, she just likes them as rattles. She is still happily playing with the eggs almost 3 days later. She's even figured out how to open them to find what's inside. I can see the wheels spinning in her little head: "All I have to do is squeeze them a little bit and they pop open! Then I get to see what's inside!" Now she's trying to put them back together once she breaks them apart.

So proud of herself and smiling for Dad behind the camera!

The most important thing to do once picking up an egg is to put it in your mouth to test it. The good ones fit perfectly in your mouth, as do these! Happy Early Easter!!

Cherry Blossom Festival in DC

Friday afternoon I drove into DC to see Dave's new work and to meet his co-workers. They're very nice, and he likes his job a lot. After work we took the metro to the Cherry Blossom Festival. This is the 100 year anniversary of the trees being given to the US from Japan, so there are 5 weeks of festivities.

Most of the trees are along the Tidal Basin. It's a "lake" near lots of the monuments. Across the water is the Jefferson memorial, behind us is the Washington monument.

Because of the mild winter and warm spring, the blossoms peaked really early. Last week, in fact! It's a good thing we went, because it rained all day Saturday and I bet most of the blossoms are gone now. The ones in our parking lot definitely are.

Part of the reason we went was to show Flat Stanley the Cherry Blossoms and a few of the monuments. Penelope really likes Flat Stanley, so we finally let him ride in the stroller with Penelope. :) I won't post all the Flat Stanley pictures so that it's a surprise for Emily when they get to her elementary school. Stanley is a politician this time. Last time he wore a historic costume to fit in at Mount Vernon.

We walked along the "promenade" (aka closed off streets) and people-watched and smelled all the good fair food.

See, here's the Jefferson memorial. All of the trees are on my right and left all around the tidal basin. My feet hurt too badly to walk all the way around. I think you get really good pictures from that side of the basin. P was also tired and hungry, so we headed back towards the car and had a nice dinner al fresco in the wonderful weather. P promptly fell asleep the second we got in the car to go home. It was a great Friday evening!

Belated St. Patrick's Day Wishes

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Penelope!

Since it was nice and warm out, we spent the day in Old Town Alexandria wandering around and checking it out. We didn't think about the crowds for St. Patrick's Day. There were long lines of revelers at every bar, and especially the Irish Pubs.

Penelope fit right in wearing her "Luckiest Girl Ever" outfit! Thanks, Grandma! (No, she doesn't stand by herself. This was a quick-posed picture. Sorry all the pictures are weird; I realized a few days later that my lens was dirty. Here I thought it was the lighting in my apartment!)

More Antics from the Past Few Days

Penelope regularly sits herself up from being on her back. She also balances much better when sitting up and can flail all appendages and not fall over. She has also figured out how to pivot and move around more. Not quite sure how she does it, but P can now get through the small pathway between the couch and chair. It used to be an obstacle because a horizontally rolling baby is wider than the opening. No longer a problem! I found her on the other side of the opening on Monday.

P then decided to make up a new game. This toy is one of those "drop the ball in the hole and watch it roll down the 4 layers" toys. She decided to take the layers apart and instead of dropping the ball down the "ramp hole", she wanted to turn it upside down and put the ball in the shaft of the toy---over and over again.

The ball is out...

And now I'm working on putting the ball in (but it's hard to do when I'm also smiling for the camera)...

She's proud of herself, and also smiles oddly whenever she sees the camera. She's back to the "squinty" smile.

Again with the squinting.

So happy with herself (and slightly post-squinting)!

If it's fun to put the ball in the shaft of the toy, then it is also fun to put the ball in another hole: Dad's mouth! (And, the squinty smile)

Ball out!

Hooray! I'm SO smart!

Somebody Isn't Sleeping!!

I thought P had settled down for her morning nap when I heard a THUD in her room. Something had fallen, and I didn't know what. When I went in to investigate I found P sitting up in her bed.

This is actually the end result, once she realized I was taking pictures of her. All of this happened beforehand:

I witnessed her reaching through the bars, grabbing for stuff off the changing table.

She successfully grabbed the baby lotion, but then HOW to get it through the bars?

It took a little finagling, but she's one smart cookie, so she figured it out!

VICTORY is mine!!

And, a little time to enjoy the fruits of her labors.

I ended up leaving her in her bed for a while, hoping she'd tire out and fall asleep. No dice. She just kept playing and she ended up with the baby shampoo in the crib as well. The contents of the baskets are also now strewn all about the shelf of the changing table. I love to watch her little brain work these days!! She may not be crawling or walking, but rest assured, that girl is one smart cookie!