Trumpeter?

Somebody is playing her trumpet!



Ok, maybe not.

Our darling darling

It's been super hot lately, so we took her to the water park. She seemed ok with it. It's very cute the way she holds on to us and cuddles close when she's scared. Towards the end she became braver and was willing to sit on the ground and touch the water.


She's still loving those solids. Now she's graduated to oatmeal cereal, which she infinitely prefers to the rice cereal (a mommy's girl) and acorn squash, which she always pulls a face over initially, but then agrees to eat.

She loves Daddy, and she especially loves it when he plays the guitar. Perhaps she is a future guitarist? Of course, she's not really supposed to eat the guitar.

Annalise's 1st Vacation

Annalise went on her first vacation last month. We went up to beautiful Hume lake and stayed in a cabin. It was really a wonderful time, although vacationing with a baby is very different from vacationing as a couple. Packing is especially different. Our car was loaded down with baby toys and devices. My parents brought her favorite - a jumper that she usually uses at their house. Here she is enjoying it in her new surroundings.


The beautiful mountains and trees and lake were a welcome change. We took long walks around the lake everyday with Annalise on our backs. She seemed to enjoy it and would look around a lot and then nap when she got tired.


My parents joined us in the cabin after a couple days, and they generously watched Annalise so that we could do a few things by ourselves. One time, we went boating on the lake, which was a blast. Don't ask Dave how much I paddled, though.

Dave and my Dad also went on a bike ride down a mountain. It was a scheduled event where they drove everyone up to the top and then the people biked down looking at the beautiful views.

My parents went boating as well.

The first couple days were freezing cold, but then it heated up and was wonderfully warm. In the first picture here we're trying to stay warm at the pancake breakfast. In the second picture we're trying to cool off in the shade down by the lake.

This vacation included the dreaded long car drive for which we bought the new and so much better convertible carseat. The drive was actually not too bad. On the way up we were praising God because she took two 3 hour naps! She really only cried for about 30 minutes at the end of the trip. We did not expect it to be that easy. In between the naps we took a lengthy break - about an hour - to relax, let her lie down and eat and look around outside. The car trip back was not quite so pleasant, but was still manageable. She cried for about 3 hours or so. She cried half an hour at the beginning of the trip and then napped. Then we went through a lot of crying: 30 minutes, stop feed and comfort, 45 minutes, stop feed and comfort, 45 minutes, stop feed and comfort, 1 hour on and off crying as we pressed on to make it home. Home had never looked so beautiful.

Someone loves sitting

The baby who usually wants to be carried 24/7 has finally found something else she likes - sitting. Isn't she just the cutest thing you have ever seen?

1st fourth of July

On Annalise's first fourth of July we did . . . nothing. But we did dress her in a cute red, white, and blue outfit and eat a BBQ with my parents.

Happy 4th of July everyone.

Happy 1st Daddy's Day to Dave!

This Father's Day was Dave's first with Annalise in his arms (she was still inside me last year). He enjoyed his mug with a picture of Annalise on it, and his shirt with a picture of a daddy changing a dirty diaper wearing a gas mask.

You are an amazing father, Dave! Annalise and I are very grateful for everything you do.

Catch up with Annalise

We've been terribly lax on posting, and the only excuse we have is that we've been doing a lot of traveling. In the next day or two there will probably be a number of posts as we try to let you know what has been going on with us.

First, here is an update on Annalise at 5 months old.

She continues to be a joy (as her middle name proclaims), although she doesn't appear to feel the same joy that we do - we're really hoping she'll outgrow her tearfulness. This month has marked the advent of 1.5 hour crying sessions at 2 a.m.! However, she has also graced us with many more beautiful smiles during the daytime. This month also marked a sudden ability to sit (right at a little over 5 months old)! Yay! One day we put her down in the sitting position and she just sat. She still needs a bit of support, but is doing really well. We'll post sitting pictures later - after we take them.

She has also begun enjoying her rice cereal/breastmilk food combo. Actually, she's quite a pig and opens her mouth wide and lunges for the spoon. She also wants to feed herself and tries to hold the spoon, which naturally sends food all over the place, which she seems to enjoy.

Everything goes into the mouth now - absolutely anything that gets in her hands. She really wanted to taste this dim sum bun, but Mommy and Daddy were mean and didn't allow it.

She especially loves glasses of water. She admires them, touches them, and desperately wants to taste them.

Our big news this month is that she suddenly starting taking the bottle! I had been trying every day for a long time, and then one day while we were in San Jose, she drank from it. Now I give her one every day to make sure she doesn't forget how. Daddy especially enjoys getting to feed her. This was a very big, important step, as I will return to work in August.

She also loves grabbing and holding and touching things. She's not terribly discriminating, and Daddy's mouth is a favorite thing to grab. She loves the noises he makes when she holds onto his lips.

She wore her first pair of shoes, which were appropriately adorned with electric guitars.


This month she also went on her first plane flight. Luckily it was a short one - about an hour to San Jose. She did extremely well, eating and napping the entire way.

Our little girl is getting bigger every day!