3 months old!

Anna is 3 months old today! Oh what a sweet, sweet baby. We are just loving her so much.

She is smiling and cooing lots these days . This weekend Catherine and Will stayed with Papa and Kay and Anna thoroughly enjoyed having Mommy and Daddy all to herself. It was the happiest 24 hrs of her life I think! She smiled and relaxed all day, even watched some of the World Cup with Daddy and read a magazine with Mommy. This was how happy she was while we ate breakfast on the porch that morning.

This is one of her favorite sleeping positions when Daddy holds her. Unfortunately Daddy usually ends up with drool dripping on his toes.

At 3 months, Anna is nursing every 3 to 4 hours during the day. She does not like taking a bottle at all. We have made some progress in the last 2 or 3 days and she has taken 2 to 3 ounces at a time. She is a good night time sleeper, going to bed some time between 7 and 8 pm and sleeping until sometime between 6 and 8am the next morning. Occasionally she'll still wake up once during the night around 3 or 4 am to eat, but that is happening less and less. She is also falling into a more predictable nap routine during the day and is good about sleeping in her crib. I think she actually prefers her crib because it's the only place where her big brother and sister leave her alone :)

Happy 3 months Anna!

Nothing Says Summer....

...like the pool and pizza!

We had fun swimming and eating pizza with our friends Natalie and Ada Grace last night at their neighborhood pool.

This is Anna's birthday buddy Harper. They were born on the same day and were the exact same size at birth--so crazy! He has already outgrown her though. He weighed 15 lbs at his 2 month checkup! (Anna was 12 1/2lbs).

Happy Cow

We went to the Happy Cow (a local dairy farm) with a group of friends from church this week. The kids had a great time seeing the cows, going on a tractor ride, and eating some ice cream after a picnic lunch.

How many kids can milk this pretend cow at once? I guess that's why they don't let them try on a real cow.

Will checking out the pregnant mommy cows

My crazy little ones

On the tractor ride to see the fields where the cows eat. We learned all about how the cows prefer to only eat the top part of the grass. It makes the healthiest milk. (And yes, Anna is snoozing away inside there. She was a very good girl for our outing.)

As we were leaving, Catherine said she wanted to go to the Happy Pig next. Hmmm...don't think there is one of those or that I would want to go!

Sisters

Occasionally Anna reminds me a lot of Catherine as a baby; something about her eyes, nose, and chin. Anna's face is a little longer and she has bigger cheeks (well, she's just bigger all over than Catherine was at this age) but I think it's fun to see how they resemble one another.

Catherine at 3 months:

Anna at 2 months:

Catherine at 2 months:

Anna at 1 1/2 months:

2 months old

Anna turned 2 months old while we were at the beach. It has been a quick 2 months. She's growing so quickly and is such a delight to our family. We are enjoying getting to know her more and more each day and figure out her little personality.

She has started smiling so much more and making those sweet baby coos.
I forgot to take the bunny to the beach for the pictures, but she looks so cute in her bathing suit that it doesn't matter!

Sometimes her smile is very lopsided...so funny!

She's a pro at holding up her head. Twice this week she has rolled herself over from this position.

Look at that cute flower bottom!

Some of the fun things we're learning about Anna:
She prefers to be on her tummy to be held and to sleep.
She does not really like pacifiers. She prefers to slurp on her hand instead.
She snorts when she gets hungry.
She does not like to ride in car seat, even for 10 minutes (much less 3 1/2 hrs to the beach).
She loves to watch Catherine and Will and have them talk to her.
She laughs if you tickle her feet.
She still spits up a lot and burps like a man.
At times I think she resembles Catherine as a baby, but I mostly think she looks like Jay.
She is a pretty good sleeper. Her current pattern is from about 8pm to 6/7am, getting up once around 3/4am to eat.

She is such a joy!

Special Beach Adventures

We tried to make an extra effort to have some special adventures with Catherine and Will this week since they've been so patient these past few months with the transition of Anna. Having enough people around to help meant that we could divide up and make sure everyone was receiving a little extra attention and love.

One morning, we rented a bicycle with a child trailer and I rode Catherine and Will around the island for about an hour. They thought it was super fun to ride and eat their biscotti for a snack in there. (What 4 yr old and 2 yr old request biscotti as a snack??)

Catherine and I took Mimi to get a pedicure (her Mother's Day present), so of course Catherine needed her toes painted too. Color of choice: bright green! It looks so cute on her little feet.

A couple of evenings after dinner, Jay and Steve took Will to the driving range to play golf. He loved it! Golf is one of his most favorite things ever and apparently he had a blast with the guys. In another year or two, he'll be ready to play 18 holes.

And nothing says we're on vacation like enjoying some ice cream.

I have so much fun with Catherine and Will. They're at such a fun stage to play and be silly.

Fun in the Sand and Sun

We just got back from a beach trip with Jay's parents. It was such a great trip. Having 4 adults help with 3 kids was much easier than just 1 mommy and 3 kids every day :) Catherine and Will are really getting to the age where they want to play in the sand and ocean more, as well as practice their fabulous swimming skills in the pool (more swim lessons coming in a few weeks). There's nothing that says childhood more than building a sand castle.

cute sandy tutu (and yes, this is a bathing suit...not just a dance outfit)

even Anna enjoyed a few minutes in the sun. she seemed rather bored with it!