Yummy Baby Feet

Serena loves Caroline...and apparently Caroline's feet

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

Long, yes; but SO worth it! In the first half, Serena plays 'fetch' with Macy; in the second half, she 'chases' Macy. Lots of baby laughs!!

I Never Knew a Laundry Basket Could Be So Fun...

Talking on the Phone

Serena enjoying a game of peek-a-boo

Serena has a purple phone that came with the toy Grammie got her for Christmas. Ever since the first day, that phone has been the first thing that she grabs for on that toy, even though there are lots of buttons and shapes and even piano keys on there! Just for fun, a while back I started going through this little routine with the phone where I would pick it up and say "Hello?" and then act like it was for Serena and put it up to her ear and repeat the "Hello?" for her. Well, today, she started trying to 'talk' to the phone when I put it up to her ear. It sounded to me like she was trying to say "Hello?" so I got out the camera and took a video. It's pretty funny!

And here's a short video of Peek-a-Boo. (Please disregard Macy's howling...for some reason she thinks she has to do that when we play Peek-a-Boo!) ;)

Who Needs a Grip?

Serena doesn't need a grip! She can stand up just using the wall for balance. As you can imagine, this is very handy for examining small spots and bumps on the wall.

Busy at work studying a tiny bump on the wall

Funny little monkey

Serena Bambina

Our little monkey...with the remote!

Plotting what to get into next

Lemons

Serena loves lemons! Sucking on a lemon kept her happy this evening while we were out to eat with some friends. :)

I Need Julie

I need Julie here today to help me think of a title for this post! ;)

"Um, Dad, here's your Blackberry. Did you need it or can I just play with it for a little bit?"

Gotta love those baby legs!!!

I wanted to mention a couple of other things Serena is up to these days. The first thing is her tongue. She has started sticking it out and curling it up whenever she's doing something that takes a lot of effort or concentration. The only reason that this bears mentioning is that Jordan does the same thing! Heehee! :D The other thing is that Serena found a new game to play with Macy today. Serena has an empty water bottle that she loves to play with and it just so happens that Macy always wants to play with it as well (I think Macy's is a left-over fascination from when she was a puppy and we used to let her play with them). So, Serena will stand at the coffee table or couch with her water bottle and looking straight at Macy she will wave her arms around until she manages to sort-of-drop-sort-of-throw the water bottle to the ground. Then Macy will rush over and pick it up, which Serena thinks is uproariously funny. Jordan makes Macy give the bottle to him and then he gives it to Serena, who looks straight at Macy and repeats the whole process. It's SO funny and cute to watch!!!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

FINALLY! Serena is starting to crawl on all fours!!! She still tends to drop to her belly if she has far to go or if she wants to get there really quickly, since she's still a little slow crawling on all fours. I'm sure that will phase out soon, though!

The first half of today's video is from a few days ago when Serena was laughing at Macy. She loves Macy! It's so funny to watch the dynamic between them. Serena thinks it's really fun to play 'give and take' with Macy. She waves a toy in front of Macy's face (often Macy's own toy, haha!) until Macy gently takes it. Then, Serena watches Macy with it for a moment and then takes it back. So far, Macy is a very sweet and gentle participant in this game, if not a little confused by it. Anyway, I guess I need to get that on video because it's kinda hard to explain in writing.

Also on today's video is a bit of Serena's crawling!!! :)

Another Tooth's A-Comin'!

I can see a little 'blister' on Serena's gum right next to her lone tooth, which tells me that lone tooth will soon have a companion! In spite of the fact that she is obviously teething and still struggling with her cold symptoms (though they seem to be getting better, thankfully!), she still had plenty of smiles today!

Guessing Game

Let's play a little game! Guess what Serena's doing in this picture!

Can I Play with That?

Serena LOVES Jordan's computer and his Blackberry. Seriously. She LIGHTS UP when she sees them and works her way over to them as fast as her chubby little self can go!

I loved how these shots caught the progression of Serena's delight at actually REACHING the computer before someone stopped her, and then her determination as Jordan tried to hold her off. And then, of course, there's Macy....

Another Sick Day

Serena Is Sick :(

Poor Serena caught her second cold! Boohoo! Last night was really rough, and today I can tell she's feeling pretty miserable. She does not normally cuddle AT ALL, but today there were several times when she put her head on my shoulder and just rested. I wore her in my Moby quite a bit this afternoon, and she was so content to just hang out there. Awwwe. She's definitely missing some of her normal sparkle. Although, we did see a glimpse of it this evening. Macy was feeling very rambunctious and kept running in circles around the coffee table, and Serena thought it was SO funny! I did get it on video...maybe material for Thursday? ;) For today's shot, I thought I'd try to get a picture of her rubbing at her nose/eyes, which she does constantly when she's sick. I ended up with this one, and I just HAD to post it because her expression is SO funny!

There's Something in My Mouth!

As Serena's tooth gets taller, she likes to put her finger in her mouth to feel it!

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

I went through all those pictures I took of Serena on Tuesday and published the ones that I liked the most over at my Facebook profile. Click on this link to look at them, even if you don't have a Facebook account!

And now for today's video! A couple days ago, I woke up and Serena was laying there clapping her hands and very fascinated with the phenomenon. It was really cute! Since then, clapping is the new thing! I also got some good giggles out of her today (sorry about the crazy camera action!), and I got her telling us a couple stories (the first time telling us about her ball and then second time 'reading' a book).

Watching Out the Window

Look at me! I pulled up all by myself to look out the window! I was VERY pleased with myself and jabbered away about it for quite awhile.

Macy came to see what I was so excited about out there. I think she's funny!

Mommy 'n' Me

Today was another gorgeous day! I dressed Serena up in an adorable pink flowery romper that Julie had sent and accessorized it with a pretty headband, then we went to run errands. Everywhere we went, I was stopped by people who wanted to tell me what a beautiful baby Serena was! I HAD to agree. ;) She did look extremely cute in her summery outfit with that sweet soft baby fat on her arms and legs fully visible!

When we got home (and Serena got a nap!), I took her outside for a photo shoot. I got a little camera happy and took over 160 pictures...all but about 15 were just her; then I thought maybe I'd try to get some of me with her. I put some of my favorites of those in the collage below. As for the other 135 pictures....it's going to take me quite a while to weed through them, but hopefully I'll get to it sooner rather than later and get them posted somewhere so you all can see! :)

Funny Face

Serena has certain faces that she makes all the time, but it's hard to get them on camera since her expressions are so fleeting and constantly changing. This one is a thinking/trying-to-figure-something-out face. She kinda pulls the left corner of her mouth in and squints her left eye. I can't decide if she looks like someone when she does this or if it's a uniquely-Serena face. Jordan pulls in the corner of his mouth sometimes, so maybe she got that half of it from him? Who knows?

Showcasing Serena's First Tooth

Serena's first tooth has arrived. I first discovered it on the Friday before Easter. I had suspected its presence, but Serena is anything BUT cooperative when it comes to letting someone look around in her mouth let alone letting them feel around in there with their finger! But that day I tricked her into letting me put my finger in her mouth and there it was...that sharp little edge; I kinda had to push down to feel it. It's sticking out from the gum a little more now, but still not enough that you see it when she smiles. But, today I got a couple pictures from above her so you can kinda see it if you click on the picture to make it bigger. Looking for Serena's new tooth is a little like playing Where's Waldo! Have fun! :D

Her tooth is not visible in this picture, I just thought it was a sweet expression. :)

Pretty New Dress

Serena had fun playing at church!

After church, we went out to eat with friends at an amazing Chinese restaurant. It is owned by a family who attends our church's Korean service. They cook the food up fresh right there, and it is definitely the BEST Chinese food I've ever had! Serena stayed busy the whole time and even let everyone in the restaurant hear how she screams about...anything. ;) She finally conked out about 5 minutes after we got in the truck. She'd been up for almost 5 hours since her last nap, so she was REALLY tired!! I took advantage of the rare opportunity to get a picture of her sleeping. Goodnight, my angel!

Bathtime

Cutie-patootie in the bathtub!

I decided that it was about time I got some more bathtub pictures up! The last time I got pictures at bathtime was three months ago already! She still likes to splash a lot, so now I put her bathtub in our shower so we can keep the water contained! :P

AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday

I have determined that 'Thirty-Second Thursday' is far too confining of a title. I have only on rare occasions managed to keep my videos to 30 seconds, which leaves me feeling guilty each week as I post videos that double, triple, and sometimes QUADRUPLE 30 seconds. I know you all say "That's okay!" and that you like the long videos and you don't care, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera (read like the King of Siam in The King and I). But, my perfectionist self can't take my 'breaking' the 30-second rule every week anymore, and my creative self is telling me that 30 seconds is just far too restrictive of a number. Then, my perfectionist self tells me that I can't change the title, because it'll break up the series. But my logical self says that's just silly. DID YOU KNOW I'M SCHIZOPHRENIC!?

So, I am changing the title to something that can satisfy ALL my personalities.

Welcome to AT LEAST Thirty-Second Thursday, everyone! :D

Bundled Up for a Walk

We had a cold snap today, plus it was very rainy and just plain gloomy out. This evening, though, the skies cleared off and it looked very inviting outside. So, even though the temps were still in the 40s, we decided to go for a walk around 8pm. I got out Serena's snowsuit (which, during the 70 and 80 degree days of the last couple weeks I was thinking I wouldn't be using again) and we strapped her into the jogging stroller for a brisk walk. She road along happily, just letting out the occasional baby noise or excited scream. :)

It was kinda fun to have Serena all bundled up again! She looks like a happy little marshmallow, haha!

Pulling Up Like a Pro

Serena has been able to pull herself up on the side of her crib for quite a while, but just lately has started doing it on the coffee table, the couch, and anything else she can find!

Serena & Macy After a Big Weekend

Serena was obviously feeling much more rambunctious than Macy was at the time of this photo shoot!

"Dare me to touch her?"

I was telling Macy to 'sing' and Serena thought it was so funny she started screaming, so then Macy would howl all the more, which made Serena scream all the more, and so it went on, and on, and on, and on...you get the idea! ;)

Later, Macy was revitalized by her rabbit killing episode. You can read about it here.

Happy Easter!

All dressed up for Easter...including pink toenails and pretty sandals!

Not sure why she didn't have her headband on in the previous picture, but here she is on Nana's lap with her pretty headband on!

Goofy Grin

Serena's reaction to everyone's watching to see her reaction to seeing Caroline

Serena Got Her Toenails Painted

Anna & I were painting our toenails tonight and decided to paint Serena's too! Aren't they cute?! Heehee!

Thirty-Second Thursday

Serena played in the sunshine while I worked in the flower beds in front of the house. (Don't worry, grandmas and great-grandmas, she was SLATHERED in sun screen!)