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!)

The Daffodils Are in Bloom

With all this beautiful weather, our daffodils have started blooming!

Serena's 8 months old today!!! Unbelievable, huh?! Rather than gushing on and on about how wonderful she is, I think I'll try to sum it up with a few adjectives: busy, nosy, exuberant, loud, excitable, cute, observant, kissable, and definitely lovable! :)

Playing with Daddy

Getting a big squeeze! Serena was having fun playing with her hacky sack from Guatemala that Aunt Jessie gave her

Macy is REALLY REALLY jealous of the hacky sack

Jordan tried to distract Macy with a tennis ball. It didn't really work. She is OBSESSED with the hacky sack and is always VERY AWARE of its location.

In other news, Serena is getting very adept at pulling herself up on things other than the side of her crib. This evening, she pulled herself up on the coffee table and reached immediately for the SWITCH BLADE KNIFE from Guatemala that Aunt Jessie gave to Jordan! Oh boy. I had a freaking-out-protective-mom-moment ("We can't have things like that just lying around!") and Jordan had a proud-dad-moment ("Did you see that? She reached right for the knife!").

The last couple days have also been punctuated with lots of new noises from Serena. "Da-da," "ma-ma," "la-la" and "ba-ba." She is still just as excitable as ever, and her ear-piercing screams can be heard from anywhere in the house...or store......or church. :P

Snapshots

Serena is really good at getting up on all fours. She practices it constantly, but she still drops to her belly when she's ready to move forward. But I'm thinking it won't be long till she's crawling on all fours, though!

Happy face

"Come down here and play with me!"

Pretty Day Outside

As you can see, it was very nice out today!

Naptime and Playtime

Cute Snuggler...and Another Poop Story

Yes, yet ANOTHER poop story.

And the only reason I tell it is because it will probably be repeated in years to come and I want to make sure we get it right. That is the ONLY reason I tell it. Not because I want sympathy. Or admiration for my skills at removing poop from carpet and clothing. And DEFINITELY not because I enjoy writing about poop (usually) or because I think you guys enjoy reading about poop. (Do you?)

This evening, Jordan got home from a day in Iowa City and since he'd had pizza for lunch said he wasn't really hungry for any supper. I, on the other hand, was rather hungry; so I got out the fixings for a good ol' cheese quesadilla - complete with medium salsa and fresh chopped cilantro. I put Serena down to play in the dining room and got to work on my dinner. All of a sudden, Serena started making a lot of what I call her 'complaining' noises. It sounds like a whiny 'nnnnn' (...I know, shocker that sweet, happy Serena could EVER sound whiny!). So, thinking she'd crawled into some corner and couldn't figure out how to turn around or something, I peeked in on her. There she was, still sitting right where I'd left her, and there was this pile of I-didn't-even-want-to-know-what a couple inches behind her. I dropped my bag of cilantro on the floor and warily approached my poopy baby as I shouted things like Ewwww! and Gross! and You've GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!! About that time, Macy came trotting in to investigate the commotion, spied the pile of poop, and (maybe thinking it was just a super-sized pile of oddly-colored spit-up?) rushed over and...yep, YOU GUESSED IT...started licking it up as fast as she could. (I know, you're thinking you didn't really need to know that detail. But you did, because otherwise the story wouldn't be quite as memorable.) I had my hands full trying to keep the squirming poop-monster from painting her poop on me, so I called out to Jordan to get his dog to quit eating the poop. Macy was banished to the outdoors while Serena received her second full bath of the day and her clothes joined yesterday's jammies (which had suffered a similar fate) soaking in the sink. I did eventually get back to the poop pile in the dining room and managed to get that stain out of the carpet. :P So far, Macy has seemed none the worse for her poop snack. Jordan watched a very happy ex-poopy baby for me while I finally got back to my cilantro and supper. Overall, the rest of the evening was quite uneventful after the big poop. In retrospect, I almost wish (ALMOST) that I had seen the poop happen. I mean, seriously, how does a baby end up with poop going UP the back of her shirt and a little poop on the waistband of her pants, but then a BIG PILE of poop a couple inches behind her?! It must have been quite a spectacular sight. My mind is conjuring up images of Old Faithful.

Cute lil' pooper hanging out on the couch with Daddy watching March Madness

I just included this picture because I think that expression looks so much like some of Jordan's baby pictures!!! Cute!

Thirty-Second Thursday

An Afternoon with Serena & Macy

The Tennis Ball Edition

Again, we're a bit on the long side today, but I had SUCH a hard time cutting it down to this!!! If you knew all the cute footage I have and DON'T include, you'd give me some credit for managing to make these videos as short as I do! ;)

Is She Not Adorable?!

Devouring the Written Word...Literally

Bumbo Time

Serena thinks it's SO funny when I put something on her head (i.e., a blankie) and she pulls it off! I think you can almost hear her squeal in the center picture! ;)

Covering Ground

Serena is such a busy little girl! She is never still!

Playtime with Mommy

"Where's Serena? Where's Serena? There she is!"

She gives Mommy big smiles!

Tired. Must have Pepsi!

A very tired baby

She is playing with some of the souvenirs Jessica brought back for us from Guatemala - a hacky sack and a scarf

Uh oh! SOMEBODY got caught getting into Grammie's stash of Diet Pepsi!!

Mmmmm! Shhh...don't tell!

Thirty-Second Thursday

Once again, I have a long-ish video. A minute and 45 seconds. Sorry! :P

In the first bit, Serena babbles and shows off one of her latest tricks where she rubs her hand in front of her mouth to make noises. She started doing that about a week ago. Before that, we would use our fingers to do a 'motor mouth' sort of thing on her mouth, and then one day she figured out she could do it herself! When we went to church on Saturday night, she was showing off her trick to everyone there after church and as we were standing there (us and 2 or 3 other families), I suddenly came to the realization that almost everyone was doing it back at her! It was a really funny sight! Oh the things we'll do to entertain a baby!

In the rest of the video, Serena plays with her favorite doll. You can see how EXCITED she gets about it! It's really funny! She just can hardly contain herself when she sees that doll!

Our Pink St Pattie's Baby

Well, I DID have Serena dressed in her cute green onesie - the one with the big flowers on it - but, you guessed it, she had a BLOWOUT! Little booger! She seriously had more poop on her outfit than in her diaper. So, into the pink outfit she went and we decked it out with some green beads and socks. :)

First Spankings

I'm not sure what she did to deserve the spankings...maybe just being too cute? Anyway, it looks like it wasn't too horrible of an experience! :)

Serena's Excited Face

Lately Serena has been really into squealing about things. She has this one doll that she squeals about every time she sees her. Sometimes she just squeals randomly about nothing in particular and loves it if you squeal back at her.

She was very excited about whatever-it-was that Jordan was doing when I took this picture

Over the Border

Up till now, I would leave Serena in the dining room and she would stay on the carpet in the dining room/front room. If she came to the doorway to the kitchen, she would stop and just pat the tile floor or something. Tonight, she crossed the border and began scooting across the kitchen floor to find me! When I finally picked her up, her little belly was cold from being on the tile!

Tonight after the service at church, I handed Serena off to Jordan and went to use the bathroom. When I got back, I saw that she was pretty content with Jordan as he was talking to another guy, so I went to talk to some of my friends. Several minutes later, it dawned on me that Jordan was now up at the front of the church helping with take down/set up...without Serena. A quick scan of the auditorium revealed Serena sitting a couple pews behind me surrounded by four 12-13 year old girls! They were having fun playing with her and she was in her element with all that attention she was getting! She even made eye contact with me and still made no efforts to get to me! It was just an "Oh, hi, Mom" look with none of the usual "I NEED TO GET TO YOU ASAP!!!" look/gesturing/vocalizing that usually accompanies those moments. It was nice and a little weird at the same time to carry on a conversation without having to handle her busy little body at the same time! I had another empty-arms moment last night when Jordan took us to the mall. He took Serena in the stroller the whole time we were there, and I shopped BY MYSELF for the first time in 7 1/2 months! It was a weird feeling! I kept thinking I was forgetting something, haha!

Play Time

Serena is FASCINATED by our computer power cords. She scoots across the floor SO quickly to get them! Thankfully, she's not interested in the outlet yet, just the cord; but I'm sure it's only a matter of time! Gotta get some outlet covers! :P

Serena was such a busy little thing playing on the living room floor tonight. She seems to be trying to figure out how to crawl on all fours, but she's still not quite there yet. She just played with her pile of toys and then all of a sudden would remember the computer cord and race over there...only to be picked up by Mom just as she reached out her chubby little hand for that cord. Then it was back to the toys until it crossed her mind again! Haha!

Thirty-Second Thursday

Serena gives out kisses now!!!

The Red Coat

Swinging