Mimi and Tatie Kat are visiting, so we told B to choose what she wanted to go do today. When she woke up this morning, she said “Let’s go to the art museum!” The credit (or blame) for this lies squarely with her Fancy Nancy at the Museum book…
First, we had to get decked out for the trip (ala Fancy Nancy):
We started with the “old stuff.” When she saw this sculpture, her first and only comment was “I want to be the guy in the shade.”
At this point, which was about 5 minutes after we got there, her enthusiasm waned. “It’s too quiet.” “This is not what I thought it would be.” BUT, we found quite a few things to interest her…
She loved the outdoor sculpture gardens, particularly the lily pad ponds. Here is her favorite sculpture:
And the pond:
She even consented to being a statue herself (I don’t have to smile, mommy…):
This chair is just for me!
After this, we headed to the section with the newer (and also more colorful) art. Her enthusiasm showed a marked increase. The colorful ladies:
At one point she declared this her fav (though that changed frequently):
My personal favorite was this piece of art made out of 5,184 spools of thread. B first checked it out up close:
And then used the “lens” to see it in a whole new way (see for yourself above)!
What? Isn’t this what the benches are for?
While walking to the other side, we saw these hanging from the walls – the guard told us they climb down at night. B, said “Nah, that’s silly,” and then proceeded to ask me several times over the next 30 minutes if the statues really climbed down at night. 
Before we left, we stopped to play in the fountains. Yes, she got soaked “washing the cow.”
After casually perusing the art as we walked around, M decided art makes her sleepy…
Both girls were very good. I was especially impressed with B – for her age, she did GREAT!
M is 7 months old now, and just an absolute angel. She can now sit up all by herself (though I still like to have a pillow behind her to cushion that occasional flop), and she still talks…a lot (ba, ga, ya, da, nga, etc.). Most nights we put her down by 9, do a dream feed around 11, and she sleeps until between 5-5:30 OR 7-7:30. It is very strange – if she sleeps past 5:30, it is highly unlikely she will wake up before 7. She loves grabbing things and gnawing things and generally exploring her surroundings. One of her favorite things to do is to touch and/or scratch things around her (the couch, paper, a pillow, a toy, fabric, wood, etc.). She seems to really like exploring different textures. We also recently started putting her in the stroller seat, and she loves it! She loves being able to see everything.
We have started solid food, but it has been disastrous. We started with oatmeal, and while she didn’t love it (and perhaps even didn’t like it), she ate it. Next we went to sweet potatoes. She ate hardly any, protested vehemently throughout, and 2-3 hours later, vomited everything up. Same thing happened the next time she ate sweet potatoes. So, we stopped giving her that, stopped feeding her solids for a couple of weeks, and then tried again. This time with avocados. She tried desperately to keep me from feeding her, and protested vehemently; I am not sure she even ate any. So we tried peas. Same result. And, 2-3 hours later, she vomited everything up. So, the doctor is having us switch to fruits to see if we can (1) get her interested in eating and/or (2) find something besides oatmeal that she doesn’t vomit up. We gave her applesauce today. She didn’t protest quite so badly, but she didn’t like it. I only gave her a little. As for the vomiting, we shall see how it goes (it has only been an hour).
On the bright side, she OBVIOUSLY is thriving. So, I just keep telling myself that this too shall pass. At least she is happy (pretty much even while emptying her tummy). B still fascinates her. Though, truthfully, she wants me. All. The. Time. She is often fine with someone else as long as she can’t see me, which makes that handoff a little tricky. But we manage, and I have come up with some creative ways to get from point A to point B in my house so that J can get some quality time in with her!
Yesterday we decided to try putting M in the stroller without her car seat. She loved it! It was a beautiful morning, and she could see everything going on around her. What more could you want? I will need to get a couple toy straps if I don’t want to keep having to stop and pick up her toys…
B was in the stroller too, but this was the closest I was able to get to taking a picture that included both of them – B just was not interested.
A couple of close-ups:
The whole point of the stroller ride on this particular morning was to take a trip to the farmer’s market, where a local artist painted this fantastic ORANGE shark on B’s arm.
Despite M and I both getting sick, we have had a fair amount of fun the past couple of weeks. We started with J’s birthday. He had to work, but the girls and I made sure he had cupcakes for dessert after his requested pizza dinner. Mackenzie and I watched while the two had fun coloring (with a little silliness thrown in for good measure).
We even tried (at B’s request) a bath in my big tub – it is so big, we could even fit M in her little tub in there with B. I love the total concentration on each other!
Shortly after that, Tia arrived! Now, Tia has been here a couple of times since M was born, but this was the first time I think B fully realized that she might have to share her Tia with M. Hmmmmmmm… It all worked out, but it was the first real signs of jealousy I have seen.
Snuggling with her Tia:
We were sad to see Tia go, but we distracted ourselves with some cookie making fun. B rolling out the dough:
B cutting the cookie dough (while M supervises – very serious work):
As any kid would, she was mostly interested in when she could eat the dough…
We also finished up B’s swim lessons. B has done a great job and made HUGE strides in just five short lessons. Her teacher, Miss Nikki was fantastic! B was very sad to see her go, but it is time for her to return to college. At her last lesson, she had to complete 3 challenges: float on her back by herself for at least 6 seconds, swim under water to Miss Nikki for 4 counts, and go under the lane divider rope. If she completed the 3 challenges, she would get the orange swim cap I promised her after her first swim lesson. As you can see, she got it! I took this picture after she immediately yanked it on her head.
I made her take it off before she went to sleep, but the minute she woke up, she put it right back on. And she wore it the entire time at the local jump house (very hot and sweaty!).
Not to be outdone, M decided to show off her sitting abilities:
Sweet face…
Sister fun!
M started solid food (if you can call it that) last week in the form of baby oatmeal. First Reaction:
Gimme that spoon…
But she started to get the hang of it.
Even if about half never made it down her throat…
The next day, B asked to help…too cute!
We planned to start sweet potatoes by now, but some teething and/or vaccines and/or a cold has got M a little under the weather, so we are focusing on TLC.
