date night

last saturday, for the first time since penny was born, evan and i went out on a date. we dropped penny off at our friends house who live about 3 minutes from the restaurant we were going to, and we enjoyed ourselves a few hours minus baby. i was a tiny bit nervous before hand about leaving her, but once we left for the restaurant i felt surprisingly ok about it all. i knew she would be just fine, especially since our friends have a cat, and a three year old, two of penny's favorite things to watch in action! evan and i both got to take our time eating, with no worries about a fussy baby... it was glorious! we were only gone for about 2 hours, but when we got back to their house penny was over the moon to see us. it was the cutest thing ever! she had fun, we had fun, and i think we're all better for having done it!

22 weeks

it's amazing how much this lady has grown up just in the past week. she can now sit up all on her own, (well with some pillows behind her just in case) and like i mentioned in my last post, she's onto solids now too. the sweet potatoes still aren't a favorite, but she's since had a taste of brown rice cereal and she's kinda stoked on it! she really enjoys a good game of peek-a-boo these days, she can now sit in a high chair, and she even learned to roll from her back to her belly! she wants to explore everything, mainly with her mouth, and you can tell she's really trying to figure this world out... and i'm so ready to show it all to her.

oh miss penny... you make your papa and i so very happy!

baby led weaning

penny has been seeming hungrier then usual lately so we've begun introducing solids over here... and it's a messy endeavor to say the least! we decided to offer penn her first foods by doing baby led weaning, and though i'm not sure how much is actually making it into her belly, she's having one heck of a time exploring those sweet potatoes. she picks it up, mushes it between her fingers, smells it, and occasionally takes a lick. for a gal who puts EVERYTHING in her mouth, she's certainly timid about these taters! it's been a week now of just sweet potatoes, so next we're giving bananas a go!

a day at the park...

yesterday, much to mama's dismay, penny decided that she only needed an 18 minute afternoon nap. so after she woke, we packed ourselves into the car and headed to our favorite park. we ended up having the best afternoon together. she's getting to this great age where she's actually fun to be with. i know that may sound a little weird, like shouldn't she always be fun to be with, but it's different now. she's not just fun, she's really funny too! she got a kick out of sitting in the big kid swings, and watching the older kids play on the swings next to her, she loved looking at the ducks, and the highlight for both of us was definitely the surprise nap she took on our blanket. it was all i could do to not zonk out next to her. afternoons like this are what it's all about!

NY... as seen from my iphone

penny's first trip to NY was a pretty darn good one if i do say so myself... and yes, i do! she did really well on the plane, with the exception of some really bad gas caused by the pressure on the way home. sorry to the folks traveling with us who just wanted some peace and quite. penny needed to get the farts out, and y'all were gonne hear about it from her! she got to meet all of her cousins on my side of the family, and even a second cousin too! she had lots of firsts, like sitting in a high chair for the first time, and her first nap in a pack-n-play! my heart was quite full watching her with all of my family, and it makes me a little sad that she doesn't get to see them all more often.

here are some favorite moments from our trip. naturally i forgot my camera, so these are all iphone shots...

 until next time ny... xoxo