Friday, May 22, 2009

Destin, FL

This past week Olympia and I went to Florida to have a mini-vacation with Allison and her family while they were there for a cousin's wedding. (Tim stayed behind to study in silence for the last CFA test)

The trip started off very well: on our first flight we sat next to Christa and Karl (patiently awaiting their own grandchildren). They fell in love with Oly immediately and Christa held her more than I did during the flight. You can see by the picture below that the feeling was very mutual- she's staring adoringly up into her eyes.



When they get back from their vacation to St. Thomas they promise to read the blog (Hi guys!). I'm grateful to them because they helped me get over my initial plan for flying which was to not let anyone touch her and to try to minimize germs as much as possible (the media had successfully gotten me into a tizzy about swine flu) but seeing this lovely stranger kiss my baby's face brought me back down to earth. How could I deny anyone the joy that is holding this chubby child?



When we finally got to the house we promptly got into the (cool) hot tub at the house





It was both Allison and Lauri's birthdays and I baked them a cake- and then Bradley and Eric ate some before it was even frosted. Never let young men see food unless you want them to eat it right away.



What does Miss Oly Lou love best? Jumping. And she did A LOT of it in Florida. She even learned to jump softly while Jeff was sleeping.



Reading Architectural Digest with Andrew:
"Ooooh I just love the classic design philosophy that's displayed in this entryway."


"The french doors really transform the space, see?"


She had a special bond with Eric. We think she just really wanted to pull those luscious locks.



The highlight of the trip was definitely getting to finally meet her best buddy Jeff. They were quite the pair. (Notice the hoody- the weather wasn't great during our visit.)





But we did make it to the beach a few times. She played in the shade....



But mostly she napped.



"Wait, milk doesn't come out of knees?"



It was a wonderful trip.
Chats were had:



Holes were dug:







and many naps were enjoyed.



Perfect vacation.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Oh you want pictures of her NOW?




A Very Merry Unbirthday To You






Oly is 6 months old today! To celebrate here are some pictures from when she was still a baby. All of these are of her at less than ten days.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Yogurt

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Sitting!

Garden Update

The formatting is all messy for some reason so I can't write captions next to most of the pictures below. I'll lead you through it though- there's one picture of our garden before we had it tilled- and then pictures of it after it was tilled and about ten days of downpour. We're raking it every day to make sure it doesn't turn into a terra cotta slab. At least the seeds we already planted are sprouting: Shelling Peas, Snap Peas, and Sweet Peas!

























I see you Peter. Let's make a preemptive truce.















































































Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Out to Eat?

Yes it's true! Oly let Mama and Papa go out to eat, on a Friday night no less. While not exactly fine dining, Pinocchio's was the perfect place for Olympia to try out her first highchair (and for Mama and Papa to have an adult beverage). Here she is enthralled with the little boy in the red shirt, and his sister who isn't pictured.















She lasted a long time in the highchair before insisting on moving to my arms, not that I'm complaining. Not a bad way to spend a Friday night if you ask me.

As an aside, we view this as a great place for a Farmer/Reading night out!










On Saturday we went to the first weekend of the Farmer's Market in West Chester. We were excited to buy tomato plants for our garden plot. Oly was less impressed. Here she is chilling.





















Did we dare go out for second meal in two days? Yes, yes we did. We had lunch in Wayne after strolling through downtown. All started well. Here is a happy girl with her happy Mama. Cute dress, no? But...













...things went a bit south from there. Serves us right for pushing our luck. Here I am trying to reason with a clearly uninterested Olympia. This probably isn't the first time she will ever ignore me, but it will be the only time it is adorable.











She was exhausted at the end of a long day. She finally fell asleep in my lap, while I watched the Phillies beat the Mets. She doesn't do this as often these days, so I treasured every second.



















She's holding herself up! I think she is as impressed/surprised as we are.
























We ended the weekend with an intense staring contest. I was clearly winning...





















So she tried to break my concentration...




















...So then I tried to return the favor.

Friday, May 1, 2009

New Tricks

Olympia can sit up for about 20 seconds at a time by herself now! She did it for the first time two nights ago and while I was fumbling for the camera she tumbled over and bonked her head. Bad Mama. It was the first of many times she'll bonk herself, so I need to just chill out. I'll try to get some good photos this weekend.

She also has a new smile! I was in such a desperate hurry to show you all that I'm posting a blurry picture but I think you'll still like it:


She really loves mirrors now. She locks eyes with the baby in the reflection and slowly advances (it's a little like a scene from a romantic comedy) and after her eyes cross because she's too close...you guessed it: she puts the mirror in her mouth.



Mmmmmmm, Baby.


Gratuitous cheek profile.


Grandmom- Thanks again so much for the bath toys. We found a use for them in the meantime- Chew Toys!


Here are a few more just because: