Just playin' around...

This week has been pretty low key for us. Not a whole lot going on during the day, so we've had some great opportunities to read and play. Larkyn is back to rolling over again, which is now a game because she is going from back to belly and belly to back! This time she stayed on her belly a little longer to enjoy her color book. She almost looks like she is actually reading the book! Must be a teacher's daughter:)

Larkyn continues to enjoy her exersaucer now that she can reach more of the toys around her.

EVERYTHING goes in her mouth!

"Hey Mom, bet you can't get me!" "Na, Nana boo boo!"

We took down the swing and brought it back to our neighbors who ever so kindly let us borrow it. We didn't want to get too use to having that space open because it was only a matter of time before another baby contraption would occupy the space. So we decided to bring the jumperoo up from the basement and give it a try. By the second time she went in it she had already figured out how to jump and plop down with her feet up. She loves it! (And we've had a blast watching her figure it all out!)

Daddy always likes to mess around with Larkyn! This time he thought it would be fun to put a burp cloth (clean of course) around her head like a little bonnet.

"All this playing around makes me tired! I'm still sleeping on my belly and now I love to sleep with my knees under me and put my bottom in the air! Oh, and my new thing is to roll over onto my back when I wake up in the morning and play for a little bit before letting my mommy and daddy know its time to get up. (I think they really like that:)) "

A visit from our friendly family...

On Sunday, Shea's aunt and uncle Marcia and Les were visiting from Texas. This was the first time they were able to come up to Minnesota and see our house, as well as Larkyn. Aunt Kiki was also back visiting from California. She rode up with Janny and May May to spend the day with us as well. We spent the day chatting, watching Larkyn show off on the floor and in her jumperoo, eating lunch and of course some napping!

Everyone waited and waited for Larkyn to roll over. Unfortunately she wasn't ready to show off in front of a lot of people. She rolled over as soon as everyone went home of course!

Larkyn and Aunt Kiki

Larkyn's favorite thing to eat was Daddy's hand!

May May, Larkyn, Kim, Shea, Marcia, Les, Kiki

"May May, I see that rattle, but I'm still not going to roll over!"

Granny Janny's kisses before leaving.

Larkyn's new thing is to pull her dress or other clothing up over her face and wait for someone to play peek-a-boo with her!

It didn't take too long before Marcia got hooked on the "new" game!

Dinner with friends...

This weekend we had Katie, Mike, Luke and Christian and Ania over for dinner. We had a great time catching up and even got a game of bags in before the rain. It is interesting how much an evening with friends changes when you throw a couple babies into the mix! Luke and Larkyn "played" very well together while we ate dinner and seemed to enjoy sitting out in the garage for a bit as well. Its amazing how intrigued they are about each other. I can tell they are going to be best buds for a long time!

Ania had a great time playing and talking with Larkyn.

Katie, Luke, Ania, and Larkyn

Larkyn, Ania, and Christian

Luke couldn't keep his eyes off of Larkyn! We are going to have to keep an eye on that boy:)

Mike and Shea vs. Christian and Ania

(Mike and Shea ended up winning)

They were only able to get one game in before the rain started coming down!

"Good form Daddy!"

Grandma Debbie's Birthday...

This weekend my mom and sister Courtney came up to visit. On Saturday, Allie and Kayce joined us for some shopping and lunch. It was fun to have some girl time and help my mom celebrate her birthday weekend. Saturday night Rick, Jake and Shea joined us for dinner and cake at our house. We had a great time hanging out and seeing everyone again.

Grandma Debbie and Larkyn

We had a great feast of burgers, brats, corn on the cob, potato salad, fruit, cake and more.

Grandma Debbie opened up her picture of Larkyn at 3 months.

"Aunt Courtney was throwing me up in the air a lot this weekend. Mom and Dad were waiting for me to throw up all over her! I kept it all in though!"

"I wonder if I will be a singer like cousin Kayce when I grow up. I really like when she sings to me. My mom and dad think they are good singers....PUHLEASE!"

"This standing thing is pretty cool. Aunt Allie was helping me do sit-ups too!"

Cousin Jake came from his baseball game in Stewartville.

"Getting a little Daddy time because I was shopping all day with the girls!"

Hanging out with Grandma Debbie before going to bed.

"Lets stick out our tongues on the count of 3! Wait! I'm not ready!"

"1, 2, 3...Go!"

A couple 4 month adventures...

We have stopped fighting the bottle for now, but will try giving her one again soon. We were finding ourselves getting WAY too stressed out about it, which was not helping the situation at all! We did however try giving Larkyn a sippy cup. She loved holding onto to it and putting the spout up to her mouth and sucking on it. She didn't get much out of it, but it was a good refreshing sip of water after a humid family run with mom and dad. (Hence the diaper only look...)

Larkyn has really started to notice herself in the mirror. We have video of her finding herself, smiling and then hiding her face in the blanket, just to pop up again and do it all over! It is priceless! I will try to upload it to here if I can figure out how to do it without getting an error! (If anyone reading this knows how...let me know!)

Larkyn is 4 Months Old...

It is hard to believe that our little lady is already 4 months old! We keep saying how much "this age" is our favorite and we want her to be like this forever! I'm sure we will continue to say that many more times as she grows up! Speaking of growing, the little miss has grown quite a bit from her 2 month appointment in May. After going to the doctor on Friday for Larkyn's 4 month well check, we discovered our "little" lady was 16 lbs. 14.5 oz, which puts her in the 97 percentile for babies her age! She also measured in at 26 inches long, which is the 95 percentile! Talk about a BIG baby! We talked to the doctor about starting cereal/food and we think we will wait until closer to 5 months to begin. We are not in any hurry to start cereal, but would like to have her exposed to eating from a spoon before she starts daycare at the end of August. Lately she has only been eating two times in the morning and two times in the afternoon/evening, so we may be ready to add in the cereal and eventually the veggies and fruit.

This month Larkyn has continued to amaze us! She is still quite the drooler baby, though I have not broken down and put her in a bib every day. (The outfits are just too cute to be covered up!) She loves to blow bubbles and raspberries, as well as spitting noises to get our attention! Larkyn has also discovered her tongue! Her tongue is out of her mouth most of the time now and she will even chew on it sometimes! It is quite entertaining to watch. The doctor said her bottom gums are definitely softening, which could mean teeth are right around the corner, but it could still be awhile. Some days it looks like they are going to pop right up, while other days they look like they have dropped back down. Whenever they decided to come up I hope it is over quick and it is painless for her! Wishful thinking I'm sure:).

After Larkyn turned 3 months, she spent the next 2 weeks rolling over consistently from back to belly. All of a sudden the newness of this skill wore off and she decided she was done with it for now. However, we continue to put her on her belly to sleep because she tends to sleep better and longer. This month Larkyn has also developed a fun little laugh. She loves to play peek-a-boo, listen to stories and sing. Whenever she gets fussy we have started singing "Do a Dear" to her and her whole face lights up with a smile!

Larkyn is still sleeping really well, which contributes to her happy attitude! She truly is a great baby and we can't get over how well behaved she is!

"Look how much I've grown over the past 4 months!"

(No, we haven't been shrinking the giraffe!)

"Oh, I remember these pictures! Just a minute and I'll pose for you..."

"Gosh, I'm getting good at this!"

"Oh, did you say time for a silly one?"

"It's okay Giraffe, Mom says we're all done!"

"I guess I'm not all done yet! Here we go again..."

"What do you think about this one?"

"For real Mom! Isn't your camera full yet!?"

(She was giving me the eyebrow look!)

"See me grow! Mom and Dad measured me at 26 inches too!"