if i could talk...

i would tell you about all of the fun things that i've been doing!

more than anything else in the world, i love to eat. my tummy is a seemingly never-ending pit.

cucumber. yum.

i was eyeing the bagels and cream cheese... daddy gave me lox instead.

i kind of liked it. mommy says it's proof that i'm a caref.

my mom got this really fun new toy. there's a purple hippopotamus inside of it that giggles and talks to me in a funny voice. i love him.

my mom says that i'm going to have to learn to share the ipad with her and my dad...

auntie cole took us to the green city market last weekend. what a big tease... fruits and vegetables everywhere that i couldn't eat! they tried to distract me with these enormous sunflowers...

they were even bigger than the big pink flower on my head...

cousin lori gave me this giraffe before i was born... it's taken me seven months to figure out how cool it is. when my mom winds it up, he plays music and moves his head back and forth. maybe he's the one who taught me how to shake my head 'no, no, no'  i really like to chew on his ears.

my  mom ordered me a hat for the beach that just came in the mail this week. too bad that it's been hot out... we haven't wanted to leave the house since it arrived!

i can tell that daddy thinks i look silly... good thing he isn't the one who dresses me!

the difference a day makes.

jason was convinced that millie was going to be one of those babies who never learned to crawl. she used to SCREAM whenever we tried to put her down on her tummy. she was perfectly content to spend all of her waking moments on her back, just taking in what was going on around her.

well, to borrow from my good friend bob dylan... the times are a-changin'.

we've got an active little girl on our hands!

 

one of the very rare occasions when i had to wake her up from her afternoon nap... imagine my surprise to find her sprawled out (and passed out) on her little belly. she's clearly not too upset about tummy time anymore.

she can sit up on her own, kind-of. she'll kind of make a tripod with her hands between her legs and appears to be grasping the concept.

we only practice on soft surfaces though, because inevitably after a few seconds...

she's down for the count.

everything, and i really do mean everything, within her reach goes into her mouth. her little arms are constantly flailing around and grabbing for anything she can get her hands on...

 why shake it when you can eat it?

i know that it's only a matter of time before she'll be crawling off of the couch and trying to eat the dog's food out of their bowls...

pretty little details.

i've decided that i should start changing millie's clothes a couple of times every day. that way, she'll be able to wear all of the cute stuff that's in her closet! they say that accessories make the outfit. she's been quite the little fashion plate lately...

maggie & georgia sent a pair of 'rufflebutts' after millie was born... we finally broke them out last week. as you can see, she was quite pleased. she must have known how cute she looked! 

this little headband was inspired by sophia, millies little friend in michigan. she always has the cutest little flowers in her hair. we tracked down the store and brought home a couple accessories of our own.

on our way to her first birthday party... dressed to impress.

peas in a pod...

we were able to spend a couple of days in south haven. what a wonderful surprise to find jason's bubbe at the cottage when we arrived. these two had met once before, right after millie was born. their first interaction consisted mostly of crying and threats of spanking... this time around was definitely
a little more lighthearted!

these two had already hit it off, but bubbe was about to become millie's hero...

that was it. friends for life. two peas in a pod.

a "staycation" of sorts...

it doesn't qualify as an official staycation because we weren't in chicago, but grand rapids is still home to me... so in my book, it counts. 

we spent almost two weeks away. it was lovely.  

a little rest on gramma's hammock...

millie hasn't quite mastered the concept of the jumparoo... she just sits in it and licks the straps.

she's entertained for about thirty seconds.

bath water and lake water are not equal in amelia's eyes. we didn't make it in much farther than her feet... and even that took a while for her to get used to.

  plastic cups to chew on  +  lots of spalshing kids to watch = a good day.  

food glorious food...

millie really liked rice cereal for about one day... she had her mind fixated on bigger and better things (i.e. whatever she saw us putting into our mouths.)  we've tried to just go with it and let her have a taste - so far, there isn't anything that she doesn't like.   

peas. check.

bananas. check.

haagen dazs ice cream bars. check. check. check.

  

come over!

one of the nice things about living in chicago is that we're never wanting for visitors. we're close enough for friends to hop on over for the weekend. it's pretty quiet when there's snow on the ground, but when the summer sunshine shows up... the people do too.

a couple of weeks ago, my oldest friend brought her mom and daughter for a visit. jennifer and i grew up next door to one another... friends since we were a year old. i never imagined that we'd be raising little girls together someday.

they arrived on our doorstep with arms overflowing - homemade lasagna, chocolate chip banana cookies, and connie's famous orange jello. we had a lovely evening together! 

the girls are only a few months apart...

but the swings make them look worlds apart.

  millie can't wait until she's actually big enough to sit in the swings!

maybe alyssa didn't like the orange jello as much as i did?

hopefully the first of many pictures together...

amelia had a couple of days to play by herself before poppa and olivia arrived on the train. we picked them up from the station downtown and started our whirlwind of fun. i quickly remembered why we "invested" in our stroller... the key piece of baby equipment for survival in the city. a fun time was had by all.

who needs to swim when you can splash?  millenium park was overflowing with kids, eagerly waiting for the fountain to start spitting water. 

olivia: 

auntie.... who put the bean in the park? why is it silver? why are there people under it? who made it? how did it get here? what is it for? how come i can see myself in it? why do i look so funny? who's bean is it? why are you taking a picture of it? what if it falls on top of me?

me:

i don't know olivia.  

with a little bit of help from some fellow tourists, we descended several flights of stairs (with TWO strollers) and boarded a water taxi to navy pier. our $4 ticket was much more reasonable than the $100 water taxi that jason and i got suckered into when we went to italy. who knew that there were water taxis in chicago?

not me.

olivia was clearly impressed with the view of the city from the ferris wheel... in my opinion, it was not quite as fun as the "upside down" version at the ionia free fair... but pretty great.

by this point in the day, millie had reached her sunshine capacity... we left her hat somewhere in the stroller far below, so we had to improvise.

the great folks at navy pier had the foresight to put a nice cold beer guy next to the ramp leading to the rides... big smiles all around.