Sick day :(

Little miss Vieve has survived her first illness. Monday, she was throwing up but had no fever or other symptoms. Poor little thing was sick all afternoon/evening. She got puke on everything, as you can see by the outfit in the picture. By Monday night it was the only long sleeves/pants combination that was still clean. She also ended up with her first case of diaper rash ever. She is feeling much better now and is ready to resume her activities and playdates!

A day in the city with Auntie Sarah

Last Saturday, we spent the whole day in Denver hanging out with Auntie Sarah. We had so much fun. First, we went to the Denver Art Museum where we covered 2 whole floors. Predictably, Vieve was far more interested in the people there than the art. The only exceptions were the exhibit of a red room filled with grey foxes and the African drum noises play area. After that we went out and had breakfast for lunch while Vieve ate sweet potatoes. This was the first time we have attempted to feed Vieve in a restaurant. We spent the rest of the afternoon at a paint-your-own ceramics place where Vieve and I collaborated on a 1st Halloween Jack-o-lantern. It was a great day!

Hanging out with Auntie Sarah in Denver.

First lunch in a restaurant. Yum, yum!

Not so sure about the paint on her foot. She has already mastered that skeptical, you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me look. Is it just me, or does she look just like her papa ;)

The bottom of our Jack-o-lantern. Hope it turns out well!!

More foods!

Okay, so eventually I will stop posting pictures of Vieve eating various foods - but not yet. We have started using the teething feeder with the mesh bag and putting frozen banana slices in it. She LOVES it! Unfortunately, it is the messiest thing in the world! We always seem to end up with sticky banana goo everywhere. Some other new foods we have tried recently are prunes and yogurt - though nothing compares to sweet potatoes and bananas!

Prunes! She loved the first 5 bites and then decided she didn't like them anymore. This pic is after the 4th bite. Now that I look at this, not sure she actually got any of the first couple of bites in her mouth...

Working hard to make sticky banana goo!

Vieve the plumber?

Okay, someday Vieve will be mad at me for posting this, but I couldn't resist. The little plumber pants action is just too funny!

Lions and Tigers and Bears...meh

Vieve's first trip to the zoo!!! We spent a great day at the zoo with Amanda, Connor and Kensley. According to Vieve, Connor was the best thing there by far - first crush maybe? Much to my surprise, she didn't care AT ALL about any of the big animals. Elephants, tigers, zebras, and other exotic animals got almost no reaction from Vieve. My little princess loves fish, snakes, lizards - basically anything scaly or slimy. She did seem to enjoy the train ride though. I foresee lots of zoo trips in our near (and distant) future.

Connor trying to keep the girls in line.

Asleep in the stroller. Oh well, we'll just have to see the monkeys and birds next time.

Choo choo!! Ready for our train ride.

Vieve ignoring the elephants.

Vieve ignoring the zebras - see the pattern here?

These are a few of my favorite things...

Some of Vieve's favorite things at 7 months are...

Finger puppets!! and the songs that go with them.

Jumperoo activity center - she has more fun with this every day than the day before.

Rings on a post - best $1.50 I've ever spent.

Sunflower Farm

We recently went to Sunflower Farm for Vieve's first introduction to real live farm animals. We saw cows, horses, pigs, goats, sheep, turkeys, chickens, and lots and lots of other little people. Vieve's favorite was the rooster, I think it had to do with him being the loudest animal there. This was also our first family playdate. Jeff came along as well as Cooper and Austin with their parents. There were a lot of activities for older kids there too, like swings, pony rides, and a mini-zip line. Should be a fun place to go for several years. Here are a couple of shots from our beautiful, sunny afternoon on the farm.

Vieve and Papa relaxing by the wading pool. Vieve, of course, is more interested in her pants than anything else.

Vieve and Mama checking out the horses.

6 month photo shoot

Okay, so it was closer to 6 1/2 months, but that is just how things are these days. We spent an afternoon checking out Auntie Sarah and Uncle Rob's new home - very nice! While there we went to the park next door and Auntie Sarah took a bunch of cutie pie pictures of little Vieve. She was not thrilled with the wardrobe changes (I didn't even make her put on the other 7 outfits that I brought because I couldn't make up my mind). A few of my favorite photos are included below.

Playdates!

Vieve and I are very fortunate to have friends with babies about the same age. We have gotten together with Danielle and Cooper and Natalie and Austin a few times now. Playdates are so fun for us moms and babies (mostly moms at this point). Here is a picture from a recent playdate with Austin and Cooper taken during the 5 minutes that all 3 babies were awake and interacting. Vieve loves those two silly little guys!

New Foods!

So, we have been adding a new food into the mix every 5 days or so and are now up to 2 solid food meals a day. Vieve really likes sweet potatoes and bananas. I wouldn't say that she likes avocados, but she will eat them. Peas are a totally different story - can't even get her to close her mouth and swallow them. We have had some success mixing bananas up in the peas to sweeten them up a bit, but she is still not thrilled with it. Who can blame her though? I tried a spoonful of pureed peas to show her that they were good and nearly gagged. Mostly, I think she just likes to play with the spoon!

Vieve loving some bananas!

Not so sure about the avocados though.

Nana's Visit!!

My mom came out to stay with us for a week in August. We had so much fun with her!! Thursday and Friday we went up to Estes Park to visit my brother Todd, his wife Deanna, and their kids Jared, Stephanie, and Bryce. Thursday on the way home we stopped at a huge kids consignment sale in Longmont and picked up a bunch of new toys for Vieve. Saturday we went to the farmer's market in Boulder and the Peach Festival in Lafayette. It was a fun day, but very HOT! Sunday we went shopping and hung out at the house. Monday we drove down to Castle Rock and bought Vieve bunches and bunches of clothes! We got lots of winter clothes and hats and dresses for next summer that are going to be so cute on our little miss Vieve. Tuesday we had to take Nana back to the airport to send her home :( Hopefully we will see her again very soon! It was so good to spend some time her!

We love you Nana!!

Hanging out with Nana at the house.

Nana after her big slide ride in Estes Park! Weeeeeeeee!

Vieve with Nana and Stephanie.

First Vacation

While my brother, Todd, and his family were visiting from California we went up to Estes Park and stayed a couple of nights to spend more time with them. The days were great and we had a lot of fun. The nights were a very different story! Vieve woke up about every hour the first night and about every 20-30 minutes the second night. By 'woke up', I mean angry baby screaming. I am guessing about half of the people in the hotel woke up whenever she did - wow, it was loud. It will be a while before we go on any more overnight trips again! Despite the horrendous nights of little/no sleep we managed to have a great time with Uncle Todd, Aunt Deanna, and cousins Jared, Stephanie, and Bryce. Vieve also had some other firsts on this trip - first bus ride and first big-girl high chair in a restaurant. Here are some pics from that very eventful trip.

Souvenir shopping with Papa. Coon-skin hat for Vieve? We passed on that one.

Eating dinner at Poppy's in a big-girl high chair. Yes, I was 'that' mother whipping out the camera in the middle of the restaurant.

Hiking at Alberta Falls all snuggled up inside Mama's jacket.

Meeting Uncle Todd and Family

Vieve recently got to spend an exciting week getting to know her Uncle Todd, Aunt Deanna, and cousins Jared, Stephanie, and Bryce. They drove out from California to spend the week in Estes Park. We had a great time with them hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, visiting Grand Lake, and hanging out in town and at their condo.

Sunday we went on two short hikes at Bear Lake/Alberta Falls and at Lily Lake and had a yummy dinner with the family. Monday we drove up through Rocky Mountain National Park, played at the ranger station, and went all the way to Grand Lake. Vieve was not happy about the long car ride in the mountains - I think her ears were popping and bothering her. Tuesday we hung out at their place, fed some fish at the fishing pond close by, and walked around Estes Park. Wednesday Papa had to go back to work and Vieve and I hung out at our house and caught up on sleep and laundry while Todd and family went white water rafting (Vieve, you will have to wait a while before attempting that activity!). Thursday Nana was here! Us 3 girls drove back up to Estes Park to visit the family and go to a fun park with big slides, go karts, and bumper cars. Friday was a repeat of Thursday with the added fun of euchre playing most of the day.

It was a great week and Vieve loved meeting her cousins and Aunt and Uncle! We hope to see them again real soon!

Vieve hanging out with Uncle Toddy.

Vieve and her cousins Jared, Stephanie, and Bryce.

Relaxing with Aunt Deanna, Stephanie, and Bryce while mom went on the big slide.


Rest stop at the ranger station at the top of Rocky Mountain National park.

Music Lunch and Cousin Mike

Okay, so I haven't updated this in a while. About two weeks ago, Vieve and I went to a music lunch put on by the city. There were lots of other babies and kids there listening to the man playing the trumpet and splashing in the play fountain. Vieve seemed to really enjoy the music and listened attentively to the trumpet backed up by a band on a CD (yikes!). I held her up so she could dance and she bounced right along to the music. I think we need to add some more jazz to our music selections at home!

Also very exciting - Vieve got to meet her cousin Mike who was visiting from Connecticut. He is Jeff's first cousin. We hope to see him again sometime this winter - Jeff and I love to go skiing with him.

New Best Friend

Almost two weeks ago we went to a playdate at Cooper's house and had a great afternoon. We also briefly met Austin, who is 3 weeks younger than Vieve, and his mom - we hope to see a more of them in the near future. Cooper and Vieve went on a nice long walk around some ponds - actually they slept through most of it while Danielle and I did the walking. Vieve was very interested in Cooper and even reached out and held his hand a couple of times, it was so cute! Mostly though they kind of ignored each other or ended up smacking the other one in the face. They don't know it yet, but they are about to be spending a lot of time together! Can't wait to see you again, Cooper!

Splish, Splash! V's first swim

Papa bought Vieve a baby pool for the back porch about 2 weeks ago. We were shocked to find out that she hated the pool and would scream just looking at it. This was surprising because she loves taking baths and splashing in the sink. It was a real process to get her in the pool without screaming - "we're just sitting next to the pool, nobody is wet, it's okay", "see mama likes to put her feet in the pool, it feels nice", "see? you are fine, only your feet are wet", "isn't splashing your feet fun, just like the bath" - and on and on for 2 weeks. Finally on Saturday we got Vieve to take a dip in the 3 inches of water and hang out for a bit. Once she was in she had a great time! Can't figure out how to get the video right side up, but you get the idea.

First Meal

So, we finally started feeding Vieve solids on Saturday. It went surprisingly well. After spending a half an hour to get the high chair set up, the food made, the camera ready, etc. we realized after the first two bites that we had left out a critical piece of the feeding experience - the bib! We won't make that mistake again! She ate some rice cereal mixed with breastmilk and loved it - or maybe she just loved playing with the spoon. If the rice cereal went this well, I bet she will love real food that actually has some taste. We plan on starting bananas and avocados next week. Welcome to the wonderful world of food, Vieve!

Too many new toys...

Vieve and I have been toy shopping a lot lately. We have gotten so many good deals at various sales. We are now resigned to the fact that we live in Vieve's house that is filled mostly with her things. Her most favorite new items (this week) are a dragon which is about the same size as her and a little piano toy that lights up while playing music and makes animal sounds.

Baby toes taste good!

Vieve has been playing with her feet for a while now, but lately it seems like she has her toes in her mouth all the time. It is making diaper changes very challenging - it's like her legs are spring loaded to pop up. She just laughs and laughs when mama and papa try to eat her toes too. Why am I buying new toys when feet are so much fun?

Playing with Papa

Vieve sure does love her Papa! They have so much fun together playing with her toys, petting the kitties, reading books, and singing songs (cowboy songs - HA!). Here are a couple of recent pics of the dynamic duo.