Day With Grandma

The other day Grandma Jan came over to hang out with us.  One of the malls near our house has recently added on to include a nice outdoor part.  So, we headed out, walked around, and went to some baby stores (of course).  

Daddy found this fun new toy for Shannon. It is a big star

that you fill with water and when you touch it all the floaty pieces inside move around. It is designed to encourage tummy time. 

Shannon will roll on her tummy but doesn't always bring both hands in front.  We thought this might be enticing enough to encourage her to do so. So far it is keeping her interest. As you can see she enjoys trying to get her mouth around it as well!

Grandma treated us to lunch at my favorite restaurant at the mall. They serve homemade like dishes full of great flavors and sides such as potatoes and salads.  Shannon loved listening to all the new sounds and seeing all the new sights. Thank You Grandma!

Molly and Cousins

Shannon has A LOT of cousins, most of whom she has not had a chance to meet yet.  Being Italian means big families. Each of my grandparents had no less than 8 siblings each, my Grandma K. is the oldest of 11!  Both of my parents have about 40-50 cousins on each side, so that makes for a lot of generations of cousins.  

Our cousin Molly graduated from 8th grade and we celebrated with a party of family and friends. I'm not sure how that all works, but Molly might be Shannon's 4th cousin if there is such a thing!? Molly's grandma Gertrude (now deceased) and Shannon's grandma (my mom) were cousins.  Figure it from there??

Ironically the majority of the cousins are women (sorry Tommy D.) and have had girls of their own as well. So, needless to say, there are MANY women around for these gatherings.  We have seasonal "Cousin's Dinners" to celebrate birthdays and keep in touch, as well as showers, weddings, other celebrations.   I look forward to Shannon enjoying and experiencing time with all the strong, wonderful women of this family!

There were obviously many girls at the party and they all enjoyed taking turns holding and playing with Shannon.  At one point cousin Jenifer (and yes, she spells it with 1 "n") was holding Shannon as she fell asleep in her arms......too cute!

Happy Birthday Christy!

Shannon's cousin Christy celebrated her 13th birthday. She figured out that she is exactly 13 years and 5 months apart from Shannon.  Christy and Adam are the BEST big cousins- they love to play with Shannon. Todd and I are looking forward to some babysitting soon!  

The party had Christy's favorite, a beach theme, which fit in perfect with the hot, humid day.  Christy made the cake with Wendy's help. Wendy's specialty is making cakes and she has passed her love of it on to Christy.  It was a white cake mix with orange jello throughout and custard and cool whip on top- just delicious!  Wendy's sister in law had her 2 children there as well, Maddox (3 1/2) and Xavier (2 mo), although we didn't get any pictures of them! Shannon played with Grandma Jan as well!

One of Shannon's favorite things to do is hold your hands while you clap or even just clap for her. When we sang Happy Birthday she just loved it at the end when the whole room clapped- she probably thought they were all clapping for her!

Visitors

Last weekend Shannon was quite busy entertaining guests.  Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit on Friday. They arrived shortly after her afternoon nap to to spend time with her during her most wakeful time.  Grandma was happy to feed Shannon and Grandpa had a ton of fun playing and holding her.

 Grandpa hadn't seen her in a few weeks and needed his "Shannon fix".  They took her for a walk and hung out in the yard while daddy bar-b-qued dinner for us. I think she was way too wound up from the evening's festivit

ies because she didn't fall asleep until almost 9:45pm!!  She just played and entertained herself in her crib until she pooped herself out and went to sleep.

Uncle Mike came for a visit on Saturday. He too hadn't seen Shannon in a while. He just adores her and is becoming more comfortable holding and playing with her. For those of you who don't know Mike, he's not a little guy, and I think he was afraid he would break her! They played together, went outside for some fresh air, and he watched her while I took a shower and got ready for the day. Todd went to the movies with friends, so it was kind of sweet to see Mike spend time with her alone. 

As you can see in the pictures Mike is very tan- for those of you who like to tan like me, you should be jealous. He gets that tan without even trying!  After the first day of summer at 1 baseball game, he's set for the summer! He looks like he is of another race next to Shannon's baby pale skin! :)  Mike knows I love his color!

Too Cute

Just had to share this one! 

New Toy!

Shannon has a new toy, imagine that, more toys!  Her cousin Caleb gave her a gently used exersaucer.  We had actually received a really nice one for the baby shower, but I hadn't done much research on them and the one I chosefor the registry didn't bounce..... and of course for a baby to have fun she needs to bounce!  So we had to return it. At first she didn't know what to make of it... we had to put some familiar toys she currently plays with to get her to explore a little more. We look forward to watching her grow to enjoy her new toy even more!

Baby's First 4th of July!

Every year our town hosts a fest at the large park just down the street from us. They have rides, entertainment, vendors, and TONS of food to try!  It was exciting for us to take Shannon there this year for the first time - it was definitely quite different from the pervious 7 years we attended as a couple. Pushing the stroller, taking turns getting food, and balancing it all challenged our first time parenting skills, but we did OK!  Shannon loves looking and listening to people. She was taking it all in and even fell asleep with the off key karaoke people performing on the main stage. 

Of course Shannon had on her 4th of July outfit.... red shorts with a white onesie that said "Little Firecracker" on it. She actually ended up with 3 outfits for the day. I had purchased a 2nd long sleeve one piece outfit in case it was chilly. Then Grandma Marilyn bought a sundress one piece as well. The way I see it, it's a patriotic month, so she will have plenty of opportunities to wear them!

When we came back home we played outside and watched all the people walking by. Shannon was in the best mood (maybe because she took 2 GREAT naps today!) and was literally laughing out loud.  

She is in bed and hopefully will stay asleep when the huge fireworks show starts later this evening....

Let's Eat!

With her 4 month check up yesterday, the doctor gave the "go ahead" to start introducing more "solid food" to Shannon. This will be a slow process that starts with rice cereal mixed with formula and then introducing fruits and vegetables each week, continuing to rotate the old and new foods. By the time she is 6 months old she will have added 8 new "dishes" to her diet! Also by 6 months, solids will be a part of her feeding routine for 2 "meals" a day. 

The cereal with formula starts very watery and almost not really solid at all. Todd and I were pleasantly surprised that she took to it right away. Of course, she made the funniest faces and was looking at us as if to say "what is this this stuff, but I think it like it??!!" as I'm sure all babies do.  

She kept trying to hold to spoon, which hopefully is a good indicator that she will enjoy feeding herself sooner than later!  Whenever I would "scoop" the excess cereal from her chin, she would close her eyes and make this weird face as if I were wiping her face- it was just so cute!