Our mobile, yoga loving baby

Baby B keeps advancing. This week I guess I wasn't keeping the most careful eye on her because I found her pulling DVDs down from the TV stand, one by one. I've pushed back most of the wires/etc, but soon she'll be opening the dvd player and getting it slobbery if I'm not careful! Here's a couple pictures of her getting into it and of her pulling herself up on the stand.
She also seems to be adept at a yoga position named downward dog, pictured at the bottom. She can't seem to stop moving or exploring everything around her. It's very cute.
I've been doing really well, keeping up with regular exercise and trying to improve our diets with more vegetables. We've also been trying new recipes, which is always fun. If you ever need any dinner ideas, let me know! And Mr. B is doing well also. He's teaching a masters class in the evenings right now--every night from 4-7, but it's only for one more week. The class is a total of three weeks, but covers an entire semester of material. I'm not sure how anyone learns anything like that, but whatever. He's enjoying the experience and may even get to reteach it in the fall and spring semesters (at a normal pace). Mr. B is relieved to have a break from classes for the summer, but he's still working hard for the IRS and for his professor doing research.
Playgroup this past week was supposed to be a picnic breakfast at the temple grounds, but it was so smoky outside from all the Georgia wildfires that we could hardly breathe, so we took our picnic to a nearby Barnes and Nobles bookstore instead. We had a great time regardless. It hasn't been smoky outside every day, but today it was back again. I guess when the wind blows our way--I think the fires have been south of us.
We're enjoying our Memorial day weekend, hanging out with friends. We plan to take baby B swimming for the first time soon! Of course I'll post pictures:)

Busy week

This week has been a busy one for me, lots of visiting teaching, appointments, and playtime! I went to the dermatologist to get an annual checkup and ended up having two moles removed. Luckily, I got the results back today and I'm just fine. I also had to take the car in the shop for a safety recall, and I have to take it back in next week for a minor repair. Errands aren't any more fun when you have a baby to tote along:, in case anyone was wondering.
Playgroup was really fun this week. It was just Rachael and me. We made yummy chicken salad sandwiches, and our babies both slept through lunch! It was nice to eat and talk in peace. Abigail and baby B had fun playing together.
Baby B hasn't been much of a nap taker lately, but the past three days she's taken naps longer than 30 minutes! It's glorious. She also has been advancing quickly with crawling and sitting up. She sits up pretty well now, although she takes plenty of nose dives, so we still use the boppy to balance her quite a bit. And though she's not crawling yet, this week she spent plenty of time on her hands and knees. She even does somewhat of a push-up, getting everything up in the air except toes and palms. I can't believe how strong she is. I have been getting nervous and telling her to stop growing up so fast, but this morning I decided to just embrace it and be proud of her. She amazes me with her drive and her strength. I like to be her cheerleader, telling her how wonderful she is and giving her tons of love. She continually rewards me with smiles, especially when I kiss her neck and face and tummy. She giggles like crazy when I kiss her all over too. I love it. It is a joy to have such a happy lively baby, even if she doesn't sleep much during the day, and even if she can move two feet in two minutes. She scoots backwards really well. How fun to be a mom!
And I must add how wonderful it is to be Mr. B's wife. He finished his first year of his PhD program, earning a 3.9 for spring semester--yay! Now he's working full time for the IRS, and he's teaching an evening class at GSU. He also still works for his professor, doing research. He is a hard worker, but he still makes lots of time to be with baby B and me, and I am so grateful to him!

rice cereal

This morning baby B had rice cereal for the first time. Of course, it was mainly breastmilk. At first she seemed to be super excited that I had a toy that smelled like milk (the bowl and spoon), and she wanted to grab everything and put it all in her mouth. I finally managed to get the spoon in her mouth with some food on it, and she thought it was a funny game. She laughed (probably because I was laughing at how funny she was, trying to put the whole bowl in her mouth), she blew raspberries (her latest habit), and I think she even swallowed a bit of the cereal. After about five or six bites, however, she got irritated. We'll try again tomorrow, but maybe she's just not ready.
Here's some free advice: Don't let your baby poop while she's in her exersaucer! Baby B has already done this twice, and both times have caused me to put the seat cover in the washing machine and give her a bath. I don' t know if it's the position she's in, or if it's the Walmart diapers (which I don't like and am grateful there are only five left), or if I'm just lucky. The second incident happened in the midst of writing this blog, but now she's bathed and asleep. I think she must have grown last night because this morning none of her usual onesies seem to fit. I don't know why this makes me sad; I guess I really liked some of her clothes. :)

Yesterday Tracy and I went to World's Largest Playgroup at the mall. It was a blast! They had music and dancing for the kids, lots of free stuff (onesie, bib, tee-shirt, sippy cups, bubbles, rattle), and we got our picture taken with Olivia (a storybook character). The picture was even free. If I had a scanner, I'd scan it in because it is adorable. Audrey is wearing red sunglasses and a big red feather boa. The whole day was so fun, and I even bought a CD from Louie Miranda, a children's singer. He had a great latin cd that Baby B enjoys dancing to. Here's a picture of us at the event. It's a bit blurry, but aren't we cute anyway??

Baby B's new tricks

First of all, she is sitting up a lot better, about 30 seconds or so! It's really fun to see her grow. And she smiles constantly, and is becoming a giggler too. She is so sweet. Here are some photos of her funny new tricks. One is that she sometimes leans on one arm like she's just relaxing, and the other is that she sucks her thumb and her pacifier at the same time! It's funny that she does that because she's not much of a thumb sucker. She just puts everything to her mouth, I guess even if there's already something there. And then I have a couple "just cute" pictures, including one in her new toy, an exersaucer. She LOVES this toy, and if I let her, she would stay in it for an hour without complaint. Eventually she gets overstimulated though, so I give her small doses, or just when I need to get something done. We still love tummy time, and she is constantly trying to move. Last week I was at Tracy's house and we were working out to HipHop Abs. Baby B started out on her blanket but rolled and scooted her way a couple feet away. She's a mover! We had to be careful not to step on her :)