This past weekend we headed into the blueberry fields to pick berries. I haven't gone fruit picking of any kind since I was a child but I have very fond memories of eating strawberries right off the vine. Libby feels about blueberries the way I felt about strawberries.... the greatest thing ever. You can't put them on her tray fast enough and she is consuming them at every meal. When the blueberry farm across the street opened its doors for picking, I knew it was a family adventure in the making. Here's some pictures from the picking session!
Hmm these look yummy
Yum yum
Daddy doing the hard work
It takes a while to pick a gallon of blueberries
It was totally worth carrying her around in the sling for an hour because the berries are amazingly sweet and delicious! We are all reaping the benefits of our picking session... blueberry pancakes, blueberry compote, blueberry everything!
We had a surprise this weekend! Uncle Erik and Miss Rachel visited from NYC! They were able to spare a little time during their busy weekend to drive to Winston and visit Libby. Craig and I can pretend it was to see us too, but we'd only be fooling ourselves. Here's a few shots of the fun!
We spent Father's Day weekend in Henderson with Gram and Gpa. We spent Saturday out on Kerr Lake - Libby's first day on the boat! Overall it was a good day, complete with a nap in the car seat. And what would a day on the lake be without a little water skiing?
We had a yummy waffle breakfast with Gram and Gpa before heading home. Craig and Libby played in the nursery during the afternoon and smiled for a few Father's Day photos. Craig is an amazing Dad - always ready to play, read books, whatever it takes. He gets up with Libby every morning and fixes her breakfast. He loves getting to play with her and making her laugh. He gets so excited whenever she does anything for the first time and delights in her happiness. He is willing to sacrifice his own time, comfort and dignity all in the name of a sweet baby girl's happiness.
Woo hoo! A check up without shots!! Libby has no idea this is the easiest check up she is going to have for a while but she still had a good time. Showing Dr. Adams and Ethan Stonerook all her tricks during the visit. But the best news for mommy was that she has finally cleared 18 pounds!!
This mommy has been uber-stressing about Libby's weight. Plotting her on personal growth curves and micro-managing her eating, while many folks have assured me that fat rolls on your legs mean that you are doing well.
So yeah! I'll take the 45th percentile for weight and 95th for height! Who knows where she got that body type. But I'm working on "letting go" of my stress and relaxing a bit ... this should be comical to those folks who know I've been working on these goals since I was about 5 years old :)
On a rather funny note, once again, Gram brought out her motor milestone magic. After Libby's check up, she took her afternoon nap. Now we had to sheepishly admit that Libby is not pulling up or cruising at her visit but upon entering the nursery we found.... a standing baby!!!
If we didn't know it before, we definitely know it now... we are in for a world of fast-moving trouble!
So things have been a little nuts around our house. Instead of posting a series of posts on our adventures since the beach, its going to be a blogathon post! I know you are excited!!
So as previously mentioned, Libby started crawling the day before we left for the beach. Many of you (presuming that "many" people read this) know that I have not been the most encouraging mom in the mobility department. My stationery baby was just fine with me, but my planning went awry when we took her to Gram's the night before the beach. If you make it all the way through this post, you will see that if we want Libby to do a motor milestone, apparently we have to take her to Gram's house!
The morning we left for the beach, Libby unveiled her army crawl. Private First Class Alden could make it under any obstacle course! Be prepared to be amazed at the very serious and high skill crawl you are about to see.
But first, I must explain the second amazing feat that was accomplished at Gram's. Clapping! Craig has made teaching Libby to clap his personal mission. During our Memorial Day visit to Gram and Gpa's, while swinging on the A #1 Gpa swings, Libby unveiled her next trick - clapping!! Craig looked like he had won an Olympic Gold medal.
Here, showcased for the very first time is a video of Libby crawling, pushing up to a sit and then clapping. All skills acquired within two weeks of each other and all at Gram's. Magic!!
::Here's the mommy commentary: The set up is that there was a pile of toys on one side of the room and a pile of books on the other. Libby ALWAYS goes for the books. As she crawls over, she not-so-lovingly casts aside the book about Baby Jesus, hopefully not a future trend. But only because her favorite book is hiding behind it - B is for Bear!! I love her total ham moments as she realizes the camera is on her. She is such a goof!!::
Other discoveries in the last few weeks.....
The Tupperware box! Libby loves to shake, rattle and roll with the Tupperware
Libby likes to practice "choosing" her books and toys. This entails crawling over to her bookshelf and toy basket and individually pulling out each item. This results in a happy baby and big ol' mess!
Did I mention making a giant mess makes a happy girl?
Big girl bath tub! We officially ditched the baby tub and plopped her into the big tub. The general soapy fun ensued and the transition was seamless. Go Bath Time Daddy!
And last but certainly not least.... GRANDPARENT VISITS!!
Sue and Al visited this past weekend. Our first get together since the beach trip. Happy to marvel at Libby's crawling, clapping and chaos creating skills, they enjoyed a weekend at the house. Al and Craig tackled many projects, including adding wheels to Libby's high chair and hanging shelves in her room. But the big experiment was the Alden Redneck show. Blow up swimming pool and the Alden family. Hopes were high for Libby to provide the entertainment and she didn't disappoint... but the problem was that the much anticipated reaction was 100% the opposite of the desired effect!! Check out the pictures - I dare you not to laugh.
Al showed off his Father's Day gift - A #1 Opa
At least Kenzie enjoyed the pool
Clapping Libby with her wonderful Alden grandparents
Over Memorial Day weekend, we visited Henderson to see Gram and Gpa. Gpa built Libby a swing set in the backyard - which she LOVES!! We spend most of our time out in the backyard now and the addition of the swings is wonderful. Then Gram came to visit for Libby's 9 month well child check.
It was an understatement to say I was excited about our family beach trip this year. Yes, it was Libby's first time there BUT it was my first time to the beach for longer than 36 hours in almost 7 years. I couldn't wait to hear the surf, eat fish, and generally be lazy for the weekend.
When we decided to have a long beach weekend, we thought it would be fun to have both sets of grandparents join us for the visit. Not only would we get to visit and share in all of Libby's firsts, but the childcare help was pretty appealing too!
Loving her blow up pool
Some of us are laughing and some are crying......
Holding onto Gpa
Time with Gram and Gpa after yummy waffles
She pretty much hated the pool
Hi Opa!
Libby meets the ocean
The week leading up to the trip was a little rocky around our house but by the time we were crossing the bridge to Ocean Isle, I could feel myself relaxing already. We had a great long weekend. Among Libby's firsts were strawberry ice cream and waffles from Gram, loving some sand and hating the surf and pool. We drank some lovely wine and made some amazing meals. Not to mention that Libby started crawling!!! (Video to follow soon!)
What a weekend! We have actually never been down and back to Atlanta in a weekend but the opportunity was too perfect to pass up! Mother's Day and Al's 55th birthday and Erik visiting from NYC! How could we miss it!?
Happy Birthday Opa! I love you!
Saturday was a beautiful day and we took full advantage. We headed over to Barefoot in the Park, a local art fair in Duluth. Artists from all over the South came to showcase their work - from ceramics to music. We actually attended this fair 3 years ago when Sue & Al first moved to Georgia. Sue & I both have pieces from that day hanging in our homes & she was on the look out for a new piece of art. Libby loved being pushed around in the stroller while we perused the art. We took a break to enjoy some Summer Shandy beer & listen to music.
Happy girl!
After nap time we headed over to the Sugarloaf Playground to play on the swings (with Libby) and climb all over the playground equipment and generally play like 5 year olds (without Libby). So much fun!
And then.... Yes this day was not over yet!! Out to dinner and then off to the Zac Brown Band concert. Erik procured tickets for Al's birthday. Sue sweetly volunteered for babysitting duty and took care of Libby. The concert was AMAZING and we had a lot of fun listening to the incredible musicians. It was a country jam session complete was a guest appearance by Alan Jackson.
Sunday was my first Mother's Day. Craig pulled out all the stops and I had a lovely, relaxing day. We all went to brunch at the Hyatt in Buckhead. I was a bit nervous about Libby making it through lunch but as usual, she was a champ! We made a makeshift play area next to our table with clean table cloths and she played all through the meal. To top it all off, our trip home Sunday was our shortest trip with Libby between NC-GA yet!
