May 26-June 2

Olivia can use a spoon.  She still has a tendency to spill a bit, especially liquids, but this is easily solved by tying a towel around her neck.  So every morning I put cereal and milk in a bowl, tie a towel around Olivia's neck, and hand her a spoon.  She's good enough that as long as she has a towel I don't have to change her clothes after she eats breakfast.  This newfound talent has made her more insistent that she feed herself (except for when she's being difficult and requires that someone else feed her), which is nice for freeing up my hands during meals.

I want this spot for my garden.

I want a garden, but don't really have much sunlight in my yard.  I have lovely trees, but very little sun.  My in-laws were over a few weeks ago to hang out and help with yard work.  Steve told me I should be able to put flowers in the corner in front of my house and tomatoes along the side of the shed in the back.  I'm skeptical, but who am I to argue with the son of generations of farmers?  So after we planted the ten flowers that Murry brought for Olivia's gardening pleasure, I bought some perennial dianthus and a hydrangea.  Both tags said partial shade was okay.  I also bought 4 tomato plants (their tags did NOT say shade was okay!).  All my plants are in the ground and getting... hardly any sun at all.  We shall see how this goes.  I think next year I'll just talk to my neighbors and ask if I can plant a garden in the nice sunny section on their side of our shed.

Gretchen was one month old last week, and I forgot to mention it!  This week she hit 5 weeks (less exciting, but more on time as posts go).  She's getting bigger and staying awake more, although she still doesn't do anything when she's awake.  Babies are kind of boring...  :)

...But getting less boring!  Gretchen has reached the point where some of her smiles are trying to be real ones!  Most of them are still gassy smiles and/or in her sleep, but every now and again she has a little tiny real smile.  :)

When Gretchen was first born, we noticed that she had a dimple on the back of each ear.  Bryan and I went through our relatives, trying to figure out whose ears Gretchen had.  As it turns out, neither of us pays much attention to the ears of others.  :-P  I felt the back of my ears, and asked Bryan if Gretchen's ears were like mine.  He checked, and assured me they were not.  Thus the hunt began.  We asked my family, we asked Bryan's family...  No one could place Gretchen's ears.  Until Saturday.  On Saturday, I was discussing this with Murry, and happened to brush my hair over my ear with my hand.  She looked at me and exclaimed, "Gretchen has YOUR ears!"  Mystery solved.  Also, a lesson was learned: Bryan's powers of observation need work.

Last Saturday we went to a wedding.  The last time we went to a wedding, Olivia was just barely walking and was generally content to be held during the reception.  Eight months later, Olivia is a walking pro and has places she needs to be!  Namely, the dance floor.  After being coaxed onto the floor the first time, she didn't want to leave.  Her dance moves aren't tremendously diverse yet: mostly she spins in circles until she gets so dizzy that she falls down.  Occasionally she runs in slightly larger circles.  Every now and again she would sway her hips and/or throw her arms up in the air.  And once she saw a little boy jump into the air and kick his feet, so she jumped (without leaving the ground) and then marched in place, which I guess is as close as she could come to kicking.  It was spectacular to watch.

Olivia desperately wants to help with Gretchen.  When Gretchen cries, Olivia puts her pacifier back in (usually upside down), covers her with a blanket (but not the face!), and tries to get her to hold the toy keys Bryan bought for Gretchen to play with.  The other day, Gretchen was crying and Olivia went through her routine.  The problem?  The closest blanket was under Gretchen.  Olivia tried to pull it out from underneath her sister so that she could cover Gretchen up.  Good thing I was watching, or Gretchen would have face-planted on the kitchen floor.  Also, twice I've caught Olivia trying to pick Gretchen up; guess I can't leave both of them out of my sight at the same time.

Pictures:
Pictures from Easter (by Jacob):

Olivia watching construction work:

Gretchen playing with her keys:

Gretchen sleeping:

A picture Olivia took, proving that I do exist: