Wedding Babe

My toy turtle and I loved touching the sparkles! Fortunately, bride H was cool with it.

Our friends H & D got married this weekend in a beautiful outdoor ceremony by a lake. The colors were chocolate brown and light pink, very tasteful, and the fresh roses were gorgeous. Lauren was great until she started to drift off, around 9 p.m., when we made our exit.

Lauren started making “ma-ma” noises for the first time on Sunday. It’s very funny because she sticks her tongue all the way out, like Gene Simmons, when she says it. Of course she has no idea I am Mama yet. She also, while doing her “army crawl”, is trying to lift her stomach up.

Bored with the limited selection of store-bought baby food, I blended up some bananas with water and froze them into individual portions. This lead to a baby-food-making frenzy: a broccoli-pea blend, egg yolks blended (no whites until age 1), and a mango-yogurt blend. Lauren LOVES the broccoli but hates the eggs, and spits them out completely. We’ll wait until she gets older for those!

Learning how to wave

We’ll count this as one of the first official waves!

This weekend was bursting with activities. Saturday, Nick joined friends for their annual Fantasy Football draft. Lauren and I scouted the farmer’s market and joined the guys in the afternoon. Sunday, a group of us hit our hometown corn festival and the community pool. It was a hot day, and the babies (Lauren was joined by friend S) were excited to get in the water. That’s when friends K & J noticed that if they waved and said “Hi Lauren!” she would lift her hand in response. Problem is, she’ll wave at random times, but the concept of “hello” and “goodbye” will come later!

Another funny development: She’s always liked music, but now, she will shake her head from side-to-side when she hears a good beat. It’s very Stevie Wonder. I’m starting to adore the laid-back personality inhabiting this little baby…

…And we are still working on the sippy cup. Here’s Lauren learning you get the most apple juice if you tilt your head back and suck! It made Nick laugh! We spent the rest of her dinner trying to get a side profile, but this picture is the best we could do.

Oh, and P.S. I quit the YMCA. The daycare people were great, but I just couldn’t enjoy myself. Now I’m trying out strength/yoga DVDs while Lauren takes her afternoon nap, and we’ll get lots of walks in together this fall.

Family, “Visiting” Grandma, & Meeting Horses

Aunt K (the Aunt K on my side) has three horses. Lauren acted neutrally about meeting them, but she did feed them hay.

Part 2 of vacation: We met up with my father for a couple of days of fishing (Nick) and long walks (me, Lauren). But Saturday was a special day. Aunt L, my grandmother, Nick, Lauren and I went to see my mother, Grandma J’s, headstone in the family plot.

It was the first time I had been there, even in the 10 years since my mom’s death; we all have small urns of Mom’s remains, and the headstone contains one urn. We sat in a circle. My grandmother and Aunt L talked to her. I couldn’t say the words aloud, but I silently introduced Lauren, and told her we chose her name for Lauren’s middle name. It was important to me to find the site and I promised to maintain it when Aunt L can’t.

Saturday night, we went back to Aunt K and Uncle F’s house, and after the solemnity of the day, it was nice to grill outside, laugh, and talk. Aunt L and my grandmother joined us for brunch on Sunday, and then the three of us came home.

Camping Vacation

I like sucking the juice out of watermelon! It’s seedless, so no big black seeds to trip me up.

On our week off, we spent four days camping and four days visiting family. On the day of departure, Aug. 1, I came down with a terrible stomachache. Poor Nick had to pack the truck by himself: an astronomical amount of stuff. Two coolers. Food crates. Stroller, Pack ‘n Play, Bumbo, baby food, breast pump. Enough clothes for all three of us. I figured out a way to ride lying down in the extended cab and slept most of the way up.

Camping was a blast! Fresh air, lots of hiking trails, swimming, boating, water-skiing. Lauren’s grandparents and Aunt K joined us. Grandma helped Lauren discover sand for the first time (no rocks were eaten in the process). Lor loved swimming, as usual, and enjoyed a boat ride, although she wasn’t crazy about the miniature life jacket (lots of tears). She also hated sleeping in the tent and woke up several times each night. I caught up on sleep by napping during her morning nap!

Lauren started waving her hands while we were on vacation. She raises them above her head, and it’s a cross between a hula dancer and an orchestra conductor. Cracks me up every time!

My birthday was Wednesday, and I received lots of cards, calls and happy emails. Thanks, everyone! Nick made sure I had a chocolate cake. I was so lucky to spend the day with family.