Why is it

that when I have the most to write about I have the least amount of time?

That's the way it's been this week. In addition to the time I've been spending listing and packaging things on ebay, we've all been busy as a family as well. I'll mention just a few of the things here.

Megan has been enjoying school and still hasn't had any homework. (What's up with that?)

Nessa has been growing as fast as ever and I continue to take clothes out of her drawers nearly every day because they're too small. Luckily we had a very successful weekend finding things at rummage sales so she's not in danger of going naked this winter. :-)

Nessa is able to sit up better and longer each time we try it. And now she also does what I call "baby crunches" as she lifts her head up as if trying to sit up while also lifting her feet up in the air. She really likes to sit up and will try to get there and also gets mad if she isn't assisted quickly. However, she still doesn't seem to be at all interested in actually rolling over from her back to her tummy.

Nessa IS very interested in the cats. She is totally fascinated by them and will stop whatever she is doing (even eating) to watch them and try to touch them. William is the best at letting her pull his hair out as he just sits there quietly. The others move on much more quickly, but they've all been gentle with her. This wonderful interest in the cats is the reason I choose to post photos of her with the cats this time.

This Sunday was the first week of Sunday school for us. Us is Megan and I. I'm teaching in the computer room at the 8:30 service this year. Sunday school is during the service so after the Children's service Shawn and Nessa get to hang out together in church. This Sunday it went well and Shawn was greeted by the usual comments of what a good baby she is as he left. Nessa was sleeping until right after Megan and I left as there was special music as part of the children's sermon and Nessa loves music even more than she loves the cats!

Myrick Park

(My 1st attempt at one handed blogging w/ Nessa resting on my knee...)

Last Sat. Megan. Nessa, and Grandma Jan and I went to Myrick park for a bit to see the animals and just get outside. It was Nessa's first real visit there. She spent lots of time in the pouch. :-)

Swimming!

As a relaxing end to our weekend we took Megan and Nessa swimming at a nearby hotel for a couple of hours Monday evening. We all had fun even though the big water slide was closed. It's the first time Nessa has really been swimming in a pool. She wasn't full of giggles but she didn't cry at all either. Here Megan is holding Nessa on one of the little "rides" in the kiddie pool. Nessa also got to go down a small slide on my lap and splash in the fountains you can see in the background above.

Nessa is 5 months already! --photos of the last few days

No week in review post this week because I need to share with you Nessa's 5 month update. (It was a good week, trust me, and I'll try to share photos from over the long weekend soon.)

Wow what a month. Our little girl just keeps growing and learning new things.

In the growing department we found out on Friday September 2nd (the official 5 month mark of course) that she now weighs 17 pounds according to the scale at Gundersen Family Practice. I was shocked. I was actually starting to worry that she wasn't eating enough and had slowed her weight gain too much. Silly mommy. Of course now I think she was making up for not eating as much during the day by eating more at night, but that's another post.

Nessa has learned SO much this month and it's so fun to watch her and play with her now. She can now pick up many of her toys and not only make them rattle or whatever they're supposed to do, but also get them exactly where she wants -- in her mouth.

Nessa is also getting more and more stable when she's sitting and will sit for a few minutes by herself although she still wobbles a lot too. She also wants to stand a lot while we hold her and often insists on standing rather than sitting when we're trying to change her clothes. She also loves to spend time in her exersaucer these days while the rest of us are cooking, eating, etc.

Right now she's curled up inside the pouch snuggly sleeping next to my heart (way too cute), but she has also settled into a nice daytime routine of morning, afternoon and evening naps in her amby baby bed or in the stroller or a carrier when we're on the go.

Nessa continues to amaze and delight us daily.

Nose Noises

Shawn here. I found out tonight I can make my daughter cry when she is otherwise happy. Oh joy.

We have played a game with Nessa since she was a few weeks old that I'll call "Nose Noises". We ask her, usually during her morning diaper change, what sound her nose makes today, then we press her nose and make a funny sound: an oink, a donkey noise, or whatever...any (theoretically) amusing noise we can make with our mouth. Usually we do it the first time, express surprise that her nose makes such a funny noise, and then do it two or three more times. The usual result is smiles, maybe even giggles.

I realized at supper tonight that I hadn't played it in quite some time. I was holding Nessa while everyone else finished eating, and I thought I would demonstrate for my parents, who are visiting. So I pushed her nose and did a "Vroom, vroom" noise, like a motorcycle revving. I didn't get much reaction, so I did it again, louder. For some reason I looked away briefly, and then all of a sudden Nessa was crying. I'm told she had a very cute "WTF was that?" face before deciding she didn't like it, which accounted for the pause, but then she was screaming, everyone else was laughing, and I was wondering what went wrong. So I held her close, and told her I was sorry, and promised that I wouldn't make her nose make that noise any more. She calmed down and everything was fine again.

I of course felt like a complete heel for making a little girl cry...and not just any little girl, but my own darling daughter! Nice going, lunkhead--she'll never be Daddy's Little Girl at this rate. Anyway, add yet another Obscure Parenting Lesson to my growing collection: 5 months is too young for your daughter's nose to make "vroom vroom" noises. Sigh.

Work, work, work...

Shawn here. Big news at work today...Firstlogic is being acquired by Pitney Bowes. It has to pass regulatory scrutiny and all that, but by the beginning of next month or so I should be an employee of "Firstlogic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pitney Bowes". From what I can tell, it shouldn't mean too much change for me day-to-day. I'm not worried about losing my job (the real asset of a software company is not the source code, it's the people who developed and know the source code), or being forced to relocate (PB is a global company with offices all over the place; the last 8+ companies they've acquired in however long are all still doing business in their original locations)--in fact, I'm strangely calm about it all, despite the fact that I hadn't heard anything until two days ago, even though rumors have supposedly been swirling for months. A few folks will probably lose their jobs eventually, but I don't think there will be many/any programmers, testers, etc. among them. For now, it's still "I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go" for me.

Our honeybear ... c'mon this deserves some comments

Nessa wasn't in the best mood last night when I took these photos but I insisted because she was SO cute and I'm not sure how long I'll keep this diaper cover as it doesn't fit as well as I expected it to. :-( And since it's supposed to be a fully functional diaper cover (not just for looks) that was disappointing. The same company's all-in-one diapers seem to fit her a bit better though and I've found some other things I think I'm going to be happy with so look for more cute photos of Nessa in her diapers and hopefully some rave reviews of the actual diapers from me! :-)

Megan's first day of school photo!!!

Megan stopped this morning on her way to school and asked me to take the traditional photo in front of the house AND to walk her to school. I was in no way prepared for this but absolutely thrilled that she stopped! :-) I popped Nessa in the pouch carrier and off we went. It was a beautiful morning and Megan looked bright and shiny and ready for school. I'm looking forward to hearing how things went when she comes how after school on Friday.