monday miscellany

1) I never wrote about Henry's 6 month appointment last week. Everything went well, and at about 6 1/2 months Henry weighs 16 lbs 2 oz (20th percentile) and is 26 3/4 inches long (50th percentile). Also, since I wrote his 6 month post Henry has started moving around a little more when on his belly. He can push himself backwards, and gets up in crawling position but hasn't figured out the coordination to move anywhere. Another really neat thing is that he has started imitating! He will imitate a handful of movements including waving, and sometimes he initiates them to start an interaction. So, he will look up at me and wave, or make a sound with his mouth, and wait for me to respond and imitate him.

2) On Friday afternoon the weather was perfect. Nap time was a bust, so the little ones and I went outside. Celia played in her sandbox and ran around the yard, and Henry and I just sat in the grass watching her. It's so nice that we're at a point where Celia can play independently and Henry is getting old enough to sit and play or watch her.

3) Speaking of Celia's play, lately she has been doing the cutest things with imaginary play. She has been taking care of imaginary baby animals. Yesterday she had a kitten that was around all day, and she spent a good part of the day busy with her kitten. She informed us that the kitten's parents had died, and she was taking care of it. I have no idea where she got that concept from. Then this morning she had a litter of leopard cubs she was taking care of. Her imagination is the best. 

4) Just a few days after my mom and I put up a deer fence around the vegetable garden, I saw this in our back yard!

When she spotted me on the deck, she took a big mouthful of ferns and jumped away into the woods with it.

5) We went to the local zoo on Saturday. Celia is at a great age for it now. She loved seeing all the animals and kept asking if they were real. The zoo has a petting area, a little train that I rode with her, and some rides for kids. Pita went on her very first ride all by herself! Little cars. When the ride started she got a look of shock on her face and we thought we might have to stop the ride. But a second later she was grinning away, loving it. 

Waiting for the train ride to start.

In her little car!

6) I dropped off the registration form and deposit for Celia's new preschool this morning. I have major anxiety thinking about sending her to preschool for such long days. I just can't believe she's going to preschool already. She's so small for her age, and so innocent. It breaks my heart a little to picture her thrown in with a large group of kids bigger than she is. But on the other hand, she is such a smart and competent little girl that I know she will like school and handle it just fine.

7) It's going to be really hot this week, in the 90s! Time to make a pitcher of iced tea and get those popsicle molds I've been wanting to find.

8) Oh, and time to get a beach pass too!

9) Our dining room doesn't have a table yet, so it ends up as a staging area/storage/play area for Celia. She recently started calling it her art room.

10) I'm hoping to get laundry, vacuuming, and some cooking done today while Henry naps. We're having thai slaw, fried rice and egg rolls for dinner, and I wanted to prep some things for later in the week too. Time to get going while Henry is still asleep :)