Bathtub composition

Musical inspiration can strike any time and any place. With Maggie, that time was last night in the bathtub:





She sang for about a half an hour before she was done. Then it was on to bed to watch and sing along to 'Beauty and the Beast.'

Some cute Jessie pictures

Jessie’s Dr. Evil impression.

Mom, I got places to go.

Enjoying a nice fall afternoon with a giraffe.

At Jessie's 4 month appointment last week, she weighed in at 13 lbs 3 oz (50th percentile) and is 23 3/4 inches long (25th percentile). We started cereal this week and she wasn't quite sure what to think about it. She seemed to like the taste, but not the spoon. She will got back at 6 months and at that time both she and Maggie will get the flu vaccines.

Maggie-isms

Maggie math: "Mom, I want to show you a plus equals problem. What does a spider plus a flower equal? A spider-flower!!"

"Mom, is heaven down here?"
"I like to think so."
"So is Nala right here with us?"
"Yes, sweetie, I really hope so."

J. Bookwalter 2004 Merlot

One of the local wine stores has a Facebook page and last week listed a Merlot.  I don’t normally like Merlots, but the description sounded very yummy:

This blend displays spicy vanilla, chocolate, espresso and candied cherries on the nose followed by concentrated flavors of sweet black cherries, black currants, cassis and cocoa all wrapped with a hint of earthiness on the palate.

The proprietor told me the reason for the great deal (usually $38/bottle, they were selling it for $8.99) was the vintner is changing his label and was looking to get rid of any bottles in the old label.  So I bought one bottle, only one because, again, typically I’m not a fan of Merlots.  She also suggested letting the bottle breathe as it is a 2004.

I opened the bottle last Thursday.  The first glass was nice.  I did think I should get at least one more bottle.  Friday, I had another glass and it was even better.  I decided to definitely get more.  Then I put off going back to Simply Wine until Sunday and of course, they were all sold out :(  It is a nice smooth wine with very little aftertaste.  Next time the description intrigues me, I’m just buying 2 bottles.

Day 122

 Jessie is 4 months old now.  It seems as if she has changed so much in just the last month.  I’m not sure if it’s because I’m no longer with her 24/7 or if she really is growing faster than she should.  She rolls over and really really wants to crawl.  If left to her own accord, she will wriggle her way around the floor on either her belly or her back. 

She has discovered that she has a big sister.  She is really starting to pay attention to Maggie.  She will look for her and watch her intently.  The other morning, when Jessie realized Maggie wasn’t paying attention to her, she started squawking at Maggie to get her attention.  Earlier this week, while riding home with Daddy, Jessie watched Maggie from her car seat and giggled at her the whole way home – what a refreshing change from her 2nd month of life when Jessie spent most of the time in the car screaming.

I’m not sure how we got so blessed to get 2 fairly content kids.  I hope this isn’t the calm before the storm and the teenage years drive us slowly insane.  However, I did pray for a good sleeper and God answered that prayer with a resounding Yes!  Jessie will fight sleep some, but not to the extent her sister did/does.  I can only pray our friends, Liz and Chris, & Kristi and Mark are also blessed with the good sleepers.  And I hope Liz and Chris are currently marveling at their new little one!

Maggie the Nature Gal

I took Maggie along with me this week to Red Lodge, Montana to shoot some of my 'Animal Bites' videos for the Gazette. She was his helper in a few of the videos, and she wanted to shoot her own video with Cowboy the domestic cat that lives at the center: