Hazel's First Solid Food

Hazel tried her first solid food on the day she turned 6 months old (a month ago and I'm just now posting the video!). She ate some mashed banana and really, really, liked it. Here it is, her very first taste of anything other than breast milk (and various medicines).

Hazel's Eyes

Hazel's Brushfield Spots are not very large, and they are pretty hard to see in her dark eyes, but they're there and they're beautiful.

Look for the ring of light colored dots going around her irises, you might need to enlarge the picture.

Spring Time

Clean diapers drying in the sunshine makes me happy, even though it's so much more convenient to just toss them in the dryer. White cotton hanging on the line means it's a beautiful day outside.

Hazel is 6 months old today. Yesterday I took her to the Children's Hospital in Oakland, because at her last visit to the pediatrician her platelet levels were off (I was told they were low, but the specialist we saw yesterday was told they were high). They took another blood sample and everything looks just right. No leukemia! With Down syndrome there is a higher risk of childhood leukemia, we will continue to have her blood checked every 3 months and go to the hematology/oncology clinic every 6 months.

She sucks her thumb a lot, sometimes with her little hand flat against her cute face. Our little chunker is already 17 lbs!

I made Lennon a little felted ladybug. She plays with it when she reads The Grouchy Ladybug.

Best Helper Ever

Hazel's First Trip to the Beach!

Easter

We celebrated Easter a day early this year so we could also have a birthday party for my daddy.

There were tons o' sweets: peeps, jelly beans, birthday cake, cookies, and homemade Cadbury-esque creme eggs (which I didnt take a picture of, because, while they were super delicious, they were not very beautiful).

We dyed eggs and had quite a few egg hunts, with many egg casualties (there are little bits of eggshell scattered around the new carpet).

We juggled babies.

Good times were had.

Real Easter morning:

My flash was too bright for 6:30 am.

Scones with gobs of lemon curd for breakfast.

The Easter Bunny brought Lennon a new notepad and some tubes of glitter glue.

Lemon spread out the Easter grass so she could use her new rake and shovel.

And now she's playing outside playing with her new jump rope and trying to run of the chocolate-bunny-hypies.

Faux Spring

It's January and it's beautiful outside! After a little trip to Trader Joe's this morning (our store of choice when Ian isn't joining us because they have little shopping carts for Lennon to push around and stay busy) we ventured outside into the freshly mowed backyard.

I've been wanting to put a planter box in front of her playhouse for a while now and today seemed like a good day to do it, even though it will probably be too cold for the poppies we planted to sprout.

She took a short break from watering the seeds to do a little dance atop her wash tub.

Hazel slept through the entire process, including when I was wearing her while shoveling soil and turning the compost.

Lennon thought the nail guns were too loud.

After she watered her seeds she wasn't done playing with water, so she flipped the tub over and walked back and forth, back and forth, filling her watering can and pouring it out into the tub. It turns out she was planning on washing the dogs in it. She ran to the house and yelled through the doggy door for them to come out. When they did come out she tried to convince them to jump into the water. They were not interested.

Our doggies are still stinky, but maybe if we're lucky we'll have some flowers growing soon.

Another Fun and Lazy Day at Home

Tomorrow Hazel will be one month old. We're slowly trying to get back to normal, which, for Lennon and me, means playing together all morning long. Today we painted, drank hot chocolate with tons of whipped cream that we spooned off of the top then re-squirted, read some stories while I fed the baby, trimmed our bangs, giggled in the shower.

Our typical day has no dates or appointments, so just as long as we have lunch/nap and bedtime on schedule, we get to take our sweet time in everything we do.

Zoo

Lennon and I love the zoo. Not just because we love to watch the animals, but also because at the zoo Lennon can RUN. She goes from exhibit to exhibit, stopping just long enough for me to catch up with her and do a little bit of viewing myself. We have annual passes for the second year in a row so we go pretty often. It's the place I head to when we just need to get outside for a day.

Yesterday was Hazel's first visit. Lennon and I packed up our bento boxes and found her zoo key, then the three of us headed to the city.

We met my parents there.

And Auntie L with "Baby Cousin".

And Uncle D, who is the fastest red wagon driver ever.

It was a beautiful day in the city: sunny, but cool enough for a sweater (and no wind!). As always, we saw some animals, got some exercise, and had tons of fun.

My Girls

Ian and I make beautiful children.




(please remember that these photos are for viewing purposes only. thanks!)