The four stages of baby food eating....

As demonstrated by our own little miss Anna, who is home today with the stomach flu. Perhaps it wasn't the smartest of me to try to give her cereal under these circumstances, but she only threw up once yesterday and is nursing just fine today, so I question how sick she really is. I think she just wanted to play hookie from school.

Anyway, here are the four stages:

Okay, this is new.


Hmm, this doesn't taste quite right.


In fact, it tastes somewhat yucky.


Get it out of my mouth!


Oh well, maybe we'll try again when Anna isn't sick.

Happy 5-months old, baby!

Anna over Thanksgiving turned 5 months old and to celebrate, I made her model for me while I took pictures. I can't believe that my baby is getting so big. She is more than twice the weight she was when she born, laughs and giggles, reaches for toys, and can even sit up for a minute or so. Pretty impressive for such a little one. I think that we have another early walker on our hands! (Her big brother started to walk when he was 9 months old.) Its amazing how quickly they change in such a short span of time. It makes me a bit sad.

Gobble gobble

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We went over to my parent's house this holiday and except for Liz, Isabel and Greg, the whole family was there. Nate even got to sleep over on Saturday night so he wouldn't have to miss a moment playing with his cousins Emma and Harrison. G'pa Baish raked up a train track so the Emma/Nate Express could zoom through the backyard. I hope that your Thanksgiving was equally fun! Here are some pics from this weekend. PS. Meg and Tom - I am sending a CD of all the pics down to you.

In other news, my cell phone is back up and running. I let it dry out for a few days and it seems no worse for wear. It actually seems a bit cleaner! Not that I am planning to wash it again. :)

If anyone is trying to reach me on my cell...

don't bother! I accidentally washed it this weekend with my fall coat. A big oops! I am hoping that it will dry out and start working again, but that's probably a long shot. In the meantime, you can reach me at work (703-737-8814) or at home (703-349-5674). You might get an e-mail from me asking for your contact info later this week if I can't get it to work.

Nate and Anna to the rescue!

Sorry for not blogging for quite a while. I've been extremely busy these past few weeks and today is the first day that I've been able to relax. We are loving the fall weather tho that means that cold weather is around the corner. Until something exciting happens, here is an image of Nate and Anna riding on a horse together. That is pretty exciting, esp. when you consider the only person holding Anna up is her big brother. I can't wait for Thanksgiving!

A giant leap for the baby's intellectual development...

This morning, after my shower, I had my hair up in a towel. I went to pick up Anna from the bed where she was lying, she took one look at my face, then looked up at the towel, and then looked again at my face, and started to WAIL. She was really freaking out. I grabbed her and started to cuddle her to comfort her, and she just cried harder. Then I figured it out. She thought that I was a stranger! I took the towel off and showed her that it was just mommy, but it still took her a couple of minutes to calm down. She's developed to the point where she recognizes me. Its just sad the way that we had to find that out. In other news, Anna and I got to spend the whole day together. Her first day home sick from school since she started a month ago. Lots more to follow, I am sure.

A little OCD....

Look what I found when I went upstairs to get Nate from the bath. Sure, he may *look* like Marc. But he definitely gets some of his personality from my side of the family!! Be sure to note that all the animals are facing left as they encircle the tub. Also the strategically placed cup underneath the water.