Happy Birthday Grandma!

Grandpa organized a surprise party for Grandma's 60th birthday this year. If we didn't actually manage to surprise her, then she did a pretty good job pretending otherwise. Once again we have Catherine to thank for these pictures since I still spend the first half hour or so after we arrive somewhere convincing Agnes that putting her in the car isn't a personal attack on her.

We worked really hard to get there on time so we wouldn't ruin the surprise, but Michael Jr found the "waiting for Grandma" to be not his favorite part of the party.

I have no idea what is so exciting on this phone.

But it wasn't as exciting as when Grandma arrived!





Agnes still hates going to St. Charles, but it has nothing to do with the people who live there. We were so happy to celebrate with everyone - happy birthday Grandma!

3 Months

Our doctor prefers to put off well visits during flu season, so I conducted my own 3-month checkup on Agnes: She eats all the time and makes a comparable amount of diapers, sleeps well, is generally happy, smiles, lifts her head up, coos, and blows raspberries. She weighs a little over 14 pounds and wears almost all size 6 months clothing. Successful checkup!

She woke up from a short little snooze so we took some 3-months photos.

Here are a couple video clips of her various noises. She loves to talk already!

Snowed In

January brought one of the best snows we've had in St. Louis. There was a lot of snow at once, and it was the very sticky kind, and it wasn't even too cold to play for long! The kids woke up to the snow and went outside before they even had breakfast. In no time, a snow fort and a large snowman were in the works. We also trekked out to the water tower park with a neighbor for some sledding.

Agnes walked with me to the sledding hill, snuggled in a wrap under my coat. But it's pretty chilly inside also so she usually has her winter hat on even inside.

Although the kids spent a lot of time outside, we don't really have the gear to be out from morning till night, so we've been stuck inside a lot also. I can often tell what kind of day the kids have had by what pictures I find on my phone later.

After Dinner Chaos

Assuming I have dinner before actual bedtime, the after-dinner shenanigans tend to be some of the most energetic of the day. You'd think at that point we'd all be running out of energy and ready to shut it down for bed, but that's only me; the kids go the opposite direction. Often Daddy channels their energy into an after-dinner dance party (80s music is great for this) but if that doesn't happen it's just your run-of-the-mill chaos. Catherine is excellent at capturing the spirit of things with my camera.

Faces of Agnes

I really need to get caught up on pictures and posts because these are a month old and Agnes looks and acts very different already!

So these are from the beginning of January, when Agnes was about 2.5 months. Catherine picked up my camera while I was talking to Agnes on my lap and she captured some delightful Agnes faces. And you get to see all of them, with dimples!

And raspberries.

And fist pumps?

She loves to be held standing up so she can bounce and squat, and she always coos and talks the most when you're holding her standing up.

We had one of those random warm winter days so we walked out to our favorite playground. The big kids discovered that fallen weeping willow branches make delightful air whips and pretend fly fishing rods. Shockingly, no one got hurt.

Meanwhile I plopped Agnes down in a swing for the first time. I had to stuff my ring sling in around her, and she does not look impressed here, but I think she liked swinging and Edie loved pushing her.

She was ok in the swing but probably a little happier when I took her out and held her again.

It was a bit cooler the next day and we left the house without a hat, so I threw the end of my ring sling over Agnes' head. She was not impressed at all.