This week, we spent some time with friends who had been gone all summer, Melissa & her girls Ella and Ansley! Here's Miss Ella being super sweet with Vianne...
While hanging out in the swing on a hot afternoon...
...Vianne made an important (and adorable) discovery: her feet! I looked over to witness this, and then grabbed the camera to show her fans. Toe-grabbing and other general Vianne cuteness...
Vianne's finally got her hands functional enough to enjoy, hold & squeeze this ridiculously cute duck from our friend Autumn.
On Sunday, Vianne turned 24 weeks old and her Mama turned 35. Here we are enjoying the rocking bench that my mom sent for my birthday!
Trying out her floor quilt given by a friend at church
Becoming very adept at pushing up on her arms & looking around
Trying out her onesie from Grandma Gustafson
Friday was stifling hot (yet again :/) so we escaped to APU with Daddy for the afternoon. Here she is, enjoying Great Uncle Lynn's office floor.
On Sunday (at 23 weeks old), she sported her Nike duds from (my) cousins Shannon & John. All she needed was a tennis racket - too cute!
We enjoyed a special lunch with the Losie family to celebrate a bunch of September birthdays, and the twins (my cousins' sons) Charlie (left) and Ethan (right) happened to be sporting some collars, too! These photos may be exceeding the legal limits of cuteness...you've been forewarned!
Vianne experienced what it's like to be a second child this week; that is, to have very few pictures taken of her ;-).
Apart from the occasion of her five monthiversary and the consequent beginning of eating "solids" (rice cereal), there is little to show for this week, which was exciting for Daddy, and for various reasons, stressful for Mama.
The iconic "I just tried my first rice cereal" shot - in her cute French bib from Anneline
...and the shortly thereafter "eating makes me sleepy" shot.
(I can't get enough of her in these footie pajamas!)
But I did get this cute video of her showing off her New Skill O' The Week: Doing a 360 turn (and sometimes several in a row) on her playmat, using her legs, arms, and often her face :-).
It seems that most of our pictures these days are being taken on the playmat, which may seem boring & redundant to the viewers, but it means a lot for the residents of this home: that we are out playing in the living room, and no longer held captive in the bedroom by the heat. Hallelujah!
Some sweet shots in the swing...
We've also been spending some time out in "Daddy's office" with the bouncy turtle/duck seat that Grandma G. sent us. Vianne seems to really enjoy this change of scenery (and so does Mama!).
On Friday & Saturday, Vianne developed several new tricks. She began intentionally "making raspberries", as they say, with her lips; figured out that her thumb could be sucked independently from her other fingers; found some new soprano octaves in her vocal range (not our favorite discovery); and flipped twice for Mama from front to back.
Today Patrick begins teaching as an Adjunct Professor of Theology at Azusa Pacific University! He will be teaching three sections of Theology & The Christian Life for APU and one section of Orientation to Theological Studies for Fuller Seminary, beginning later this month.
I, on the other hand, gave notice at my Fuller job yesterday and will not be returning after maternity leave; I'm staying home to take care of Vianne and hopefully flesh out some creative endeavors. We are taking a great leap of faith this fall with this decision, but are wholeheartedly relying on God to catch us with His benevolent provision.
The heat wave has often brought on this posture...though Daddy often has his shirt off, too...and both sporting the "I've had enough of this heat!" facial expression...
On Sunday, she turned 20 weeks old! It was a special day because we went to Altadena Baptist Church to celebrate with our friends Glenn & Shanti who just finalized the adoption of their daughter and son. For the occasion, Vianne showed off her French denim jumper (another from the French collection Aunt Vera picked out!) and we took these sweet photos later at home.
Week 19, Vianne continued to advance in the toy-grabbing/hand-utilising realms. It's been fun to finally pull out her toys (all of which were gifts from family & friends) and see her start to use and enjoy them.
A little video showcasing her skills. Doesn't seem like much unless you're thinking about how a couple of weeks ago, her hands flailed randomly or lay by her side :-).
Another week of 100+ temps, we tried our best to play in the living room in the morning before holing up in the bedroom or escaping the house entirely. (So, the recurring schpiel about very few pictures...)
One such escape occurred on Saturday, when we met up with V's
grandparents in Irvine and enjoyed milkshakes at Ruby's and a breezy
afternoon in the park.
When Mama & Daddy attempted to refold the
kid shelter, hilarity ensued...
