Gabby at 6 months

Gabby is now 6 months old and cute as a button! She has two little baby teeth and the most beautiful smile. She is usually very happy (unless you try to put her down for too long). She has started sleeping 12 hrs a night and taking good naps. That’s a crazy amount of sleep for one of my babies at 6 months old!
At her pediatrician appointment, she weighed in at 15lbs 4oz which is 33rd percentile - what a petite little sweetie pie!
We started solid foods this week. Gabby is not so sure about the rice cereal. She tries to chew it and mostly gags on it. She has also had carrot baby food. She smiles when when the spoon goes in her mouth. Then she just holds the food on her tongue. She doesn’t swallow it - just holds it on her tongue and smiles. It’s like she doesn’t exactly want to eat it but can’t figure out how to get the purée off of her tongue. She cracks me up!

All the kids want to help feed Gabby.

It’s hard to feed Gabby because you have to pull her thumb out of her mouth.

Smiling before she realizes what is in her mouth.

Oh no- she realized the rice cereal was in her mouth.

See those two teeth?!

Walking baby chicks

We went to visit the chickens at our friends’ house. Cocoa is growing well and is starting to get feathers. The kids were all excited to hold the little chicks again. Then Hannah said she like to take the chickens out for walks in the baby stroller. I was cracking up! She loaded two up for Laney and they took a little stroll down the sidewalk and back. It reminded me of Fern pushing Wilber in a stroller from Charlotte’s Web. We had to enjoy the chicks today because they go back to the farm tomorrow.

May Crowning

To celebrate May, the month of Mary, we had a small May Crowning in our backyard Mary Garden. I told Eliana about how growing up, the 2nd graders got to help with the May crowning and were allowed to wear their First Communion dresses. I offered to let her wear her dress for our ceremony, and she was happy to have a chance to put it on. We made a crown out of clovers, while Will and Laney both gathered bouquets of flowers from the yard. After singing "Immaculate Mary" (or listening to it on my phone), Eliana crowned Mary with our flowers. Then we said a prayer and a Hail Mary. We declared Mary the queen of our home. It was a beautiful little prayer time and something that I hope we can do again in the years to come. It took all month, but I finally made time for the May crowning the last day in May!

Hatching chicks

Our friends the Monniers had gotten some chicken eggs to watch hatch.  Holly is such a fun mom and found a program that is usually for school classrooms but had converted to home activities since the schools are shut down. But this program gives you fertilized eggs, and incubator, brooder, and egg viewer, plus lesson plans to go along with the chickens. You watch the chickens grow inside the eggs for a couple of weeks, then get to keep the chicks for a week after they hatch.  Then the chicks head back to the farm. How cool is that?!

Due to a planned power outage to replace an electric pole, the Monniers needed someone with electricity to babysit their eggs so the incubator could be plugged in. Of course, my kids were super happy to have them come to our house.  The girls showed us the four chicks that had already hatched, then we babysat the two eggs in the incubator. We only had the eggs for four hours, but amazingly during that time, one egg hatched! It was so neat to watch. The kids were really excited.

The four chicks that already hatched. They are named (not in any particular order) Rosie, Nugget, Chipmunk, and something else...

My kids decided to name this chicken Cocoa. The Monniers were very nice and let the chicken keep the name. According to Rick, he was planning on naming it General Tso.

This picture is not about the chicks, but on the same day, we got our first delivery from our CSA. Included were delicious  farm fresh strawberries. Laney said, "This one is as big as my hand!"

Hiking at Battelle Darby Creek

On a beautiful weekend day last week, the kids and I went for a hike at Battelle Darby Creek metro park while David worked.  We were on the hunt for our state amphibian - the spotted salamander. It is endangered, but this metro park is one place you can still find it. Eliana was supposed to have a field trip here with school, so she asked in particular to go for a hike here.  We had a really nice time (despite some complaints of tired legs), and it was wonderful to get out of the house for a while. I think a family hike is the second best thing to a school field trip.

My hiking crew. This picture was taken at the very start of the hike (literally less than 5 minutes in). We had to take a break here for snacks because Will and Laney were "starving!"

Gabby caught a ride in the Ergo and slept the whole hike until lunch.

Checking out Big Darby Creek. Note Laney holding up her baby doll to show here the river.

The water was rushing because of all the rain we had had.

Checking out the new portrait mode on my new phone.

Daddy’s princess

Franklin Park Conservatory

Last summer, Franklin Park Conservatory opened a new Children's Garden.  We typically would visit the Conservatory yearly to see the butterflies but this new garden finally prompted me to purchase a membership.  We have been putting that membership to good use because the butterflies and garden are so much fun! The outdoor garden has tons of stuff for kids to do, including a "sandstone creek" for the kids to splash in and explore. On this particular trip, I didn't think to bring swimsuits.  However, I always pack extra clothes so I told the kids that they could just get wet anyway. We can always dry off and change later!

 They loved this water area! It is a great way to cool off on a hot summer day. We explored the garden a little more that day. Laney ate the rest of the chocolate donut we had had for breakfast. Our last stop was the fairy garden, where you can help build fairy houses.  They kids really delighted in this area especially with the gems.  Will kept asking if fairies were real, but Eliana told him the only real fairy is the Tooth Fairy. We sure get the kids to believe some wild stuff...

These pictures are from our most recent visit with Uncle Roger and Aunt Hannah. The Conservatory has always featured glass artwork by Dale Chihuly (Indianapolis residents may be familiar with his glass sculpture in the Children's Museum). But recently they have incorporated even more of his art in a feature display.  It was so beautiful! I'm not sure the kids appreciated it as much as the grown ups did. But we all had a good time.

Eliana (wearing a butterfly dress in honor of the butterflies in the conservatory) holding a butterfly!

The kids with Aunt Hannah and Uncle Roger. Will refused to turn around for the picture and started waving his rear end at me... Note Laney is wearing a butterfly dress too! Also note the beautiful Chihuly glass in the background!

 We spent a long time playing outside in the water. I even remembered the swimsuits this time. After, the kids explored the float/sink pond, the birds nest, this shelter building area, and the raised balance beams.

 It was a really hot and humid day. I can tell you, after several hours outside, I was ready for a break inside! We were really happy to spend the day with Roger and Hannah and enjoy this chance to be outside.