Hibou - 3 Months

 We were out of town for Hibou's 3 month birthday, but these pictures are from today, so only 3 days late. Not too shabby. 

For comparison here is Hibou's 2 month post. And also Papillon's 3 month post. 

Here's the birthday girl post-bath. Squeaky clean!

 And of course, the photo shoot had to start off with some shots with big sister, Papillon.  I love these two.

Here is Hibou with her comparison doll. Getting big, if I do say so myself!

At 3 months, Hibou...

....pretty consistently sleeps through the night (say 8 or 9 pm to 6 or 7 or 8am), with just one snack break sometime between 2am and 4am.  

...is working on naps. She does great with naps in the car, stroller, carrier or bouncy seat. But actual crib-naps are short and hard to come by.  I am working on encouraging that slowly, but I am not in a rush.

....is growing. I don't know how much she weighs, but its pretty obvious to me that she is growing. She looks a little bit bigger every day! 

....eats great.  We had a little case of thrush earlier this month (her lips were super white and I was crazy-sore. yikes!) But it seems to have cleared itself up without causing us too much eating trouble. 

...is starting to figure out how to use her hands. She clasps them together all the time. And is always absentmindedly grabbing her shirt and pulling it up over her face.

....hates tummy time. With a fiery passion.  We've tried a lot of things - boppy, pillows, distracting toys, etc. She still hates it.  Oh well, she gets some good

....smiles a ton. She is a very sweet natured baby and the smiles are adorable and abundant.

Hibou's babbling has also taken off in the past week. We get so many coos and grunts and little laughs.  Here is a video with just a glimpse of her 3-month vocabulary.

Happy 3 Months, Hibou! We love you sooooo much!

Fancy Baby Shower

I recently attended a Baby Shower for a dear friend. We have been friends for a very long time...as in, since before we were born! (our moms were friends and we are only about a month apart).

As a fun comparison, almost exactly 2 years before, this good friend attended my baby shower. See here and compare the picture of me and my two friends in that photo and me and my two friends in the photo below.
Voila, the three of us!

It was a rather formal event, so Hibou got all dressed up for the occasion. 

And, along with Nana, chatted with the other ladies at the shower.

Check out these cool straws and fancy beverages!

And the dessert....lemon mousse that was both delicious and adorable.

And the butter, complete with real flowers in it. 

Apologies that I have included more pictures of food items than people. Sometimes that just happens I suppose. But it was a very fun time and I can't wait to meet the new little one when he/she makes his/her arrival in July!

5th Reunion

It's hard to believe, but Mon Amour and I graduated from college 5 full years ago (and next month we will have been married for 5 years...crazy!).  We happened to be free for Reunion Weekend at our college, so we decided to take the opportunity to take a little day trip to our Alma Mater.  Here are a few pictures from the weekend, in no particular order. 

We hung out with our good friends (also classmates) and got to see their 2nd Little Boy who is almost exactly 2 months older than Hibou. Isn't he a cutie!

Had to sneak in a family picture, a pretty decent one too, except for Papillon's fingers being in her mouth and nose. Oh well. 

I ran into one of my favorite Professors who was also my thesis advisor. 

Papillon was being particularly photogenic that day. 

And loved her hot dog. In the past she has refused to touch them, but I guess she was really getting into the spirit of the picnic. 

Here is our friends' oldest son who is about  months older than Papillon.  Isn't he adorable!

And, the rest of these are just assorted cuteness from that day....it was a photogenic kind of day for everyone! The awesome weather also helped. 

This is his "smile" face. 

and this is Papillon's.  Clearly squinty eyes are essential to a little kid's smile. 

It was a very fun time, and I shudder to think how quickly our 10 year reunion will be upon us!

An Erie Graduation: Abridged

First, an apology. An apology to this trip. Which was totally fabulous, but which will not get its due blog-time.  I am just waaay too far behind in blogging to give this event the time it deserves.  Too many blog-able things keep happening. And so, for the sake of more recent blog-worthy events, this trip must be presented in only the most abridged version. 

Here we go:

At the beginning of May, Mon Amour and I packed up the girls for a little weekend trip to see my "little" brother graduate from college.  (He is 6+ feet tall and a college graduate...but he is still my "little" brother)

Essential parts of our trip included...

Lots of fun food such as milkshakes (that taste better when shared with Grandpa) 

fizzly beverages...

...more milkshakes...

...curly fries...

...another milkshake for good measure...

...and a milk coma for Hibou.

And of course, at one point during the weekend, there was the main event...the graduation! 

Graduations are generally tortuous events for everyone. I am not saying thatthey are not an appropriate way to celebrate the accomplishment of graduating, and I am definitely not encouraging anyone to skip your graduation ceremony says  - your mother will tell you that you will regret not going if you skip it...its probably true, so go, graduate with all the pomp and all the speakers and all the listening to other people's names be read! 

All that to say, we were prepared for the worst: two tiny children, one hot auditorium, a few too many speakers in the program and a couple hundred names to read through in the middle of the evening is pretty much a recipe for disaster.  See how tired Papillon looks before we even get started? 

But guess what!  Little Brother's College deserves an award for this ceremony!  Such a great balance of formal ceremony, casual enjoyable-ness, and spectacular efficiency!   Speakers were short, sweet and to the point, name-readers flew through the names and we were out of there before anyone could have a melt down. Less than 2 hours, all told, I believe. 

Leaving just enough time for a few congratulatory photos before the girls desperately needed to sleep. 

Congrats Little Brother!

Another highlight of the trip was the beach.  It wasn't exactly beach weather, but that doesn't mean you can't sit on a picnic blanket in the sand and have a fun time. 

Papillon did NOT want her toes to touch the icky sand...so she stayed on the blanket

Hibou did not want bright sunlight in her eyes...so she slept. 

Papillon helped provide the tunes courtesy of  Aunt Mimi's phone. 

Our 2nd visit to the beach was quite windy - armed with sand-protective-footwear (aka socks) Papillon collected quite a few rocks (which Grandpa dutifully carried for her)

Hibou required more than just socks to protect her from the wind and sand...yes, she's in there somewhere, and no, I am not smothering her. Just keeping the wind away. 

There was also much kite flying on this particular windy day. But I forgot to add any pictures of that...like I said, I am definitely not doing this trip justice. But...on to even more adventures!

Looking Good

Again...these pictures are probably a month old.  But, cuteness just has to be posted. 

And, I know I am biased, but aren't these two cute kiddos?

Candy Land

A number of weeks ago (ok, maybe more than a month...) my dad made a special stop at the toy store to pick up a new game for he and Papillon to play.  Candy Land! 

She doesn't fully understand how it works - for now she just picks up a card, identifies the color, knocks over the playing pieces, and occasionally exclaims "I winning!"

But give it another couple months, and I think this girl will be a Candy Land playing champion!