Trike-a-Thon!

Last week we participated in a trike-a-thon at Cooper's school.  All the kids got to bring their trikes and helmets and cruise around in the parking lot as a fundraiser for St. Jude's.  The kids had a blast!  Cooper enjoyed his tricycle, picking flowers in the grass nearby, and the Popsicle that followed.

Coop riding out to join his friends.

Cooper and friends!

Cooper took time out from his ride to check on his baby sister.

A kiss for Penny!

Our playgroup at the Trike-a-Thon.  The kids had fun but it was the last time our group was together before TWO of our families moved away!  We are going to miss our friends!

Picture Update

"Puh-puh hold Penny!"

Penny on St. Patty's Day, sitting up and crawling!

Emulating a frog at the aquarium.

6 Months Old...er, nearly 7 Months Old!

Now that Penny is nearly 7 months old, I better give her 6 months report!

Half a year has passed since little Penny completed our family.  She is a sweet, vibrant, and active girl starting to show a little of her own personality...she seems to me a touch on the ornery side...  Just in the last week, Penny has accomplished a lot!  She is now officially eating solid food, sitting up, and crawling!  It was an amazing transformation. Penny had been getting up on all fours and trying to crawl and pushing herself half way up to sitting for a few weeks now, but then she decided she was ready for it all!  On Monday she sat herself up, on Thursday she crawled, now today (Friday) she is crawling all over the place.  She is now so much more content to play by herself, which is a huge help.

Penny went in for her 6-month well baby check up and shots today. She measured in at 17 lbs, 4 oz, and is 17 and 3/4 inches long...90th percentile!!!  She received two shots and only cried a little.  Also, while we were waiting at the doctor's office, I spied something else different about her...another tooth!  We expected the top two teeth to come in next, because is the order the are "supposed" to come in. NOPE!  She now has the first right bottom tooth!

So what we will be looking forward to in the next few weeks is more teeth, the trying and accepting of more foods, and pulling up on furniture.  Its going to be busy!

Family Ranch Day

This past weekend, several members of the Graham Family met at the Ranch to enjoy some family company, the weather, and the new cabin recently erected.  The weather ended up being a little chilly and drizzly, but we still had fun! The great-grandkids had the most fun, as shown in the pictures!  

David and Penny enjoying some time together.

Most of the adults spent the day watching the kids having fun...Owen and Cooper shared the train set very nicely.

What are those two up to??

Again, what are those two up to???

Treasure Hunt!  I think there's a clue hidden in the swing!

Owen helped Cooper figure out the clues.

We found it!  The treasure was hidden by the tractor!

Baseball!

Good "catch" Cooper!

February Report

We are glad that this is the last week in February!  It has been a chilly, stuck-in-the-house kind of month.  We are welcoming the coming of Spring with a recap of the winter.

We visited the ranch with Grandma and Grandpa (or Mamas and Pa-Pa, in Cooper-speak):

Checking out the big frog that lives in the water trough.

Penny enjoyed riding around in the stroller.

Playing on the new cabin porch.

We celebrated Valentine's Day:

Pretty Penny!

Sweet Cooper had fun at his Valentine's party at school.

Penny got two teeth!

Can you see my two bottom teeth?

It was cold a lot, so we hung around the house, a LOT!

Coop likes to "take a bath" in Penny's toy basket.

Coop likes playing with Penny in her crib.

All the indoor time allowed us a chance to paint the living room and enjoy our new media console.  No more mustard yellow walls!

Winter!

A chilly view from our house.

How Penny is spending the "snow" day.

Patty Cake!

5 months old!

Today Penny is 5 months old!  My how time flies!  We didn't have a well-baby checkup with the doctor this month, but we did want to know how she measures up in size compared to her brother, so we weighed and measured her at home. Penny is a solid 16 and half pounds and is 26 inches long...Cooper was 16 pounds and 26 and half inches long.  I can attribute this to her very healthy eating habits! New this month:  Penny is trying hard to scoot across the floor!  She seems to get frustrated that she can't get very far and David spied her up on all fours once.  Penny can now sit up supported in the high chair.  Though we haven't started rice cereal just yet (the doctor told me not to rush it), we will be very soon. She is on a solid 4 hour feed schedule, which is a nice relief from the 3 hour feed schedule.  She can also sleep through the night, though she doesn't do it every night.  I am not complaining!  I think she is doing great for a 5 month old!  Go Penny!

Old Friends Mean New Friends in this New Year.

This month David and I got to reconnect with some old friends.  The neat thing is our friends now have children as well, which means Cooper and Penny have some built-in friends they (and us) are just getting to meet. We got to see Casey and Kristin, and finally meet their little boy born earlier this year.  A few weekends ago we attended Brent and Brandy's kids' birthday party.  Earlier this week, my friend Kristen came for a visit with her 3-year-old in tow. Cooper had a blast playing with all these kids!  I think it is really cool that our kids can grow up knowing the kids' of our friends. A few shots from the last month:

Coop coming down from a ride at Chuck E. Cheese.  Can you tell he enjoyed the birthday cake?

Running around at the aquarium with new friend Drew.

Penny, the picture of perfect behavior at the aquarium.

Building "sandcastles" in the back yard.

These two wore each other out playing for two days!

Four Months Old!

I know this post is a little late...but Penny turned 4 months old on December 27th.  As it was right smack in the middle of the holidays, it is easy to see why I am just getting around to my monthly Penny report.  We had our four month check up last week, where Penny weighed in at 14 lbs, 10 oz, and was 26 inches long.  This puts her in the 75th percentile for both.  She is one big, strong girl!  Some of Penny's accomplishments over the last month include rolling over from back to tummy and from tummy to back, pushing up with her hands whilst on her tummy, and remarkably, pulling herself to standing! (While in my lap.)  She is also making  "aaaahhhhh" and "mmmmm" sounds and she loves to smile at us and occasionally we get a little giggle.  

Penny is such a happy little girl!

Penny at play...chew chew chew!  Just like her brother did at this age, Penny is already teething!!