August

Now that CP's back to work, the girls and I have gotten out for walks a couple of times. Here, N takes the stroller. Yesterday, though, she opted to walk the whole quarter mile to the playground. These days, there's no end to how she surprises me with her grown-up-ness.

Compared with the July heat wave, August has felt almost fall-ish. To keep H from getting chilly on our final appointment with the midwife, I dug out the rainbow leggings that N had worn. They were a bit tight around her thighs. She weighed 10 lb 11 oz (going on three pounds' gain in five weeks).

N enthusiastically shares one of her passions--books--with H. N's current read-aloud is Little House on the Prairie. She enlisted my help to find all the books in the series that we have on our young adult fiction shelf and lodge them on the shelf in her own room, so that she can visually anticipate reading them all.

Thirty Days Young

Keeping Our Cool

Here's how we've survived the heat wave of the past few weeks.

Shedding clothes and taking lots of baths:

Hiding out in the basement (here N is playing "doctor," taking notes):

Working our tails off (well, at least some of us):

Ice cream:

Lots and lots of desserts, such as birthday cake, requiring ice cream accompaniment:

Sleeping (here, H joins friend M, 12 days her senior, on the sleeping baby train):

Tea parties:

Here at Last

Let me introduce you to the newest member of my family, HV.

Hours old:

The birth team (minus my husband, the photographer). L-R: Sister H, me with new daughter, midwife M, apprentice, assistant. My sister and my midwife arrived minutes before H's birth. The other two missed it.

Getting acquainted:

Grandpa and Grandma meet HV. Note Grandma's latest baby quilt creation in background:

Riding in style:

Cousins from afar meet the babe and feast on corn:

HV communes with cousin-still-in utero:

 The new family unit: