Rockin' and Rollin'

Another milestone for Ramona. She's just over four months and has begun rolling over and scooting and rotating on her back, all while blowing bubbles. Here's the page I did of her today. She's four months and "Full of Wonder."

Journaling: Ramona will be four months in two days (in the photo). She is happily exploring her surroundings by observation. Lately she’s begun to grab hold of things- the container Mommy is using to rinse her at bath time, the faucet of running water, the hymn book the sister next to us in church is holding. She loves to hear songs, especially when her big sister sings them. She is beginning to roll over... soon there will be even more of the world within her reach.

A Child Willing To Submit

We have been taught by Eliza's sweet willingness. Lately we ask her to do something and she will respond with "Okay, I want to ____." Whether it's cleaning, drinking water instead of juice, sometimes even taking a nap - she'll usually do it willingly.

Eliza loves singing. I know she's awake in the morning when I hear "SunBEAM," the ABC's, or "mommies going shhh, shhhh, shhh." One of her favorites is "The Wheels On The Bus." She has been asking for the "fish fish fish" verse for the past month. I wondered if maybe a silly nursery leader taught them a fishtailing bus verse. Yesterday I remembered that the wipers on the bus go "swish swish swish." That's her "fish!"

Ramona loves singing and dancing. She'll put her arms up and twist in her bouncer while she kicks. "Pat A Cake" brings a smile to her face at almost any time. She bursts out laughing when she goes "up and down" as a person on the bus. Eliza loves to sing to Mona to cheer her up.

At about four months old now, Ramona's hair is getting long and Daddy sometimes says it looks like a helmet. Soon we'll be able to put elastics and clips in... we did a little experimenting today. Ramona's first pigtails:

Toddler Talk

I like to record Eliza's latest sayings... lately in addition to taking notes on what Eliza says, I have to do a little research.

Recently I was cutting a cantaloupe and Eliza ran into the room and said "xi gua! I like xi gua! I'm excited (hee hee)." One of the Mandarin DVDs Tom got for Eliza has fruits and vegetables on it. Sure enough, xi gua is watermelon. Last week Eliza ran from the kitchen asking for a banana in Mandarin (I still need to look that one up). Then yesterday Eliza was counting on her fingers... "one, two, four, eight... yi, er, san, wu, shi."

Tom and Eliza are starting to communicate in Mandarin. I guess I'd better work on it too!

Newbie In The Blogosphere...

Here's our little weblog, The Chronicle. Jen loves reading blogs and would like to share our story too so... here we go!

Our latest little adventure was in Georgetown. The day was overcast and cool. It was so nice to be outside without having to worry about Ramona's eczema flaring up from the heat. Before it started raining we saw most of the campus. Eliza loved the fish in this pool of water. Isn't she looking grown up?

A week ago we went down to Mount Vernon. We got there and realized that we'd forgotten the Bjorn and Jen's season pass. Instead of touring Washington's estate again (which we love) we ended up walking the trail along the Potomac. It was beautiful, but STEAMING HOT! We'll admit we're pretty wimpy. Eliza loves being outside, but she was so hot that she said she wanted to "go home, sit on the couch, and watch a show." Although, she would love a show anytime! Even Tom, a seasoned desert dweller, was ready to go. So after walking a short distance we snapped a few pictures and headed home. Check out Mona's huge smile! She's THREE months old!

Well, that's it for our first post. See you next time!