Archive for May, 2010
Strawberries 2010
This is the second year that we’ve gone strawberry picking and I now can’t imagine not doing it every year. It was a little difficult with Miranda, because she can’t wear sunscreen and therefore has to stay in the stroller, and strawberry patches aren’t exactly stroller-friendly. But we managed by taking turns staying with Miranda and picking strawberries with Natalie. We went this year with Jodi and Jay, so most of these pictures in the strawberry field are ones that Jay took.
U-Pick at Terhunes
In the strawberry fields
Flower picker with her dad
Jodi and the girl in the yellow hat
Natalie and Jay
Showing off her loot
Yummy
Meema helped us make strawberry jam with our harvest. I would highly recommend freezer jam. Since the berries aren’t cooked, the flavor of the strawberry is preserved. Like summer in a jar.
Making jam with Meema
Crushed strawberries
Freezer Jam!
Luckily, we had enough strawberries left over to make my other summer favorite: strawberry shortcake!
Berry Shortcake Nothing else says summer better!
Camden Children’s Garden
I hope you enjoy these photos from our fun trip to the Camden Children’s Garden with our “marvelous” friends!
Group shot 
Bug eyes!
Happy Miranda What a tropper she was today! No crying in the car, napped well in the mei tai, happy to ride in the stroller! This photo captures her latest thing–chewing on her hands constantly!
Babywearing My failed attempt of a picture of me and Liz wearing our babies.
Happy girl on the train There was a model railroad running next to the train….Natalie was so excited, she kept saying, "look, mommy, I see a little train next to our train!!"
Jill and Cameron
Maya on the train
Olivia on the cat
Grace on the bunny 
Nathan on the dragon
Bunny ride
All by herself! Natalie very proudly yelled, "hi mommy!!" every time she passed me.
Little pigs, little pigs, let me in! Natalie, Olivia, Nick
In the giant’s chair Natalie and Olivia
Natalie and Maya Natalie had just fallen off this giant chair and wasn’t too happy about me taking her picture.
Natalie the butterfly
Natalie and Iris
Miranda is 3 Months!
Miranda at 3 Months It’s hard to believe that three months have passed since Miranda was born! She is such a sweet baby—almost always smiling, even when she starts getting hungry or tired. She’s easily soothed and easy to put to sleep. When Miranda does get hungry or tired, she doesn’t so much cry as get agitated and frantically move her arms and legs. Chris first observed this about two months ago when Miranda was laying on her changing table and I was walking in and out of the room. Whenever I left the room, Miranda would start moving as if she was trying to get up and find me. As soon as she could see me, her whole body calmed down. She is the same way now, flailing around when she needs something, then becoming quiet and still as soon as her needs are met.
Miranda at 3 Months 
Miranda at 3 Months Miranda is getting nice and chubby, as evidenced by the fact that I can’t get my hand around her thigh anymore! And all from Mama’s homemade milk! I wasn’t able to stick to the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation of “nothing but breast milk for the first 6 months” with Natalie, who I think had her first taste of formula when she was less than one month old. So I’m very proud to say that Miranda has been exclusively breast fed so far. I’m hoping to be able to continue that once I return to work next month, but I’m not going to beat myself up if I need to supplement. Luckily, Miranda takes a bottle without complaint and had a fine first day at Melissa’s this month as a test run.
Miranda is very strong, pushing her chest and head up during tummy time and already doing stomach crunches when she’s laying on her back. In the car, I can’t see her anymore in the mirror because she leans as far forward as she possibly can in her 5-point harness. Although the car still isn’t her favorite place to be, traveling has been vastly improved since we switched her to a convertible car seat. Some toys hanging from plastic rings have helped her be more settled in the car as well.
In honor of her 3-month birthday, we gave Miranda a proper bath for the first time in….? Is that bad when you can’t remember when you last bathed your child? Eh….I read that bathing too often can irritate the skin, so we took a break from tub baths for a while. I was giving her nightly sponge baths with clear water and then using california baby super sensitive skin lotion to help clear up her eczema. There are too many variables to correctly identify the cure, but Miranda’s skin has been looking perfect lately. No more eczema, yay! And after shampooing, Miranda’s hair looks about 2 shades lighter!
Tummy time Miranda I
Tummy time Miranda II
Tummy time Miranda III
We continue to feel so lucky that our daughters have a lot of genuine affection toward each other and hope that continues to be the case as they get older. Miranda loves to watch her big sister and both of their faces light up when they see each other.
Happy Sisters