Wonderland!

On Thursday we went to Dutch Wonderland! It's a great amusement park for kids located in Amish country, PA! My mom's sister and her grandkids and families joined our group and we all had a blast! Nina was too little to go on any rides, but after her nap she played in the water park.
She looks like such a big girl climbing this castle.

We had so much fun in the water park that I am thinking about when we can go back and who can come with us!

My brother and his family are leaving tomorrow. We had a wonderful visit and are looking forward to our trip up to Maine in August! Thanks Vin, Heather, Ada, and Ben for playing with us this week! Nina really loved playing with her big cousins! She learned a lot from you this week. We love you! xxooxxoo

Nina at the zoo

What's up peacock?

Today we took Nina and her cousins to our local community zoo. I used to go there when I was little so it was cool to bring Nina. During our picnic lunch, this peacock decided to check us out. Nina was really into him.
We also really enjoyed the prairie dog exhibit. You can see those little guys to the right of Nina. Tomorrow we are going to Dutch Wonderland! woo hoo!

Nina took 3 steps.

So Nina took 3 steps this afternoon at her great grandmom's house. Woo Hoo! Her cousins are in town from Maine, and I swear every time those kiddos come for a visit Nina picks up new skills:)

Oh yeah and also while eating a nutrigrain bar at dinner she decided she would start clapping her hands! It's weird b/c she used to clap her hands all the time in the beginning of the year and then nothing...So the skill has resurfaced just in time for her to applaud her walking efforts.

Here she eating her peach a few days ago. I took of the skin and she went to town on it!

Another Anniversary

Tomorrow will be the 1 year anniversary of Nina's homecoming. She was 14 weeks old and 4 pounds when she came home that day. She came home with the apnea monitor and O2 for when she ate. I stressed out most times while feeding her b/c I was afraid she would stop breathing(like she did on occasion in the hospital and a couple times at home) We ALWAYS fed her sitting up until she could hold the bottle herself.

Little by little, we got our act together and I was able to work from home with her napping in her swing next to me. Less then a month of her coming home, we kicked her out of our room(she was in a bassinet) and put her in the crib(she was too noisy for us to get sleep) Soon after, her naps were taken in the crib as well. Nina has always been a great sleeper and I think it's b/c we never rocked her to sleep. Hopefully she will continue being a good sleeper.

I shake my head when thinking back over this past year-the doctors appts-the weigh ins- our home nurse, Cindy who checked on Nina once a week- the Cigna case worker- getting her ears tested, hoping she could hear in both ears b/c she keep failing- the eye exams-the constant fear of germs-purelling my ass off-making everyone else Purell themselves-putting a net over her stroller so nobody would touch her--LYING ABOUT HER AGE-- oh man it was an insane year for new parents.

Having those baby girls 4 months early was heartbreaking.
I count my blessings everyday for Nina and Jason.

Happy Father's Day Jason!!! xxoo

Nina's fun day

Nina had a great day today! She spent the late morning with her friends Gianna and Adelina and met baby Lucia! Had a huge nap then really played hard at Gymboree. Nina is becoming more social in class and leaving my lap to explore the kids and instruments. She was standing more than usual today(even moved to the beat) and lots of the moms were commenting on how much she has improved in her balance.

Nina's 15 month check up was good. She grew a half an inch and a few oz. And I threw ALL the bottles away. (shhh...don't tell Jason I did not keep his emergency bottle.)

My Cup Runeth Over

Hello, this is Jason checking in for a guest writing appearance. Judith does such a great job with the updates but I thought I would give her a break.

Well it looks like we hit another milestone as the SIPPY is now the cup of choice. We had been mulling this move for a while and Nina was not exactly thrilled at first about giving up the bottle. In reality I think it was our hesitation but we are now over that. As of Sunday, June 8, we have moved on from the bottle.

It also helps that the number one person in Nina's life, Elmo, is on the cup and we are now referring to it as Elmo water and Elmo milk. And in grand Fox style we did not go small on the conversion but we headed out for a trip to the Limerick outlets. I, of course, wanted to bring along an emergency bottle but Judith talked me out of it, saying if she is thirsty she will drink(it didn't hurt that it was about 100 degrees Sunday).

As with everything Nina continued to amaze us and downed her sport cup full of milk and we had to go to the food court to get more. So far, so good, we will keep you posted on sippy progress.

Play Ball!

We took Nina to her first Phillies game today! We were in Jason's company's suite which made it all the better! The Phillies won and are now in 1st place. Yeah Team!