We celebrated Memorial Day with the Burkes.  Avery (the cutey on the left) made off with my camera.  Here’s some of his photography work

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Not too bad, huh?

Speaking of card sharks, here’s her dad playing poker into the wee hours of a baby’s night.  We stayed until he could win back his name.

Meanwhile, Annabelle cranked out tunes on Zander’s mini piano to keep us all entertained.

Our little card shark.  We’re so proud.

One of the perks of parenting a baby is getting to dress them up however you like.  I picked up this pink hat secondhand at a yard sale while pregnant with Annabelle.   In these pictures, it looks like a giant pink saucer landed on her head.   Well, I think we’ve got another seven to ten years before she starts arguing Mom and Dad’s fashion choices for her.  Until then, there will be pink saucers to wear.

Just being adorable.

So she started the solids.  Annabelle loves bananas, puts up with green beans, and tolerates squash and corn.  We tried chicken and rice but were up much of the night, so we’ll put that back on the shelf for a couple more months.

Right now, without being able to make words, she expresses preference and distaste by jumping up and down (for her favorite bananas) or pursing her lips and grimacing (with string beans).   All and all, it’s a pretty cute mess afterwards.

Hooray!  Mommy graduated!  Now I will have to call her Master Mommy.    Hooray, hooray!  And now, she can focus entirely on me.

This past Sunday I got to attend my first company picnic for Daddy’s work.  Boy, there were a lot of smart people there (all plotting to take over the world).   But those engineers know how to have a good time.  They were jumping around in the Moon Bounce, which Mom convinced Dad to hop on with her.  Here I am with Nanny watching those crazy fools hop around.   Maybe next year I can hop in too.

So Nanny came into town for a visit.  This time she brought us Mommy’s family’s kitchen table, which Mom says is a magical conversation starter.  Last night we ate our first meal at the kitchen table, and I sat in this new toy that Nanny bought me.  After I threw a little fit, Mommy decided that she’d try to feed me mushed bananas (I turned 5 months and the ped. wants me to eat some solids now).  Guess what, I loved it!  Mushed bananas rock!

There’s just something about me and baskets.  I guess it has something to do with me wanting to follow Mommy wherever she goes.  So, when the time comes for her to wash our clothes, she has to put me somewhere.  Hey, I don’t mind.  She pulls me around the kitchen in the basket when she’s done with the laundry.