Another Saturday breakfast - sweet potato style

It took a couple of weeks, but once she tasted bananas there was no looking back...

Since then Gemma has had applesauce (check-plus), peas (check-minus), carrots (check) and frozen banana (check-plus). Here she is eating some sweet potato for breakfast on Saturday. Yes, she liked it a lot too! And she likes to help guide the spoon into her mouth, and then grab at her toes with her messy hands.



Meanwhile Jim cooked up a new waffle recipe: whole-wheat sweet potato waffles (which also had ground oats and ground almonds in the batter). Hearty and tasty. Our favorite way to eat them was with peanut butter, apple butter, a drizzle of maple syrup and a slice of banana. You know it's Saturday morning when there are five or six jars or pitchers of toppings on the table with your pancakes/waffles, and you're sipping a third cup of coffee.

Breakfast with the Hardys

We hosted Dave, Susan, and Jarom for breakfast on Saturday. We made buttermilk scones for the occasion and also offered my homemade granola with yogurt. Susan supplied the fruit. It was a fun morning - we always enjoy spending time with the Hardys!

Two Walks in the Park

Julianna and Gemma met friends at Karst Farm Park for lunch and some playtime last week. Gemma is still loving the swing!


These pictures remind me of how blessed I am to have these two beautiful ladies in my life!!

On a warm afternoon this weekend, we enjoyed a stroll through Bryan Park and, again, the swings.

My birthday - 6 months later

This week is spring break and I am laying low - taking a much needed break from studies and from my assistantship. It feels to good to have a brief respite in the midst of an intense semester.
We took advantage by celebrating my 32nd birthday - belatedly, as it was back in August, over 6 months ago. One of my presents was a coupon to a B-town joint, to be chosen by Julianna. She chose DATS, which is a Cajun restaurant that we'd heard much about and wanted to visit. It was a great choice! We ordered at the counter - I got the chicken creole and Jul the spinach etouffee (Webster: "a Cajun stew of shellfish or chicken served over rice") with cheese - then picked our meal up at the window a minute later. They also had an amazing Thai chicken etouffee (we had a taste, very spicy), chicken and sausage jambalya, and gumbo, amongst other lovely-sounding dishes. We will definitely return!

We then took advantage of the lovely spring afternoon by strolling around the B-town square, popping into our local 10,000 Villages store, a children's clothing shop, and an outdoor clothing/gear retailer.
We were also trying to kill time until 1:00 pm, which is when Happy Hour begins at Square Donuts. From 1:00 to 2:00 the donuts are 25 cents each and the coffee is free! We decided to make it an even 100 cents and ordered four.
Their donuts are really good, right up there with our other fav Bloomington donut shop, Crescent Donuts (Mom and Dad G. need no introduction to that place, it's their favorite too!).

Gemma wishes her hand was a donut.


As you can see in the pictures below, the place is named after the donuts they produce: they're square.

Oh Canada!

They are 4 1/2 years apart but can still share clothes! Thanks, cousin.

Here's Lillian (ridiculously adorable! doesn't she make you laugh!) at 8 months, 15 lbs...

And Gemma at 6 months, 16 lbs...

And so it begins...

Hey, Dad, what is this stuff?

Gemma is now entering into the world of eating solids! Here we are starting out with a few teaspoons of rice cereal. She has had a few days of trying it out and doesn't seem too interested yet; in fact, her 1st attempt (above) seemed to be the most successful. Since then she has made a lot of faces at the cereal and mostly likes to suck on the spoon and fling it around. If we put the food on our index fingers, she will eat off that better than off the spoon. But we will keep trying, bit by bit. Motivations: avocado! sweet potatoes! bananas!

Mom friends out there: any tips??

Update on her 'stats' after the 6 month check-up yesterday:
16 lb 1 oz; 26.5 in. - at 50% for weight and 75-90% for height.

Out to dinner!

Last weekend we finally braved the challenge of going out to dinner with Gemma - in fact, we went along with Kevin and Laura and Emma (2 months older than Gemma) to an Afghan restaurant. Delicious homemade bread and lamb & chicken kabobs and hummus.

Leading up to meeting at the restaurant was a funny series of phone calls between Laura and I: "Let's meet at 5:15"..."No wait, Emma is still napping, make it 5:45"..."No wait Gemma is still napping, make it 6:00"..."No wait she is awake, make it 5:45"...and so on. With babies this age, every 10 minute interval feels important! especially in the evening when Gemma gets tired and can fade into fussiness very quickly. But as it turned out, she and Emma were very calm and well-behaved, and Gemma seemed to enjoy looking around at the people and the twinkle lights and listening to the Afghan music. So that was our welcome to the world of eating out - early dinners! - as a family!

Kevin and Laura are friends from church and one of the couples in our small group.


While we ate, Gemma sat in her Bumbo seat and threw a variety of toys on the floor.

The girls checking each other out...shortly after this photo, Gemma leaned over and grabbed Emma's hair, and Emma promptly attempted to crawl away.

Welcome, Elsie Katherine!

We are so excited and thankful for the arrival Noah and Katie's beautiful new daughter:

Elisabeth "Elsie" Katherine Brink

Born Thursday 3rd March, 4:20 AM, 7lbs 4oz and 20.5 inches

What a precious bundle with such a cute nose and mouth! Gemma is particularly excited; that makes 6 cousins born within a year of her - wow! We are looking forward to meeting Elsie, hopefully in a couple of months when we travel down to Memphis in May.

6 Months Old

Some faces of our happy 6 month old...

Sitting up pretty well these days; laughing and "singing"/humming; grabbing everything she can - particular favorites are hair, strings, scarves & anything that rattles or crinkles; getting closer to sleeping all the way through the night i.e. 7 PM - 7/8 AM (doing this off/on now, but usually still up once a night to eat); leaning into our faces to nuzzle and get kisses; actually jumping in the jolly jumper; turning her head & smiling when Daddy enters the room.


And her #1 activity: KICKING! She still loves the bouncy seat and her play mat and goes nuts flinging all 4 limbs around to hit objects, and lately she has been sitting on the floor in a semi-reclined position (back against a pillow, like the photo below) kicking at her blocks and other toys, with another block in her hand to chew on. And yes, we are biased, but she really enjoys her mini soccer ball and will push it away and kick at it, and even lift it with two feet up to her hands! Still trying to get that on film.