Grunting and Rolling

Anna had a very adventurous day today with two big "firsts"! She went to daycare for the first time and rolled over from her back to her tummy for the first time! Daycare went well - Martin just dropped her off for a few hours so he could run some errands and she liked it a lot. They had her in a swing so she just hung out and watched the other kids play. Martin said she wasn't all that excited to go back home so that's a good sign that she'll be happy there! She's very social so I think she'll like the interaction with the other kids and our daycare provider.

I was making supper and Martin was in the kitchen talking to me and we could hear Anna grunting and grunting in the living room. I had put her on her back on the floor and when we went out there to check on her, she was on her side and was MAD that she couldn't roll over on her tummy. Anna was swinging her arms, kicking her legs, grunting, and threw in a few screams for fun. Then all of the sudden she rolled over on her tummy! Yea Anna! She was very content to be there, which was surprising because she is typically not a fan of tummy time at all. Anna had rolled from her tummy to her back at 7 weeks so it'll be interesting to see if she starts rolling a little more consistently.

We'll post some more pictures soon! And Happy Birthday to Kyra today!!!

Anna Anna Anna!

Anna after her bath!
She does pretty well with baths - the only part she doesn't like is when we rinse off the shampoo

One thing I will miss most about maternity leave is morning naps with Miss Anna!

Anna has a new ride! Martin bought her a Jeep Liberty jogger (who knew Jeep made strollers?) and Anna loves it. I think it'll be a lot more fun for her as she gets older and can observe more of what's going on around her.

Anna and her mama.

Butkus thinks that Anna is a great pillow.

Meiko LOVES Anna and always wants to help out! Here she is on babysitting duty :)

2 Month Pictures

Well, it's almost time for me to go back to work! I'm hoping this last week goes by slowly because I am going to miss spending my days with Miss Anna. Being able to spend the summer together as a family has been wonderful and it'll be a bit of a shock when Martin and I have to go back to the "real world."

Yesterday Anna had her 2-month check-up and all went well. She's at 12 pounds 7 oz (90 percentile) and 22 1/2 inches long (50 percentile). She's been tilting her head to the left pretty frequently so the pediatrician showed up some stretches to help loosen up her neck muscles and I'm going to talk to our chiropractor too to see if he has any suggestions. They also gave her the first round of shots....not fun!!!! We've been giving her Tylenol every 4 hours and that has really helped but last night all she wanted to do was to sleep in my arms, which was fine by me :)

Luckily she got a good night's rest because this morning we had her 2-month pictures! Anna did a great job - she wasn't very smiley, but wasn't fussy either (whew!). I liked the woman who took the pictures, but she was just filling in so I think I might try JC Penney's next time just for comparison. Here's some of my favorites!

Happy Birthday Martin!

Happy Birthday Martin! He requested oatmeal chocolate chip cookies so I made those last night and buffalo burgers from The Woodhouse for dinner, which was great since I didn't feel like cooking today:) Here's a picture of Martin with his "crew":

Bemidji!

About a week ago Anna and I took a Mommy-Daughter trip to Bemidji to see her Grandma and Grandpa. It was a little scary to take her by myself on such a long road trip (350 miles one way) but, to my relief, she was a great little traveller! It was WONDERFUL to spend a few days at the cabin and Anna had a great time with her grandparents!

Kiyoko's Hytta!

Dad has gotten rather creative with his mowing this year and Mom has dutifully entertained his efforts. He now has several "islands" of wildflowers in the yard with little pathways between them - he finally admitted that he just got sick of mowing :) In his defense, it is a HUGE yard so I don't really blame him.

Anna taking a nap with Grandma! Ahhh....Lake Beltrami!

Anna enjoying some time with Grandma.

Anna got plenty of kisses during her time in Minnesota!

Anna attended her first Golf Widow's dinner while we were there. These ladies get together every Thursday night during the summer while their husbands go golfing. It's a tradition that's been going on ever since I could remember and I was so happy Anna can participate too! Clockwise: Grandma Joelyn, Anna, Julie Bengtson, Margaret Thorson, Ardie Rotto, and Marge Forseth.

Grandpa and Anna sharing a good laugh after breakfast.

July 4th Weekend

For the 4th of July we went down to South Dakota to visit Martin's aunt and uncle. Three of Martin's sisters were also there so we had fun spending time with our nieces and nephews (and their parents too!).

Anna is doing really well and is going through a growth spurt right now (meaning she's hungry hungry hungry). On Friday night she started to get some watery eyes and on Saturday morning was sounding a bit congested so we took her into the clinic since a niece and nephew were sick right after the 4th. Luckily it was just a little nasal congestion and her lungs and ears were clear. While at the doctor's we got an updated weight for Anna - she's up to 11 pounds and 3 ounces. We go back into the doctors on August 3rd for her 2-month vaccinations so I'm interested to see how fast she's been growing.

Anna me enjoying the great weather. Here's Anna in motion - she's gotten quite good at rolling onto her side.

Anna and Braden, her cousin. He lives in Arizona and was born last January.

All the July 4th weekend activities took a toll on Anna and Martin.....

Family photo!

Anna getting to know her cousins - they will be great friends for years to come!

The past two years the men have had some great fishing!

More Pictures of our little Anna!

Anna loves to stretch out on the floor and we have found out that she is a very determined little girl. She's been working on turning on her side and is very vocal about the whole process - lots of grunting and a few short cries here and there when things don't go her way. She's been successful a few times so she's half-way to rolling on her tummy! Anna was baptized this weekend and we had a great time - my parents, Martin's sisters Beth and Laura and families, Martin's aunt and uncle, and some family friends were all there for the big day. Anna wore the baptismal gown and locket that was originally worn by her great-grandma Anna (Ekrem) Bymoen.

Here's a picture from last week when she was playing in her bouncy chair. We've noticed that she's become much more aware of her surroundings and she's beginning to follow movements more. We love those blue eyes of hers!!!

Cousin Braden and Anna met for the first time this weekend - as you can see, Braden was very well-behaved while Anna had other things on her mind (like eating!). Braden is such a cute kid - very easy-going and he has lots of smiles!