A whole mess of stuff

It's been too long since I last blogged, which means I have a lot to talk about, which means I won't get to it all. So here's what I consider the important stuff.

Penelope turns 8 months on Wednesday, and she's 30.75 inches long according to my admittedly imprecise measurements. We don't go to see her Ped until she's 9 months so we have another month before we get official measurements.

She weighs more than her 2 year old cousin Ariana - which isn't really surprising considering 1- Ari is mobile and 2- Ari's dad is like Frank Sinatra in the early days, if Steve stands sideways you can't see him. Seriously. I'm not all at concerned about P's weight, she's healthy and is IN NO WAY overweight. It does, however, kill my arms. I can't wait until she's walking so my back & arms get a break. I may have to chase her around, but then it's my legs that will get the workout.

Speaking of Ariana, Penelope met her only first cousins for the first time last weekend. Steve, Teresa, Gadge, Ariana, and Jesse were in California (they live in Wyoming) for the week and Bryan, Penny, and I went up to see them at Aunt Frannie's lake house for 2 days. We had a good time, the kids are all freaking adorable and it was nice to see my BIL & SIL... I know we all wish we lived closer, but Bryan and I will never move to Wyoming.

Here are a few pictures of the kids:

Jesse (2), Gadge (5), Ari (2), and Penelope (7.5 months)


Jesse


Gadge and Bryan


Ariana and I (this is the face she makes when you ask her to smile)


Penelope (and her thumb)

Hmmm, what else?

I officially dislike my professor in this current class (EXC 625: Exceptional Children in the Classroom) and a significant number of my classmates have said incredibly offensive and borderline racist things on the discussion board. Don't worry, I totally called them on it. Luckily this is the last week and I already submitted my last assignment. I forget the name of the next class. I'll be SO GLAD to be done next year.

Oh, more Penny stuff...

She's repeating sounds like Oh, Ah, and Uh-oh. It's hilarious!
She is no longer interesting in trying to crawl and would prefer to stand all day.
She recognizes a whole bunch of words and responds to them, she just can't vocalize them yet.
Baba, Rara, and Uh-oh are her favorite "words"
She's teething like CRAZY... she's actually putting things in her mouth to chew on. I don't know which teeth she's getting in, but we already have 5 and she's never done this for any of her other teeth. Maybe she'll get the rest of them in at once and we can be done with this whole teething thing.
Spices we've tried (and she loves): cinnamon, black pepper, curry, oregano
Still hates banana, but will eat it if it's mixed with peaches or blueberries.
LOVES greenbeans
Is in 18-24 month sized clothing, although some of her 18 month sizes oneseies are getting to be a little tight...
Is oddly fascinated by the vacuum

Upcoming August events: Tazz's wedding next week, Christina's son Zack turns 2!, Sophia turns 1, my 10 year high school reunion...

Oh, and Wednesday was my parents 29th anniversary!!!