This is for You, (Great) Aunt Jane

This is the hedgehog that Aunt Jane painstakingly knit and felted for Lauren. Besides Miller, the hedgehog is her favorite animal. It's nothing personal, Aunt Jane, Miller licks her, which she loves. And which Sean and I hate. I mean, it's cute, but the dog eats his own poop. We wash our hands every time we even think about touching her, and then she gets licked by the dog who eats his own poop. Such is life.

Lauren's First Cereal!

Lauren turned 20 weeks old on Monday and we decided to start trying solids. This is her first attempt, and while she didn't swallow much, she seemed to know what to do with the spoon. Yes, I know the wipe the cereal off the chin and re-feed it to the baby trick, but I decided that for Lauren's first foray she should have pure cereal unspoiled by spit. Because that's just the kind of mom I am.

Daycare Nanny Cam

Lauren is at daycare now, and while it's hard, these cameras above the crib make it easier. We can watch in "real time" while she's napping, and if we miss the nap we have a still shot like the one above. She's only at this daycare another two weeks, as we made it into the daycare closer to both of our workplaces, and the new place doesn't have the cameras, but it's been fun watching.

4 Months Old!

Lauren is laughing all of the time now. Incidentally, the blankie she is laying on is one that my mom made for me when I was a baby.

16 Weeks Are Up

My 16 weeks of maternity leave ended about two weeks ago, so I am officially a working mom. It was rough at first, but is getting easier, and I must admit that I am enjoying the adult interaction. I enjoy getting home at night even more, though. We hired a nanny for the first two weeks back, which eased the transition, and tomorrow Lauren will go to daycare for the first time. I took her to a Gymboree class on Saturday and she loved looking at the other babies, so I think she's going to enjoy being around other babies her size.

Lauren currently loves looking in the mirror.

Cheap fun with burp rags.

Lauren likes to have both a hand and a foot in her mouth at all times.

We took Lauren to the Kansas City Airshow a couple of weekends ago and got to walk across Broadway Bridge, which was cool.

We didn't appreciate how noisy it would be (not so cool).

Lauren sending Doug Dahl off to D.C. in style. Lauren hearts Vespas.

Being a working mom is exhausting for both of us.

Picnic at the Nelson

Last weekend we took Lauren to Loose Park for a stroll and a look at the ducks, and then to the lawn of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art for a picnic. While Miller has generally become a second-class citizen, this time he was invited. Miller and Lauren patiently wait in the Rover. It took about an hour and a half to gather, pack and load the necessities needed for a day in the park and picnic with baby and dog.

Lauren did lots of tummy time, which she tolerates now that she can roll over on her own.

Sean and Lauren engaged in much "Super Baby!".

Above, Sean napping while Lauren and I took a walk through the sculpture garden. Super Baby is exhausting. Miller, as always, kept guard. Of the picnic basket.

Lauren Bikes the Katy Trail!

Okay, so Lauren didn't bike it, Sean did. But we followed by car. And Lauren was wheeled along the trail a couple of times in her stroller, so I'm counting it. The Katy Trail is the largest rails to trails project in the United States (according to Sean, I haven't fact-checked this one) and stretches from Clinton, Missouri to St. Charles, Missouri (around 250 miles). Sean wasn't able to bike the whole trail because of time constraints and the fact that he wanted to spend some time with his family (which we appreciated), but he did a good portion of it, including an 80 mile first day, which is approximately 75 more miles than I would enjoy doing in a single day.

A lot of interesting things happened on the trip. Perhaps most importantly, Lauren developed an aversion to her car seat. I can't blame her. We were in the car for several hours every day. In the picture below, Lauren relaxes in the front seat on the first day when we cared that she had a car seat aversion and felt sorry for her.

We got over that pretty quickly, as it required multiple and lengthy stops. She eventually realized that we weren't going to stop every time she screamed, so she only screamed for about 20 minutes until she passed out. Awesome.

Lauren also learned how to put her feet in her mouth and suck on her big toe. This kid likes options.

In Clinton, Missouri, I went against my better judgment and visited that store I swore years ago I would never visit again. Wal-Mart. I had no choice, people. I was in Clinton, Missouri and needed an ipod charger, and Wal-Mart was the only provider in town. I think this look from Lauren pretty much sums up how I felt waiting in the self-check line for 42 minutes (it was shorter than the other lines by at least half an hour) while a woman in front of me self-checked goldfish. Not the crackers, the live animals. In a bag with water. IN. THE. SELF. CHECK. LINE. It took hours to get that glazed expression off of her face.

Lauren and I made many stops along the way while Sean biked the trail in 90+ degree heat. Here, Lauren relaxes at a coffee shop/antiques store in the Clinton Town Square (rumored to be one of the largest in the US. Haven't checked that fact, either).

Here's Sean at the end of Day One, 80 miles, from Clinton to Boonville, Missouri. I'm told we almost didn't see him again, after a 24 mile stretch where he saw not one other person, no other towns, and thus nowhere to get more water. Ouch.

The second day Sean biked from Rocheport to Jefferson City. Here he is at the end of Day Two, looking a lot less dazed than after Day One. Each town along the trail had one of these little depots with benches and shade, and sometimes bathrooms (and thus water).

We stayed at a little bed and breakfast in Jeff City, where Sean discovered the best bicycle mechanic in the Midwest. In Jeff City. Who knew? To celebrate, I bought a bike at his shop. Luckily we were the only patrons of the B&B because in addition to developing an aversion to car seats and discovering her big toe, Lauren also learned how to have meltdowns. And I mean meltdowns. It was here where Lauren had her first 60 minute straight screaming fit. I'll always remember you, Jeff City. Here, after the screaming fit, everyone was much happier.

Our next stop was Hermann, Missouri. Confession: I don't think it's that cute. Everyone else does. That's my dirty little secret. Our bed and breakfast, however, was amazing.

We had our own separate house (a necessity after the Jeff City Meltdown of '09), called "Das Landhaus," or the farm house.

One of the owners made the most amazing breakfast, so the Alpenhorn Gasthouse excused Hermann's general unimpressiveness in my book. Lauren even blew some spit bubbles in approval.

The breakfast wore Lauren out. Blowing spit bubbles is hard work.

Sean took off from Augusta on the last day of his Tour de Missouri. All in all a wonderful vacation, even considering the fact that we stayed in a different hotel every night and had to unpack and repack the car about ten times throughout the trip. We have plans to do it together sometime soon. And by "it" I mean about 20 miles of the Katy Trail. I'm not stupid.