The Lieu Crew: June 2013

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Father's Day

We spent Andrew's first Father's Day on Long Island. It was wonderful to be able to see my Dad and grandfather and celebrate with Andrew all in the same day. And we loved watching Nana and Granddad (my mom and dad) play with Samantha, and S got to meet a few of my high school friends and their families as well. But we missed Kerri and Eric!

On Friday Samantha and I visited Emily and Piper Higgs. It was wonderful to take a walk with them and catch up. Piper is quite a cutie; unfortunately we forgot to get a picture of the two babies until Piper was past her happy time. Samantha is quite confused by her!

And here's Samantha modeling the scarf Emily knit her- gorgeous! Thanks Em!

Nana and Granddad had set up all my old baby stuff at the house. Here's my old swing- crank and all. Supposedly I used it from birth onward- not sure about the head support, but Samantha was happy in it. She especially loved when her Grandparents came running at her when she was in the swing :)

On Saturday we went for a little morning hike on the greenbelt trail.

We discovered pretty quickly the Samantha will not ride in the ergo straddle legged for Andrew. Turns out his torso is wider than mine so onto my front she went. Next time we'll have to bring the infant insert if we want Andrew to carry her.

Beautiful view of Cold Spring Harbor from the trail.

When we got home we practiced our sitting.

On Saturday Alissa and Sarah came by at night, and then on Sunday I got to introduce Samantha to the Boshnacks and the Montefuscos. Loved getting to see you guys- wish we had more time! Note Abby in the bottom of this picture- Samantha is confused by doggies yet again.

Hanging with her Daddy on Father's Day.

Skeptical of Daddy's kisses

Four Generations :)

Hanging with Nana. So glad Nana came back with us to help in NJ!

June Cuteness

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Visit to Denver

Samantha and I traveled to Denver this past weekend to visit Katie and Maddie Finn. What a wonderful trip! Samantha was so happy she finally got to meet these two special ladies, and we were so glad we got to be there for Katie's bridal shower :)

It was Samantha's first time on a plane. I'll admit I was a bit nervous to take an infant on the plane alone, but it definitely went better than I feared. TSA was great and didn't make me take her out of the ergo to go through security (btw- I am officially in love with the front zip pocket on the ergo- such a great place for my boarding pass, phone, and id!) Then we had an on time flight, no poop explosion, AND an empty seat next to us. On the way back we had none of those things, but we still made it.

Maddie was amazing with Samantha. She wanted to hold her, pick out her clothes, read to her, and show her how to roll. What a wonderful big cousin!

Note the matching polka-dot outfits in each of these pictures. Maddie especially requested she match Samantha :)

And is this game of peek-a-boo not the cutest ever?!

While in Denver we got to go to the pool- Samantha's first time!

Note: I found this Lily Pulitzer bathing suit at the consignment store- makes me want to start consignment sale shopping for me!

Having fun with Auntie Katie! Samantha completely froze in the water, but she seemed to enjoy watching the big kids play even if she wasn't sure what to do herself.

Cousins :)

The pool is exhausting! After exactly fifteen minutes in the pool Samantha passed out.

But we did have some fun playing when we got back home!

On Saturday we felt so lucky to get to attend Katie's bridal shower. Jill and Laura set up a beautiful and delicious lunch and what a wonderful time to honor Katie! Can't wait to see more pictures.

Samantha even got to have her first place setting!

Lori Finn proved to be baby holder extraordinaire! So glad I got to catch up with Ma Finn and Pa Finn last weekend, too :)

Loved being with these girls! The rest of the Princeton auntie crew- you were dearly missed!

We also got to have dinner with Nicole and Brad- loved seeing them as well! Sorry we missed a picture of Brad with Samantha!

So sweet to spend time with each other and our precious girls. Love you Katie and Maddie!

This is how we roll!

Samantha has mastered the art of rolling from back to tummy (but only to the right). Gone are the days that we can turn our backs and expect to find her in the same spot.

Self-inflicted tummy time has meant that Samantha now doesn't seem to mind being on her stomach as much. She'll even play with toys there.

It also means that Samantha has discovered the joys of sleeping on her stomach.

However, Samantha has also discovered that she doesn't like being on her stomach permanently, and she hasn't figured out how to purposefully roll back over yet (still forgot what she did so easily that one day in April!) so we've been spending much of our days turning a whiny baby back over! Oh well- still fun to see this new skill develop!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Five Months!

Samantha is five months today, and we feel more lucky every day to be her parents.

What a long baby!

She is always kicking, flailing, swatting or grabbing these days. Still no real consistency in rolling over, but she's gone from her tummy to her back a few more times. And she almosts gets from her back to her tummy, except for her one arm that gets struck beneath her.

She loves pushing down on her legs and getting herself in standing position. Sometimes it's difficult to even get her to fold her legs these days.

Samantha still LOVES her music class and all types of singing. She listens and watches every time you sing to her, and when she's a little fussy at night music is the go to calming technique.

She is starting to really be able to balance herself sitting up if she's leaning against something or one of us. Eventually she tilts over but her muscles are clearly getting stronger.

Samantha is a happy baby, and generally has a good disposition. She is always happy in the morning after she has had a good night's sleep. We're still working on naps, though, and her bests naps often only get done when we're moving.