Claire - 4 Months Old

Claire turned 4 months old on May 22nd!  She weighs 13 lbs. 9oz. (50th percentile) compared to 11 lbs two months ago.  She's 25" long (75th percentile, like her brother), up from 22.5" at 4 months, and her head size is 16.5" (also 75th percentile, like CJ), up from 15.5" at 4 months.

She also got 4 shots, same ones as at 2 months, (PCV, DTap, Hib, and IPV) plus the Rotavirus vaccine by mouth.  She was so unhappy about it, it was heartbreaking!  I think she was mad at me for a day and a half.

To see other miscellaneous pictures from May, Click Here.

Memorial Day at the Pool

Finally an opportunity for Claire to wear her adorable new swim outfit!  We had nice weather so it was off to the pool.

CJ enjoyed ice cream

In celebration of the holiday and opening of the pool, there were lots of games to play, like Hot Potato...

and a hula-hoop contest.

CJ (the shortest participant) won the limbo contest and talked the program administrator into this water gun! 

Click Here for a few more pictures.

CJ's Schedule

In anticipation of mom going back to work, CJ has a new schedule to follow.  And we hired an evening nanny/mother's helper to help him stick to it!

Central Park Zoo

We went to the Central Park Zoo today to meet mom's friend Becky, her mother, and her kids Donnie and Danica.  CJ had such a blast, despite the nearly 3 hours it took to get there!  Luckily the ride home was much smoother, with no traffic and both kids sleeping the entire way.

Mother's Day Celebration at Goddard School

CJ's class had a Mother's Day celebration for all the mom's today.  Part of the fun included releasing their butterflies that they'd grown since they were worms.  

Spring Planting

After planting 3 trees and several new perennials last year, this year, we'd said we'd try and save the money and skip planting anything new.  ...by the end of April, we have now planted 4 more trees (and moved 1), 10 new Boxwoods, 7 new Lilac plants, and 30 Hellebore plants!  Here are a few before and after pictures.

Side of the house dividing our yard and the neighbors':

Before - big mulch-y areas, thin on the shrubs (the white flags are where the new plants will go)

After - 10 new Boxwoods snaking through the area (they'll get much bigger)

Same area furthest from the road:

Before - missing something where a tree was lost before we moved in

After - new Norway Spruce tree

Along the driveway near the garage:

Before - old Lilac trees, very old wood and one that we lost completely during Hurricane Sandy

After - 7 new plants to join the old ones and fill in the area more (not quite in bloom yet)

Front of the house, across the driveway from the front door:

Before = Big mulch-y area where a tree was lost before we moved in (no picture available).  We planted a Weeping Cherry in this spot last year, but it turned out to be a very wet spot and we were concerned it wasn't going to make it.

After = 3 new Amelanchier trees and 30 Hellebore plants 

We're especially excited about these.  The Amelanchier trees are among the first to bloom with lots of small white flowers.  During the summer, they produce small little blue berries like blueberries that song birds love and are edible for humans too!  In the fall, the leaves turn bright colors of yellow, orange and red.  Something new, all year long!  And the Hellebore plants below them are the first to bloom, even popping up through snow in December and lasting through May/June.

We moved the Weeping Cherry that previously occupied this spot to the back of the house behind CJ's playset and the garden fence.  Next year, this is where we hope to add a large fenced in area to include a vegetable garden.

Lastly, we planted these Tulips underneath a late blooming Cherry Tree last year, but they're so beautiful we wanted to include a photo here!

To see more and larger photos of these, click here.

Delhi Weekend

This weekend was a family weekend in Delhi to say goodbye to CJ and Claire's cousin Caroline Hall and support Aunt Maggie and Uncle Matt in their very sad loss.  We hope the weekend helps them both to heal and move forward as best they possibly can.

After the service, CJ and Brody became quick BFFs.  Although they hadn't seen each other since they were babies being pulled in the wagon at Maggie and Matt's wedding, you'd have thought they play together every day!

Getting ready to go fishing.

Didn't know dad was such a fisherman!  Likely that this is the first and only father-son fishing photo...

Unfortunately, they didn't catch anything...  Claire slept on the patio through it all.

What boys wouldn't love all the motor toys!

And exploring the old houses.  

Back at the house, Claire looked like a little doll in the little chair.  

Hay rides!  A first for us at Delhi.  

Uh-oh...daddy's bad influence

CJ loved riding the new pony.

Claire wasn't really interested though.

A few more photos from the weekend are available here.