Corinna is 4 Months Old Today!

You know that saying "Her smile lights up a room"? That is so true about Corinna! Her gummy little adorable smile is just amazing. Everywhere we go, she smiles at everyone and they are instantly in love. Everyone tells me they want to pinch her cheeks. She's such a good baby, we are so lucky. For the most part she's Miss Happy go Lucky. She was fighting off a cold (in this house? Could you imagine?) and she was off a bit earlier this week, but she's doing better now. What a month she had. She ate her first real food, some delicious baby oatmeal mixed with breastmilk. Now, I kinda forgot that I mixed it with breastmilk when I tried to entice Corinna by showing her me eating it. I got a little grossed out having some of my own breastmilk, but I got over it. She found the whole eating experience interesting. She tried it, she loved to hold the spoon, and she tried to keep it in her mouth to no avail. She is young to try food, but you should see her stare and Spike and I when we are eating. She follows the fork from the plate to our mouths. At her last check up she was 17 pounds and 25 inches long. Almost the exact same measurements as her brothers at the same age. She also totally discovered her thumb. She loves to suck her thumb (gets that from mommy). She can calm herself down instantly, and boy, thumb goes in, eyes close..it's awesome for nap time. She helped us celebrate Spike's birthday and her first mother's day! She's looking forward to meeting all her family and friends in Syracuse Memorial

Happy Mother's Day

Aidan performed a little Mother's Day song at preschool yesterday. It was adorable. He couldn't sit still, he was dancing in his seat. Well, we'll just call it dancing ;-)

His project said "I love my mother because....she cooks me dinner." I think he forgot to add the part where he refuses to eat the dinner and whine at the table. But it was so sweet regardless. And I got lots of hugs. It was a surprise and he wouldn't say a word before class.

Summer Fun in April

What a great weekend we had. The weather was summer hot, but luckily NO humidity! Yippee. Saturday was t-ball for Jake and Aidan and then it was time for the slip n slide and some water fun! There is nothing that spells fun for a bunch of kids more than a hot day and a hose. Here's a tip, klondike bars are not the best pick for an 80 degree day outside. Corinna got to debut her great summer clothes. She sure loves the wind blowing through her hair.

We recently started Family Game Night on saturday nights. Chutes and Ladders, Operation, Memory...a few others. The boys loved it. The grown ups got a kick out of watching them. And let's be honest, a few too many games of Chutes and Ladders with a 3 year old has the potential to make any sane adult want to run away, but it's been fun so far.

Corinna gave her exosaucer a whirl for the first time. She doesn't really get what she's supposed to do, but it occupies her while I'm cooking dinner so it's a win-win!

Corinna Is 3 Months Today!

Hard to believe that our little girl is 3 months already. This is flying by! She celebrated her first Easter this month and just got her big girl crib ( no more bassinet!). She's actually napping her first nap in her crib as I type! She continues to be such a good girl. She's a sweetie pie who is really smiling and laughing now. She loves to chew on her hands to soothe herself. She's just started to try sitting up within the last week. You can see her abs tighten and she leans forward. She can even balance sitting for a second or two. She's a big girl...last week we weighed her and she was about 15 pounds...making her fit perfectly into size 6 months clothes. She tolerates me constantly changing her clothes and playing dress up. In fact, she even smiles while I'm changing her so I'm thinking she likes it, too. This month she really started to play with a toy that hangs on her vibrating chair. She'll bat it with her hand and it inevitably bops her back in her nose. But she digs it. Happy 3 months, Corinna.

Easter Morning

The Easter Bunny hopped his way into town and left some cute little baskets this year for the boys with some Dr. Suess books, a Phineas and Ferb doll for each boy, and some other fun odds and ends. We had a super low-key easter sunday and it was just what we needed after running around so much the week prior.

Spike and the boys had been talking about planting a garden for ages. He had gotten some seeds and they had talked about planting them on Easter. Though it was bone-chillingly cold outside, we decided to stick with the plan and we brought the planters and dirt inside on the kitchen tile. A little messy, but a lot of fun. I can't wait to see the vegetables grow.

The Egg Hunt!

We had planned a friendly egg hunts for some friends and family the day before easter. Well, a batch of cold weather and germy germs kept most of the revelers away, but our small group still had a great time. The egg hunt was inside as was they egg dyeing. So we didn't end up needing the 90 eggs we bought (anyone want an omelet?) we still had a blast and not one drop of spilled egg dye!

Signs of Spring

Sure it snowed on the first 'official' day of Spring....but at last there's signs of spring at the Gartner-Baca house and we're loving it. I'm just getting over mono and Jake's getting over a 'flu-like illness' and now a double ear infection. But hopefully the warm weather will provide lots of open window/germ free days!! The boys start T-Ball tomorrow (if the weather holds out) and they are really excited about it.

Signs of spring? Crocuses in the yard, clothes drying on the clothes line, boys in the sandbox, a day of worm hunting after an april rain...