The Jump-Off

Pretty funny. They jump, stop, stare at each other, start jumping again and laugh uncontrollably.

Morning Visits

For the past few weeks Faustina, Isaac and I look forward to hearing a little 'knock, knock, knock' on the front door around 9am. This morning I open the door to hear Grandma and Grandpa Lee immediately look down at the playmat and enthusiastically exclaim "Faustina!". Grandma and Grandpa have been going for morning walks with Wallace and they stop by for 30-45 minutes to say hello and get their 'Faustina Fix'. The routine has fallen into tea for Grandma, coffee for Grandpa and chatting about whatever. Faustina clearly recognizes her grandparents now and she likes her airplane rides from Grandpa. Grandma and Grandpa are fun to talk to because they always have something new to share, stories to tell or they are just plain goofy sometimes. What a blessing it is for Faustina to see her grandparents so often!

Small Town Heroes

On Friday morning Grandma and Grandpa stopped by to help get both Isaac and Faustina ready for the big trip on the lightrail to the metrodome. We were all going to see my cousin, Daniel Binde, play in the highschool football semi-finals. And let me tell you: this is a BIG deal!! The Binde family lives in Lake, Park MN which is close to the North Dakota Minnesota boarder. Lake Park has about 800 people living there and my aunt Debbie said probably about 795 of them were in the metrodome to cheer on Lake Park. This is the first time any Lake Park team has made it to the State Tournament. As the football team left Lake Park on Thursday afternoon police cars escorted them out of town along with fire trucks and fireworks (Debbie didn't say if the 'fireworks' were literal or figurative!). Nonetheless, Faustina and Isaac seemed to enjoy the ride to downtown as they were looking at everything and taking in the different faces and scenes. Unfortunately, I had an embarrassing incident as I tried to take Faustina in her stroller through the REVOLVING doors and we got very stuck!! I was trying to hurry since there was such a long line behind us and of course by the time we got 'unstuck', the line behind us was even bigger. Whoops. It was a fun morning cheering on Daniel and chatting with cousins. There were about twelve cousins/aunts/uncles there watching the game. Lake Park-Automen (about 20 years ago Lake Park and Automen had to merge schools and I am told there is a lingering resentment if Automen is left out of the equation) came up short in the in the final score which was a bummer. Apparently the junior class is very strong, perhaps we'll be making another trip to the metrodome this time next year.

First Food

Last week Faustina had her first taste of rice cereal...nuummmmmy. Well, she didn't think so. She wasn't a big fan. I don't blame her, it does taste pretty gross. I was a bit hesitate to start her since nursing is so easy and when I think of starting babies on mush I envision messy faces, dirty heightchairs, and a littered floor; none of these thoughts were too exciting. But since Faustina is 6 weeks and she has definitely been closely watching us eat and moving her mouth along with us, I thought I would give it a try. She was all set in her heightchair and her awesome St. Faustina of Divine Mercy bib. I think, however, it will be a slow process getting used to solids - fine with me!

Jumping Bean

Faustina absolutely loves her 'jumping johnny'. She goes nuts in it as she bops around chirping, laughing, smiling. Even when we hold her in our laps she starts jumping around.

Vatican Splendors exhibit

This past Sunday we went to the "Vatican Splendors" exhibit at the Minnesota Historical Society. We met our pals Pat and Krystal (with their 6 month old, Charles) there. It was a nice exhibit. Lots of different things to see from vestments to Missals to chalices to pieces of St. Peter's bones to Swiss Guard uniforms. I snapped this photo outside... and one illegal pic of St. Peter's reliquary!

Luscious

Check out these baby 'muscles'. I love them.

Determination

She is 5 months old and doing it. Sunday night she crawled/scooted/inchwormed about 4 feet on our wood floor. The time is quickly coming to baby proof the house!