Sisters are doing it for themselves. . . .

With apologies to Aretha, we got some great pictures of the girls together this weekend, along with some nice individual ones.  Harper had her six month check-up this week - just a bit late, and she is doing great.  She is 16 lbs, 11 oz, which puts her at the 75%tile for babies born 37 weeks, or 50% for full-term babies.  She's 25 1/4 inches - 50%tile/25%tile(37 weeks/full-term) and has a head circumference of 17 1/8 (75-90%tile vs. solid 75%tile for full-term) - great growth all the way around. 

Give her enormous head, this may come as a surprise, but she is also been rolling over for the past week, so it isn't weighing her down.  In most cases, she is following Finley's development pretty closely as measured by percentages, which we are pretty happy about.  She's also been great with tummy-time, so the concerns he had about the back of Harper's head are virtually gone.

Finley continues to do well.  She is really fun to read to -- she's had us read so many of the books to her so often that it is almost like she can read now.  She's memorized many of the books, so if you just start her off with the first couple of words on the page, she can keep going from memory.  She'll also use the stories in conversation;  just a couple of days ago, we found one of her toys outside.  A dog that will remain nameless (big and white) was likely responsible and Finley, to paraphrase one of her nursery rhymes, said, "those naughty doggies, they shall have no pie."  I know that you had to be there, but it is clear that Finley loves her books and always enjoys going to the library to pick out new ones.

Now, on to the photos:

Harper tried her best to stay awake for the overtime win last night, but she just couldn't do it.

  Finely loves her flip-flops ("just like Mommy's"), so she was determined to get them into the picture.  Harper really likes being by Finley and Finley doesn't seem to mind Harper pulling her hair or rolling her feet onto her as she's moving around.  I have a feeling that several years from now (or months) that won't be the case.

This is a picture, taken just before I stop her, of the foot going towards Harper's mouth.

She really is a remarkably happy baby.  Harper has been a pleasure and even though she probably doesn't sleep a long through the night as Shelley would like, in every other way she is a dream.

It is interesting to look at them side by side, because while they look a great deal alike, esp. when comparing pictures at the same age, they have completely different coloring.  Finley's coloring is darker -- her hair, eyes, and skin tone are all just darker than her sister's.  Harper is around the age Finley's eyes turned brown, so we'll see if they remain this blue.

Finley celebrating the Cubs win today in a nail biter vs. the Rangers.

Harper has only woken up angry a couple of times that she's been on her stomach and unable to roll over.  That said, she is constant motion when she sleeps and it is only a matter of time before she wakes us up screaming because she's got her foot caught in the slats of the crib.  Here, on the other hand, she sleeps like the angel she usually is.

That's all for now, but check back next week for more.

The Photo Gallery

As I mentioned yesterday, we had professional pictures taken of the girls about a month ago.  While the pictures are crazy expensive, they were very well done.  If you'd like to see some of the pictures, or if you're feeling flush, order some, here is what you can do:

To view the images please do the following:


Visit our website at www.studiow.com

At the bottom click “order online”

Then click “view your images”

Then click “portraits”

The gallery is titled: Weinstein 4-16-10 and the password is: shelly (all lowercase) -- yes, you must spell her name wrong.
 
Let us know what you think.

Yep, We're Back

So, it has been a long time since you last saw us, so you know it must be time for our Dada's quarterly, "I'm sorry, I'll do better promise."  A great deal has gone on in the five weeks since our last post -- we got professional pictures taken (I'll add the link for you to see them in another post), Aunt Stephie, Uncle Steve, and Cousin Baby Amy came to visit, the whole family went back to Iowa for a shower and to meet Cousin Baby Teddy (this is how Finley refers to them), and finally, the biggest news, we're moving to Toronto during the summer.  Pretty excited about all of it, but let's see some pictures (the one above is from this past Thursday - if Shelley didn't have twins, it won't stop her from dressing them alike!!).

Aunt Stephie showing Finley the flowers she was going to plant.

Finley was helping Aunt Stephie and Uncle Steve, but she became quickly distracted by her bubble gun.

The babies were left to their own devices while the flowers and the bubbles were taking place.  They seemed to pass the time.  As you'll see soon, it is only an illusion that Harper is bigger than Amy in this picture.

When we went to Burlington for Amy and Teddy's baby shower, we stayed at a hotel with a pool.  Harper, as you can tell, is very excited about the prospect of her first swim.

And here it is.  She liked the water, so no melt downs.

Finley LOVES the water, but the regular pool was very cold.  The hot tub was very warm, so little Finley Goldilocks couldn't get just right. 

Shelley and lil' Shelley.

At the shower, we tried everything we could for the Hoschek grandchilden picture, but Finley wanted NOTHING to do with the "babies."  Two of our links, The Stueckers and Teddy's Page both have additional versions of this, including ones with Flash Finley running through the back.  On the left is Teddy, the son of Shelley's brother Shae and his wife, Lisette.  He was born about 6 weeks after Harper and seems to have passed her, while Amy, in the center, is clearly the alpha baby in the group.  As you can see, she is taller and bigger than Harper even without the Bumbo, so the picture above was clearly a distortion.

Finley loves to wear the sunglasses her friend Elton John gave her when she goes out on dog walks.

The sisters are doing it for themselves.  Finley really does like to play down around Harper.  In this picture, for example, Finley has taken Harper's Easter basket and is playing with the toys in front of her sister.  I'm sure just practicing for a couple years from now.

And, finishing like we started, the girls together. While I think Harper continues to look more like Finley did at the same age, the fact that Harper has lighter hair (much less, too) and still has very blue eyes helps to ensure that Harper remains very much her own baby. 

That's all for now -- I will add a post that links to the photo studio where we got the pictures taken if you'd like to see the slide show they have posted on their website.

Another week of Easter, but only for the pictures

We've been trying to figure out how to post videos from a small little Flip video camera we got, which we used for Finley's Easter Egg hunt, so below are some for you to see. We also wanted to get some more pictures up from Easter, since they were pretty cute.

Finley is sort of obsessed with monkey pajamas, so these are a new pair she got; you can tell she is pretty excited to wear them. By the way, she was doing her "cheese" smile, but if I wait her out, I can get a better smile.

Jack had a rough week -- first this horror, then we gave away his couch that was in Finley's bedroom to make room. He may not forgive us. . ..

This is probably the least of the indignities that we've heaped upon Monty in her life. That said, she wasn't happy having to pose in the costumer of a beagle's mortal enemy; she likely won't get voted the Easter Beagle ever again (Charlie Brown reference for those without children).

Finley, on the other hand, loves the ears, the Easter baskets, the chocolate, and her ubiquitous, "cheese" smile. This was the day we learned about delaying the picture.

Finley's hair length is pretty impressive.

The baby gym wipes Harper out. As with every baby, she sleeps like she's been shot -- arms and legs in every direction.

These next two videos are of the Easter Egg hunt. They are later in the hunt -- the first video was abotu 3 minutes, which seems too long to post, so here are two shorter ones. Perhaps I'll get the initial video up at some point when I read the dang directions.

Have a great week!!

Harper's First Easter

Our daycare gave us these picture of Harper during their "Fancy Dress Day," which I think do a great job reflecting the distinct personality that Harper is developing. She is an incredibly happy little girl with a great smile, which I hope you see reflected below.

Passover, Easter, and "The Big Girl Bed"

Happy religious holiday weekend, whatever your faith.  It has been a beautiful week weather-wise here in IL, so we have taken advantage of it as best we could.  Finley has been outside blowing bubbles and playing with sidewalk chalk, while Harper has been sitting in the bouncy chair in the shade loving the breeze.  See below:

Given Easter has better secular activities than Passover, Finley has been fully engaged in Easter, as you can see:

Easter eggs are exhausting. . ..

Finley, who generally likes Santa, was a bit freaked out by the Easter Bunny.  She would not sit on his lap, nor get any closer to him than this.  While a pretty good picture, she wasn't really into this experience.

Even Dixie was getting into Easter.

This is the best of 12 attempts Shelley had to take a self-portrait with Harper -- pretty good!

Dada and most of his girls;  Dixie remained outside prowling.

Finally, last night was the big move. After putting together the bedroom Shelley always wished she had, Finley moved out of the crib and into her very own big girl bed. After having painted the room lavender, which she picked out, her bedroom furnature arrived yesterday. While we still have a couple of things yet to come, we essentially purchased all of page 32 in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog.

 
She was VERY excited, esp. since she can stare at herself in the mirror from her bed (she is Shelley's daughter, after all).  I am happy to report it was a successful first night, as both Finley and Harper slept peacefully until this morning.  Take a look:

OK, so somehow she decided she wanted to sleep the opposite way;  I still count the night as a success.

Harper finally gets to spread out after sleep the first four months of her life in either the carseat or the bassinette.

More to come tomorrow -- Finley building the snowman two weeks ago and from tomorrow's Easter Egg Hunt.

As Expected, the Fighting Panthers of UNI Advance

I have lots to post, as Finley had a ball today playing in the snow. However, I wanted to get this posted as quickly as possible in honor of Ali and crew from UNI beating the #1 overall seed Kansas Jayhawks. Finley says it best -- Go UNI, Beat Kansas (OK, she doesn't say Kansas so well, but you get the point).