Giggler

The other day, we happened upon a sure fire way to make Ada laugh. Rip a piece of paper. It worked every time - until we tried it again the next day in front of an audience. But then we got a repeat a couple of days later, this time for the camera. This one isn't as hilarious as the first time, but it's pretty good.

Sitting Practice

Sitting Practice usually starts like this.

After a minute or three, we get to this position.

We're really a lot happier on our tummy.

I could stay like this for hours!

I've started doing some sitting practice with Ada. Jude didn't sit on his own until he was almost eight months old, but I think Ada is going to get there sooner. She does pretty well sitting on top of me or slightly supported. I tried the Boppy the other day, and it wasn't quite as successful. But it was very cute!

Check out Ada's BabyLegs! She looked really cute in them. Thanks to our friends and family who introduced us to the latest in Baby Fashion!

Back To Work Update

I'm back at work this week. It's been an adjustment for all of us. Ada gets to spend a lot more time with her Dad, but she also has to drink from a cup for most of the day. Jude gets to watch more TV than usual, but he has less one-on-one time with his parents. Dad gets to set the agenda for each day (which he loves), but he also has to manage a crying baby when she's hungry and doesn't feel like drinking from a cup. I'm enjoying having some child-free time, but I don't get to take naps anymore.

Overall, though, things are going well. Ada is getting better at the cup and Daddy is getting into a rhythm as the primary childcare provider for two kids. Jude's school starts next week, which will provide a bit more structure to the week. Evenings are pretty hectic around our house. The baby wants to eat all the time, Jude is ... well he's just Jude, and both parents are tired from the day. By the time we get both kids to bed, we might have the energy to stay up for another half hour to talk or watch an episode of Lost, but usually at least one of us goes straight to bed.

I was planning to write that Ada is getting much better at sleeping. For the most part, she is asleep by around 9pm, wakes up sometime between 3-4 in the morning to nurse briefly (and goes back to sleep on her own), and then wakes for the day sometime between 6:30 and 7:30 AM. Last night was a bit of an anomaly, however, and she was up until pretty late (almost 10:30). I think she was hungry because she didn't take much milk while I was at work, and was too distracted to eat enough in the evening to make up the difference. Hopefully that was an unusual night, and not the start of a new pattern.

One other major change for Ada in the past few weeks is that she no longer hates the car. She does pretty well on short trips in the car seat, and has learned to fall asleep for longer trips. I wouldn't say that she enjoys the car especially, but at least she doesn't scream anymore. Now that I write this here, though, I'm sure we're in for some loud car rides...

Here are a few photos from the past week. Ada on our picnic blanket.

These two are thick as thieves.

Jude is much more interested in books than Ada at this point. She'd rather watch Jude or the rest of the room.

Jude and Daddy went blackberry picking last weekend. Then they made Jude's new specialty, BLACKBERRY BRUMBLE. Yum!

She Has His Eyes

She's a Big Flirt

Four Lindens

In addition to being the only female Cornett of her generation (so far) and the only great-granddaughter on the Henning side (so far), Ada has the distinction of carrying on a family tradition via her name. Her middle name, more specifically. Ada is the fourth generation in which the first daughter was given the middle name "Linden". In the photo below, we have the direct maternal line. Eleanor Linden (my grandmother), Margaret Linden (my mother), Patricia Linden (that's me!), and Ada Linden.

Of course, no one ever called me Patricia. I've been "Linden" since I was a baby, and dropped the "Patricia" on all of my legal documents after I got married and had to go through the process of changing my name anyway. But there was never really any question about what we would choose for our daughter's middle name. How could we be the ones to break this tradition?

Ada Rolls

Today was a big day for the Cornett family. Daddy and Jude took Ada up to Nini's house for the day, and she had her first significant stretch of time away from Mommy. She did ok drinking from the sippy cup. Over the course of six hours and three feedings, she drank about four ounces. Probably not as much as she would have taken if she were nursing, but not bad for her first try. I hear that she didn't cry the whole time she was awake. I've been hearing a lot of stories of babies who cried for days or weeks after Mom went back to work, before figuring out how to get food some other way, so I'm going to call this a success.

Ada also decided to roll over for the camera for the first time tonight. She's done it before, but it always seemed like an accident. Tonight, she did it over and over, and looked proud of herself afterwards.

Later on, she sat up (only slightly supported) for almost fifteen minutes. Our girl is growing up before our very eyes...