Yesterday, I noticed Kendal sucking her thumb for the first time, and today I caught with the camera! It is my hope that this will help her sooth herself when she wakes in the night wanting her paci, but so far she seems to only do it when awake, we’ll see. In the mean time, isn’t she cute!
My niece and nephew Jordan and Ethan are down from Boston for a few weeks staying with my parents. Last Sunday they came over to visit Kendal before we went to dinner.
Kendal is all over the place in her bed these days. She has learned how to spin around by kicking her feet. So, while we put her down straight, she always ends up sideways or upside down. She is sleeping pretty well, the only problem now is that when she wakes up she has a hard time going back to sleep unless someone gives her back her pacifier… So, we still don’t sleep through the night most nights.
I just went to check on her during her long nap of the day, and I noticed that she likes to sleep like me! I went in because she was crying (half a sleep) and she was laying mostly on her tummy with one arm still pinned under her. Because I thought she was waking up, I rolled her to her back and gave her the paci. She took the paci and rolled right back to her tummy with her arm pinned under her. That is exactly how I sleep. (Though I could remove my arm if I wanted to, and I think hers is actually stuck, but it is still cute.)
Now, if she would just figue out how to suck her thumb…
At 2 am, we were woken up by Lindsay banging on our door announcing that the fire department had ordered us to evacuate due to a fire out back. We quickly grabbed laptops, cameras, dogs and put Kendal in her car seat. By the time we were walking out the door, we were turned around. The fire department was able to get the fire under control and allowed us to go back to bed. Danger had been averted.
Apparently one of the crazy fireworks, seems to have exploded igniting the trash can. A police officer who happened to be driving by saw the fire and alerted the fire dept. Several people in the house were awoken by the explosion, including Papa Jack. When Papa Jack saw the fire trucks, he went down to investigate. When he arrived down stairs there was an officer at the door ready to ask us to evacuate. When he asked Papa Jack how many people were in the house he replied, “A lot.” There were, in fact, 15 people and 8 dogs.
While I had a hard time going back to sleep, Kendal never woke up. We transfered her back into her bed and she didn’t make a peep.
In the morning, Bobby went to inspect the damage. Check out the trash can!
As is custom in our family, the 4th of July means the Beach House. (If you are not familiar with this vacation destination – it is my parent’s place on Pass-a-Grille beach, which is south St Pete.) In my family, the 4th of July ranks right up there with Christmas & Thanksgiving as far as family functions. People come from all over to hang out at the house, enjoy the sunshine and the bar! This year, we had 32 people and 9 dogs! It is a combination of chaos and a lot of fun.
The guest list: Mimi & Papa Jack; Bobby, Kendal & I; Aunt Lindsay & Uncle Bryan; Grammy & Pop-pop; Jordan & Ethan (down from Boston); Aunt Jerry, Patti & Brittany; Judy Kay & Jack; Amy & Daryl; Johnny & Uncle John; Grandma & Aunt Judy; Aunt Suzie, Lizzie & Barbara; Jana, Jacey & JillyAnne; James, Deb, James Tyler & Jacqueline. And the 9 dogs – Bear & Bella; Maggie & Molly; Marley & Cooper; Lilly; Ginger & Lilly.
Bobby, Kendal & I arrived Wednesday morning to hang out with Mimi & Papa Jack before the chaos began, by Thursday night we had 14 people for dinner. And on Friday, everyone else arrived.
This was Kendal’s second trip down the the beach, but it was her first time in the ocean. She LOVED it. We put her in her float, and Kendal went right to sleep, rocking in the waves. Even once she woke up, she just calmly rocked in her little float, and then we sat on the beach and she snoozed on my lap. When we arrived back at the house, it was time for cocktails. Then, after diner everyone enjoyed my new desert (courtesy of Katie and CoolWhip!), and finally it was time for fireworks.
Bobby & I elected to watch the fireworks with Kendal from the balcony, while everyone went down to the beach. (From the beach in front of our house, we can see all the way down the beach and watch several city’s displays as well as lots of individual fireworks on the beach. It’s really neat.) Down at the beach, apparently this year’s batch of fireworks were a little wonky. A few people got hit with our rogue fireworks (including Mimi’s brunt shoe!), but they still had fun. After the display, it was time for bed. We were all exhausted!
By the way, Kendal slept through the fireworks on my lap – the booms didn’t seem to faze her a bit!
On Sunday, Kendal had her 2nd photo session at Pete’s studio. I admit that I am very obviously biased, but I must say that these pictures are even better than the first session! She is so much more alert now that we were able to get some really neat pictures. We plan to use the baby parts pictures to make a cool collage, which I will post once we pick the winners!
We decided to finally try Kendal in her “big girl” car seat, which she did not seem to mind at all.
