Laurel Elisabeth Stevens

Anya holding Henry . . . Finding his tongue Thinking about food? Enjoying his sister ** To my great delight and his, Henry has discovered his feet. He's so excited to have a toy right at the end of his legs. I don't think he knows yet that they are there all the time. He is so precious and fun, with so much laughter. And he's beginning to take longer naps and fall asleep on his own, sometimes even without crying!! We're off to Traverse City to see John's family and swim in the lake.

My 17 year old cousin, Anya was here this week. She is a budding photographer, so along with a lot of babysitting and help, we got some great pictures. Here are a few. Anya and Elisabeth walked to the park one hot morning. Elisabeth's favorite thing is to swing. We are trying to teach her to "pump" her legs, but I'm guessing Anya didn't know that, so Elisabeth enjoyed many pushes. Elisabeth getting ready for church on Sunday.

Elisabeth is learning to swim. I'm so amazed to see my daughter, once petrified of the water, trying to touch the bottom in 2 1/2 feet of water, and telling me she wants to jump in, and actually trying to kick and move her arms. Today we made a brief visit to the pool--it is hard to know which rules to follow and which to forgo--the "don't swim during peak sun hours" rule, or the "make sure your baby gets his nap on time" rule. Today we broke the sun rule, but we were only there from 12 to 12:40. Anyway, Elisabeth enjoyed the slide at the kiddie pool for a while, but soon she realized that the kiddie pool is just too shallow. That is unfortunate, because the best shade is next to the kiddie pool, allowing me to sit on the side with Henry and occassionally put his feet in the water. He's not too fond of the pool yet, plus I'm not too interested in getting him in the lovely pool water. And today he has his first runny nose. It is so pitiful to hear hi...