Laurel Elisabeth Stevens

(Henry is holding himself up better, but this sitting position didn't last long. Sure makes him look thinner though, and a lot like John!) Just a coincidence that he's wearing the same outfit as 4 months old. Makes for a good comparison. I started giving Henry rice cereal on Monday. After 3 days of it, he finally today started opening his mouth to taste it. Even Elisabeth was excited. He wants to grab the spoon, but I know where that ends up -- I guess I did learn some things the first time around. He isn't rolling over yet, but he's getting close. At 18 pounds he's got a lot to move! Elisabeth rolled over right around 5 months, so maybe any day now. We bought Elisabeth a pair of ballet shoes today. She will start ballet at the Y in September. She is so excited. As far as I'm concerned, she doesn't really need it. She dances so sweetly and prettily as is. It may be that once she realizes you have to do as you're told, she may not like it so much. On the...

Henry's favorite tummy time distraction: watching the truck loading and unloading. The vehicular fascination begins early! We visited both of John's grandmas. Henry is Grandma Marva's first great grandson and his name comes from the Stevens family--Grandpa Jack Stevens, her husband, and Great Grandpa John Henry Stevens. At Grandma Gray's house Elisabeth got to go swimming while Henry took a nap. Waiting for icecream!

At the end of July we headed up to Traverse City, MI for a week. It was Henry's first visit and John's family enjoyed seeing him. Elisabeth made 4 trips to the beach, but one was enough for Henry (maybe too much). On Monday we went to Sleeping Bear Dunes and pushed Elisabeth to the limit. She walked the whole way, except for a few moments in Daddy's arms. We encouraged her onward by counting how many steps it took to get to certain landmarks, and singing songs. She loves to sing, and sometimes has very creative wording. She had plans to roll down the dune at the end, but it was just as well that she couldn't figure out how to roll, because sometimes kids get going so fast they lose their cookies. She just kind of rolled sideways. Another highlight was going to a Beach Bums game, Traverse City's minor league baseball team. Elisabeth shocked us with her fondness for the mascots, Suntan and Sunburn. She walked right up to Suntan to get her picture taken, but because o...