Laurel Elisabeth Stevens

Uncle Nathaniel and Henry. Nat was telling him the history of WW2. Henry gave close attention. This was taken at a picnic the day before my cousin Nathanael's wedding in PA. Maria and Elisabeth (Maria's mom was my college roommate). We visited them in PA. First day of preschool! First day of Ballet at the Y. John takes her. He says she is a very eager, attentive student. Grandmother holding Henry at Quarryville, September 4th. Henry has just turned 6 months old. Our newborn is getting so big! He is rolling over and even can be happy by himself on his tummy. Just yesterday he started going after one of Elisabeth's toys, so we're entering a new phase of needing to clean up better. Unfortunately Elisabeth's seat at the table is right by the blanket where Henry often plays, so I envision lots of little bits of food finding their way into Henry's mouth. I'm trying to teach Elisabeth to be responsible for the food she spills. We'll see how that goes. Hen...

(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...

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...