How Old? Four Months

We visited the doctor this week for a checkup.  Cassandra hit the scales at 14 lbs 4.6 oz, almost double her birth weight of 7 lbs 4 oz, and she has grown to 24 1/2 inches.  Both these numbers put her in the 75th percentile.

Cassandra has also started rolling over on a more consistent basis but she can't quite situp on her own.  She has also become more used to the camera.

Easter Best

Cassandra and her Cousin Samantha in their Easter Best.

What Easter would be complete without a family photo?

Styling Her New Shades

Since Cassandra has been having trouble with the sun in her eyes in the morning, Grandma Hodges picked up some new shades.  Cassandra loves them.

First Easter Egg Dyeing

It is the day before Easter and we are getting ready for the big day.  While Daddy is working on the house, Cassandra took Mommy over to Grandma Hodges to color Easter eggs.  She was interested to see what the big deal was.

Cassandra worked real hard to make sure she was a big help.

Cassandra staring intently as the egg soaks.

Cassandra seeing her first egg.

A Good Laugh

Cassandra has begun to not just smile but laugh at her parents.  It is kind of staccato laugh that we think is a riot.  Usually, it is because we are doing something silly like making noises.  We were playing with her, trying to help her work on sitting up on her own, and caught a good picture of her laughing.

OK, question time.  Notice how her right ear sticks out.  She pulls on it when she is fussing or sometimes when eating.  She doesn't have an ear infection.  Any ideas?  Just a bad habit?

First Easter Egg Hunt

  There was an Easter Egg Hunt at church today.

Does anyone have any doubt as to what Cassandra is going to do next?

And there she goes!

The Great Outdoors

Cassandra decided today was the perfect day to try out her new sunhat from Grandma Hodges.  She seems to really calm down when we take her outside.

Yard In Progress

We've been working on the back yard for over two years now.  Major improvements include the addition of a vegetable garden, removal of junipers, and the re-edging of the flower beds.



Before

We ripped out the shrubs in front of the deck and placed the garden there.  We then proceeded to "shovel prune" the overgrown bushes around the fire place.  The center of our replacement plants is "Harison's Yellow," also known as the Yellow Rose of Texas, that Janice got from her grandparents place in Ohio.  (Yes, with only one 'R' that is spelled correctly.)  We placed an arbor behind it for Don Juan, a red climbing rose.  We 'recycled' several Peonies, both to anchor the corner of the garden and on the far side of the roses.  We've also placed roses, centered on the "bays" of the veggie garden, with Irises in between.  Again, two of the four roses are recycled.  You can see them in the before pictures below if you look carefully, behind the junipers.

After

Before

The rose bush in this picture is behind the Juniper on the exterior corner of the house.  Doesn't it look sad being choked off back there?  We also reused the Buddleja which is the short thing in the corner below and we've placed Phlox to either side of it.  Behind the Peony on the exterior corner, we have placed Echinacea as well, with Aster in front and Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan) .  So, why are these five plants important you may ask?  They all are flowers that attract butterflies!


After - Butterfly Garden

Before

The rose bush that we recycled from here is behind a juniper, just to the right of the corner of the house.  See that little bit of red?  The centerpiece of this section of garden is a Hydrangea, centered on the section of the house without windows.  (You can't really see it because it hasn't really greened up.)  We will be adding holly bushes around the front of it to frame it.  The picture below also gives the best look of our red brick edging.

After

Little Gnome

Mommy thinks Cassandra looks like a little gnome in this outfit because the shape of the hat and the overalls.

I just love the look on her face in this picture.

Visitors from St. Louis

Some friends of Mommy's and Daddy's were in town for a family wedding.  Because they won't be traveling this way again for quite some time, they stopped off to meet the Empress.  Cassandra was very pleased with their visit, and though they couldn't stay long, she still decided to reward them with a smile.

Squirmy

Although we found this onesie in the boys section, we felt it was appropriate for a child labeled 'Wiggle Worm" before being born.  Under Mommy's hand, it says "Squirmy" which is an unbelievably accurate term.  She has also taken to pulling on the leash for the plug almost constantly.

I Have Something To Say

Cassandra has become more talkative in the last few weeks.  She regularly takes the plug out and tells us what she is thinking.  She still has some difficulty in getting the plug back in.

Happy Baby Part III

Happy Baby™ put in an appearance today.  Cassandra is definitely proving to be a social person.  She lets the staff know how disappointed she is in them when they leave her all alone in the room.  She is smiling in this picture because Mommy is being silly again.

Not Ignoring the Camera

Like all little children, Cassandra occasionally does something that just really amuses her parents.  When eating, Cassandra usually puts her right hand up by her ear and pulls.  Tonight, instead of an ear, Cassandra pulled her hat.  She looks like a little hedonist sucking down dinner with her hat pulled down over her eyes.

Of course, we had to get a picture.  After that, we pulled the hat back and Cassandra seemed a bit surprised.

She continued to keep a watchful eye on the camera after that.