Thrills and Skills

Happy Belated Father's Day, Dads. June has been just the beginning of a very busy summer. A couple of weeks ago, the four of us spent the weekend in South Padre Island for a VERY abbreviated getaway (much needed, by the way). Isabella and Madeline's first trip to the beach was a huge success. We were only there for 2 1/2 days, but we managed to pack in quite a bit of beach and pool time, delicious seafood dinners and even a round of miniature golf (Isabella's first). Isabella even got to have her own Daiquiri (virgin, of course). At miniature golf, Isabella managed to get a hole-in-one on the first hole! She had a little bit of help, but we're convinced it was beginners luck. Here are some photos from our trip:



Madeline is a week away from celebrating her 5-month birthday. She's turned in to quite the happy baby. She laughs and coos and "talks" constantly. When I go in to her room in the morning, she has the biggest smile on her face. She coos and tries to tell me all about her night. It is so cute. She's able to stand, with a little help, but her pediatrician says her legs are very strong. She can roll from back to tummy and tummy to back. When on her tummy, she can push herself up, but her shoulders don't quite come all the way off the mat. It's wonderful to see how far she's come. I was so afraid with her being a preemie, she'd be behind in her development, but that hasn't really been the case. There was only one thing she wasn't doing at her 4 month appointment that she should've been doing was reaching for objects. Fortunately, a week after her appointment, she started doing that. Since she'd figured out how to reach for things, last week, Isabella helped me assemble Madeline's new exersaucer. I was a little concerned she wouldn't be able to keep herself steady enough to play with all of the little toys. Much to my surprise, she has complete control and can even rotate the seat around to play with all of the toys. Here are some photos of Maddie's new skills: