Baby Barneschalow: June 2009

Yes, we know that it's been a while since we last updated the blog. We promise to try and stay on top of things this time. Since the last time we posted, a lot has happened in little baby Minya's life. She is now 5 Months 1 Week old today, weighs probably about 18 1/2 pounds, and is somewhere around 26-27 inches long. Until last week she had rolled over from her tummy to her back a total of nine times, all of which seemed to surprise her. In the last week, however, it's clear that she knows how to roll over on her own. She goes to put her arms in place when she wants to roll, and ta-da, she rolls! It's so amazing to watch her as she puts it all together. She also just started "solids" this past Saturday, although I wouldn't call the rice cereal that she ate too solid, but she was all about it and gobbled it right up. Now she's wanting more, so we think we might start other foods soon - very soon. We've got some cute video of it (well, we think it's cute) so we'll try to upload that soon. Also, she took her first dip in a pool this past weekend too. See photos of that cute adventure below.

As you might know, we've also recently left the community that we had in Brattleboro, Vermont in early June. We are still sad that we had to leave Vermont so soon, and would have loved to stay for the summer, but since Jonathan finished his on-campus phase of his graduate program, so we needed to get back to working and Philly. We really MISS all of our friends that we made, especially the babies who Minya got to know well. Please come and visit! Jonathan started his job last week and I'll begin my job in early July. Since we needed more room than ever we are staying with our cousin Zayan, her fiancee Beth, and their good friend Janessa, plus Amstel the dog, and Bean the cat who is still getting used to us living here. We plan to move back to Philly in August or September, so if anyone knows of a good place to rent or own in Philly, let us know ASAP! In the meantime, we're grateful to Beth and Zayan, and Minya is excited to be closer to some of her family. Since we'll both be working, we're venturing down the road to childcare. Luckily enough for us now we'll have a combination of family - auntie Letty and Baba Mary - able to watch Minya while we're away during the day. I'm still going to try and continue breast feeding, so it'll be a challenge.

Now we're trying to get through Minya's first cold - rats! She started sniffling and sneezing the other night and last night left us sleepless for a good portion of it. She is still not sleeping well during the day, with naptime being the least favorite activity - any suggestions? There's just so much to see and do that she doesn't want to miss a second. We keep trying to tell her that she'll have more time to investigate it all soon enough, but for some reason she doesn't want to listen. That's all for now.