This picture was taken at the park on Sunday afternoon. We took the girls out in search of a park close to home. We found a great park but unfortunately the night before, it had rained a lot and the playground areas all had huge puddles around them. The park had a great walking trail so we went on a really long walk. Emily and I even did some racing along the path. It was a great outing minus the large amount of bird poop that fell on us when we walked under a group of birds.
Saturday night we had over our friends James and Kara over for dinner. We had a really good time seeing them. Emily was the center of attention (as usual). She did her first reading of Brown Bear which I missed getting on camera. I was able to get her to read it again the following day though. Kara brought Emily a Valentine's bear that says "I love you" in a really loud and annoying voice. Thanks Kara! The bear might just get lost under the couch or in the trash can.
Emily has entered the "why?" stage. When she asks me a question and I give her an answer, she asks why at least 10 times. I knew this stage existed, I was just hoping Emily would pass over it. I thought it was cute the first time but that was about it. I have resorted to telling her "because I said so". That usually works.
Ally is now eating pears and carrots along with her cereal once a day. I am not sure why I chose those as her first real foods, but she seems to like them. She does a really good job eating solid foods. Emily was really hard to feed so I was nervous about starting solids with Ally. I think Ally is just ready to be able to hang out with us at the table instead of in her walker. I have also dropped Ally's last feeding of the day. She now eats around 7 pm and then I put her to bed for the night. She has not woken up during the night at all. She still sleeps until about 8 am.
Dave and I always say that we are really glad we had Emily first. Emily was an extreme baby. Everything you read about babies, Emily was the extreme. I never rocked Emily to sleep, she wouldn't let me. She was really difficult to feed solids. She didn't sleep through the night until after 5 months. She was just a crazy baby (don't get me wrong, she was a blast. She just required 3 times the amount of energy as other babies). Ally is a much more relaxed baby. She loves to be rocked, she eats well, she sleeps well. I feel truly blessed to have Emily and Ally in my life. The are uniquely different and I love that about them. I can't wait to see who they are going to become.