where did the naps go?

this week, penny has decided that naps aren't necessary.  though her eyes may be rolling back in her head, though she may not be able to hold up her head, she is not sleepy, and suggesting that she nap is a ridiculous offense to her delicate sensibilities.
on the other hand, she is now the master of cheerio eating!  she loves having books read to her!  she makes up and plays games - with us and by herself.  she is starting to say "up" when she wants to be picked up, and she said "yay" and clapped!  we're working on waving hi and bye.
today was finally a break in the heat, and we had a long walk outside.  though it is undoubtedly still summer, today felt like this:

food!

this week, penny started eating pieces of food!  we started her off with cut up banana - like this:

but quickly realized that we were just being cruel.  bananas are slippery.  we have given her half cheerios every day since, and her pincer grasp is getting very impressive!  when she gets them in her mouth, though, it's pretty clear that she thinks the work isn't quite worth the reward.
penny spent this week with her grandparents - my parents on monday and tuesday, and alex's parents wednesday - friday.  she spent her days playing and singing, taking walks through the neighborhood, and trying to stay cool in what may be the hottest july on record.
today, we made a concerted effort to relax.  after spending the morning cleaning the refrigerator coils (woo hoo!), we took a long walk outside.  penny went on the swings in the playground FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME:

for someone who has NEVER BEEN ON A SWING BEFORE, she did a really amazing job of holding on, looking all around and having a glorious time.
right after swing time, we gave penny her first ever snack.  possibly the worst name for a food product ever, baby mumm mumms were a huge hit!  she figured out what to with them right away - and had a great time chomping and gumming them into submission:

we haven't spent that much time just hanging out all together in a long time - it was great to relax, and not just stop between errands.

photo contest! why not?

hello!

after a long week of penny not getting any teeth, not wanting to drink any milk, and REALLY not wanting to sleep, we decided to enter her huge grin in a photo contest!  if you'd like, you can vote for her.  if you don't want to, that's ok too!  no stress.  seriously.  it doesn't effect the outcome of the contest, just the "reader's choice" part.  here's a link:

Vote for me in this contest!

Contest details

wow!  that's way more official looking than i thought it was going to be!

not much news from the week - penny has a new playgym, which is pretty awesome.  she has discovered that if one of us is not in the living room, we're probably in the kitchen, and she crawls to find us.  her little head poking around the doorway is probably the cutest thing i've ever seen, and i'll have to remember to take a camera with me so that you can see it too.

i haz teh dums

i just took about a bajillion new photos of penny, and though i was warned and asked several times whether i was SURE i wanted to do it, i deleted more than half of them from my camera, wiping them completely from existence.  sigh.  i didn't actually want to do that.  i had a brilliant sequence of photos of penny noticing a toy directly behind her, twisting all the way around, picking it up, turning back around and putting it in her mouth, all while sitting up that i was hoping to somehow turn into a flash movie for you.  i have the first four of those photos left.
they look like this:

i KNOW!  exciting, right?  you can't even see her face!  but here is your assignment...it's a thought exercise!  just imagine what we'd all be looking at if i HADN'T ignored every warning picasa could throw at me and gone ahead and eliminated the rest of the series.
adorable, no?
at least i kept this one:

the sleepiest week

sorry this post is coming so late, everyone.  this week, lack of sleep caught up with all of us, making it tough to get anything accomplished - but don't worry!  there are still things to report!

on sunday, we went to penny's friend maggie's second birthday party!  we were very excited to celebrate among penny's peers, and though i don't want to brag, i'm pretty sure she was the best dressed party goer:

 

(not pictured: the matching satin bloomers she's wearing underneath)

on monday, we went to the doctors' for penny's six month check up.  we found out that she is now 16 and a half pounds (still in the 50 to 75th percentile) and 27 inches tall (90th percentile).  she was so squirmy that the nurse gave her a tongue depressor to keep her occupied, and of course, she LOVED it.  forget fancy toys with flashing lights that have been approved by boards as educational or whatever, give our daughter a stick and she's over the moon.
the doctors told us to up penny's solid meals to two a day, eventually giving her three, and we've now added pears into her repertoire.  pears = good!  we've also gotten the go ahead for water - fluoride is good for her eminent teeth.  monday evening she had her very first drink from a cup:

we have since gotten her a sippy cup, and today she had some water from a regular grown up water bottle.  amazing.

yesterday my side of the family had an early fourth of july celebration, complete with pie and fireworks.  also, cousins.  so many cousins.  babies galore, and a huge congratulations to rachel and paul who are now engaged cousins!  woot woot!
penny continues to refine her army crawling, and will travel the length of our living room for her new favorite category of thing to put in her mouth:

 

mama's shoes.