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.