Weekend in Nashville

For the weekend we decided to hop in our trusty CR-V, Shelby, and take a trip to our state's capital. Jonnett decided to jump back into the racing world at the Country Music 1/2 Marathon. It was unseasonably hot, but Mamma Maurer crossed the finish line looking good. Of course, we have no pictures of her crossing the finish line, or even running the race for that matter, because she was joined by about 35,000 others. Let's just say that daddy and Jane looked very hard, but just couldn't find mommy anywhere!

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We also took in the sights. We visited to the world's second largest anteater breeding program at the Nashville Zoo. The zoo keeper informed us that there were 2 anteaters on site, a male and a female, leading one to assume that there really aren't that many anteater breeding programs out there. We did get a pretty good look at one of the funniest looking creatures around though.

Going to Nashville also meant that we got to visit an old friend. Yes, Jane made her first trip to REI, and we picked up a pretty sweet hiking carrier. Stanley, and we, can hardly wait for us to hit the trails again! As you can tell, the carrier was a pretty big hit with the Kuchen.

Little Miss Raspberry

So Jane has taken to, umm, asserting herself at dinner time. Here is a little sample of what we mean. The video speaks for itself.

In other news, the Kuchen has also started to take an interst in her big brother. Once an ignored, mobile fixture of the house, Stanley has again found his way onto the stage. Jane follows him around the room with her eyes, smiles at him, pets him, and...gasp!... grabbed an ear. We're pleased to say that Stanley has passed his first test with flying colors. A very good big brother indeed!


Reading before bed has also become more interesting. Jane loves looking at all the pictures in the books everyone bought her. Her parents are also happy for the variety in the library. Thanks everyone!

Happy Easter!

Though the weather wasn't very Easter-like, in fact a thunderstorm cut our easter egg hunt quite short, we still had a great Easter weekend. First and foremost, Jane got to wear the most adorable Easter dress. Thank you Nana Maurer!And, we had a special treat this weekend, as our good friends, Chris and Jill, came to Memphis for a night. It was great catching up, playing games, and they even treated us to a leg o' lamb Vivio special. Yummy!After church, we went to an easter egg hunt hosted by our friends, the Robinsons. With over 200 eggs to find and lots of kiddos to do the hunting, Jane managed to snag one. I think her daddy helped her eat the jellybeans inside.

I'm five months old. Whadda ya gonna do 'bout it?

Jane is five months old! Getting her to actually sit still with her bear was a bit challenging, as she wanted to eat the bear. Last night, Jane also decided that since she was five months old, this meant that she could start turning over while sleeping. The unfortunate part (for her parents) is that she hasn't actually figured out that it's okay and comfortable to sleep on her stomach. So, when this would happen, she would wake up crying. In the morning, I found her chit-chatting with herself in mirror. Apparently this position is okay when she is awake.

Here is Jane rollin' with her home"bees." 'Nuf said.

Cereal or bust!

Jane is growing and she was telling us so. The daycare asked that we increase her milk because she was getting fussy towards the end of each bottle. She also seemed to be eating more often. The other day she was intently watching Scott's spoon as he was eating cereal. So, we thought...why not let her give it a try? Needless to say - it was a big hit! On Monday night she ate 2/3 of the cereal and every night since she has belonged to the clean plate club. Last night we even doubled the amount of cereal and she ate it all. We've just jumped into a whole new category of parenthood!

Jane's new friends

A few weeks ago we were so excited to have the chance to see our good friend Brett and Susan from Seattle. They were visiting Susan's sister who lives in Memphis and recently had a baby. It was so great to see them again, as it had been too long! Jane got to meet her new friends Larson (3 years old) and Cora (8 months old). (Scott is holding Cora in the picture above - Jane was asleep for most of the visit!).

Grab and Go

Month four has been exciting. Jane has been changing every week. She has been grabbing at everything, which then makes its way to her mouth. (You'll see in the photo below that she is even trying to grab at that baby in the mirror!) I think she can fit her whole hand into her mouth now, and in the meantime she manages to soak her shirt with drool. Lovely. Here are some pics from the past few weeks. See lots more pics here.