4th of July in California

 I'm finally getting around to blogging our 4th of July in Southern California.  I don't know if it's a nice break or a bit of torture to see these summer pictures in the bitter winter, but it sure makes me long for another beach day.  It's also fun to see Jane and Peter so small... even if it was just 6 months ago.

 We got to be there for Tyler's baptism.  It always fun to be there for special occasions and see so many loved ones.

One of our days in California, Chris and I went to check out Thousand Steps beach.  It was a hike down and a more exhausting hike back up, but it was a fun stroll along a different beach.  I can watch waves like that all day.

Jane watching the seals at the Long Beach aquarium.

Jane meeting her great grandfather visiting from Brazil.

All dressed for the 4th of July fireworks.

Peter taking a nap in the living room.

Lake Tahoe

On our way out to Reno to visit my brother Dan and his family, we made a little stop on the salt flats.  I've always wanted to check it out so it was fun to stop for a few photos.

When we arrived at Dan and Sarah's house, James immediately took Jane under his wing.  It was adorable and Jane loved him right from the start.  She doesn't usually warm up to other kids that quickly.

We went to Lake Tahoe every day that we were in Reno.  We just love it there.  Dan and Sarah were able to come with us the first day, but we couldn't resist that gorgeous lake, so we just kept going back.  Chris had so much fun jumping off the rock over and over.  Check his blog to see some of his awesome jumping photos.  It was such a great trip.  We loved having so much time with Dan and Sarah's family jumping on the trampoline, roasting marshmallows and talking around the fire pit.

Peter - 4 months

 Peter had his four month appointment a couple weeks ago.  He's 13.5 lbs (10th %ile) and 25.5 inches long (61st %ile).  I guess he's getting long and lean.
A few things about Peter at 4 months:

He rolls over both ways now.  He got the front to back thing down at 2.5 months, but he learned the back to front roll just a few weeks ago.  Now when we put him down on his back, he's on his tummy in less than a minute.  He often seems to get stuck there on his tummy, like's he's forgotten how to roll, but in the last couple days it seems to be coming back to him.  Now he ends up far from the blanket we put him down on.  He's always been a mover.  In fact we often call him wiggles because of it.

He loves to grab his feet and can get them into his mouth pretty well.

He sits in the bumbo, but he doesn't last too long before he wants out.  What he really likes right now is standing.  Just holding his hands, he can go easily from a sitting to a standing position.  Then he just locks his little legs and he could stand there all day.

He is really smiley.  You just look at him and you get a wide gummy smile with a few spastic arms and legs to accentuate it.

Peter has "Turned-in feet" or Metatarsus Adductus.  His tiny feet are very curved, but supposedly it should work itself out before he starts walking.  Our doctor has recommended exercises for his foot muscles also.  

Peter is pretty chatty, certainly chattier than Jane was at this age.  His happy squeaks and coos are so fun, even if he is occasionally pretty loud at church.  

He is at the stage now, where he gets very distracted while nursing.  He looks up at me and breaks into a huge smile.  It's incredibly sweet but not very productive.