Esme is 6 months old!!!!!!

I know I say it all the time...but I can hardly believe it! Why didn't the last six months of my pregnancy go this fast???

June 20th was a very exciting day at our house! It was Stephen's first Father's day, Esme's six month birthday and it was the day we introduced solid food!

Esme's doctor visit went very well. She is still exceeding all of her milestones and is as healthy as a horse! Here are her measurements:

Height: 27 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 17 pounds 10 ounces (75th Percentile)

Her percentiles are always the same and the Dr says that is the way it should be. I think she is going to be one tall girl!

Introducing solids was a very big deal for me! I was so excited and can't wait to let her taste a variety of different things. Her first food was organic brown rice cereal with breast milk. She really seemed to enjoy it.



She was really into her eating and started to get upset when the food wasn't coming fast enough!



Here is the end of the feeding....



Her first "real" food after rice cereal was avocado and she really enjoyed it. After avocado we went to carrots and she didn't seem to be a fan at first. Now she eats them without a problem but the first few tries were not successful. Next we tried sweet potatoes. She hated them. I tried them again last night and she seemed to like them better so only time will tell.

It takes a long time to introduce food because you can only introduce one new food every three days in the beginning. The most recent thing we have tried is apple and it is a big hit. She has also had teething biscuits now. I think we may try peas next.

Here are a few pictures of some of her first feeds.






For Father's day we went to Turtleback Zoo. It was very hot but we enjoy showing Esme all of the different animals and she seems to really respond to it. Near the end of our visit it started pouring down rain. It was a bit inconvenient but a welcome cool down! We also took Stephen out to lunch at one of his favorite restaurants called Houlihan's. Esme got Stephen a card and a mug with her picture on it that says "Daddy's Girl."

The cutest thing you have ever seen!

This is quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. I was washing Esme in the sink for the first time (other than when Grandma Jill did it in England!) and she was laughing at the spay feature on the faucet. I had the camera near by and set it up to record her response when I sprayed her with it.....I am soooo glad I did! This is priceless.



Here are a few pictures of the event!

The Leonard Family's Going away BBQ

I have finally caught up to the weekend of 6/19! This is the weekend we went to Paul, Jo, Andrew and Rebecca's leaving do. Paul works with Stephen and is moving back to the London office after three years in the US. We had a brilliant time and even made an effort to take a little walk around a lovely park in Westfield. If I had to live in NJ long term, I would probably live in Westfield!

This is a bird's nest in their yard. SOOO amazing- I have never seen baby birds like this before!


The rest of these pictures were taken at the park in Westfield.








Here is a video of Esme on the swing. Sorry it is sideways..I cant rotate it!!!

A few firsts and the Little Gym!

Krystal, Savvy, Ez and I went to a park in Hoboken and Esme went on a swing for the first time- she LOVED it!!!!





Esme joined the Little Gym and goes every Wednesday. She really enjoys interacting with other children and is learning a lot of new skills. On the last day of the semester, we can take pictures of the kids playing. Ez even got her first ribbon!










We love having play dates with Savvy!




A few of my favorite pictures from around this time...

Esme's "hybrid" shirt that my friend Diana made! It has a blended US and UK flag....so clever and sooo cute! LOVE IT!


Funny faces!


Who sleeps like this? Ezzy does!!!!

Catch up- Memorial day and more

We spent part of Memorial day with a work colleague of Stephen's. Paul and his family (wife Jo and children Andrew and Rebecca) live in the beautiful little town of Westfield, NJ and hosted a BBQ for us all. We had a great time. Esme was the bell of the ball and Andrew and Rebecca couldn't get enough of her! They recently moved back to the UK so we are grateful we were able to spend time with them before they moved.








Popcorn Park Zoo and Fun with Jim and Nina!

I stumbled across a zoo that is inhabited entirely by rescued animals and I couldn't wait to go. The animals have been rescued from all sorts of situations and have been brought to Popcorn park zoo to live out the remainder of their lives. They have many farm animals and a few exotic animals, too! The three tigers they have were rescued from staged hunts here in the US. It is horrible knowing that people raise these wonderful animals with the intention of killing them. I am so thankful they were rescued! Among others, they also had cougars, bears, a three legged deer and several monkeys! The great thing about the park is that you can feed most of the animals popcorn! They love it and it is a great way to encourage children to have positive interaction with animals. Ez will love it when she is a bit older!







Our friends Jim and NIna live very near the zoo and we decided to go over to their house and watch the watch the US v England world cup game. They BBQ'd for us and then treated us to a ride on their boat. Esme loved being splashed with the water and feeling the motion of the boat. Stephen even got to drive! We are looking forward to more fun with them this summer!