Outdoors

We got a little spring weather preview on Saturday and took full advantage with an afternoon jog at White Rock Lake. Kennedy looked adorable in her bonnet and loved being in the jogger. From all the happy babbling we could hear, we think she just likes being outside in general.

Table Talk

After being in Dallas for nearly a year, Greg and I finally bought a real, grown-up kitchen table. Grown up means it was delivered in one piece and we didn't have to assemble it, as in, its not from IKEA. Not that there is anything wrong with IKEA, we love us some modestly priced Scandinavian home furnishings, but its nice to not have to spend an afternoon assembling. We were pretty excited about the new table and have enjoyed having dinner there the past couple of nights.

I love sitting down to dinner with all three of us around the table. We talk about our days and on Thursday evening, Kennedy just couldn't wait to tell Greg all about her afternoon at the park.

Teddy Bear Park

While all of my East Coast friends are schlepping around in the latest Snowicane, Kennedy and I met our Texas friends at the park to enjoy a lovely afternoon picnic. I mean, not to rub it in to any of the NYC gang, but it was 65 today and I was a little over dressed with a sweater over my polo.

Anybragging, we met Caroline, Ashley and Alice at Lakeside Park in Highland Park and had a picnic lunch around the duck pond. For those of you not familiar with the area, Highland Park is where you wear your fancy pants. I made some cookies to share and thought it appropriate to make them a little fancy as well.

After lunch we put the babies in their strollers and took a stroll around the lake. We came across these somewhat random, ginormous teddy bear statues and couldn't get the cameras out fast enough.

It felt great to get some fresh air and I am hoping Greg and I can spend a lot of time outside this weekend.

Grab your pearls, its fancy cookie time.

Goldilocks letting her hair flow freely in the breeze.

Everything is bigger in Texas.

Mommy brigade.

Baby Blues

Kennedy's eyes are blue, just incase you were wondering.

Bananas Are Kinda Gross

Kennedy has happily eaten pretty much every Gerber baby food I've fed her. She likes Gerber bananas, she likes banana yogurt, she likes banana puffs and she likes the Gerber banana/strawberry mix.

What she does not like are real bananas.

She eventually ate them but not with out dramatically gagging in disapproval. I get it, I happen to think bananas are dis-gust-ing, but I am hoping she will get over it after trying them a few more times.

Tickle Monster

New things are always happening at our house. Last night we watched Kennedy side scoot herself all over the living room. I try to entice her to move towards toys, and most of the time she will reach, then rest and finally give up. With the exception of Olive, nothing really has peaked her interest enough to move herself in its direction. That was until she spotted the wireless router.

The blinking lights were irresistible and only seemingly out of reach. So she began to reach and then found that if she shot her leg out to the side, she could use that as leverage to move sideways. This exercise went on for about 45 minutes and during that time she would reach periods of frustration. To try to divert her frustration and keep her scooting, I reached down and tickled her side. The result? She thought it was hilarious.

I have a feeling I will be playing the role of Tickle Monster a lot more frequently. I'll do anything I can for a laugh from this girl.

Mile High Visitor

This weekend one of my best friends, Julie, came in for a visit. Julie and I became friends in high school, were roommates after college and lived/worked within a block of each other in Park Slope and Midtown, respectively. We miss getting to see Julie and Andy so we were definitely excited to have her come hang out with us and spend some time with Kennedy. They live in Denver now, so we look forward to coming to visit them sometime soon.

We showed Julie what we do best - eat at our favorite restaurants. On Saturday morning we met up with Jill for a delicious brunch and mimosas at Breadwinners. Julie and I did a little afternoon shopping before heading to my favorite place, Patrizios in Highland Park Village. There we met Caroline, Lizzy and Ashley for drinks and yummy dinner. The conversation inevitably kept turing to our babies, so I hope we didn't scare Julie too much with the baby talk!

Kennedy and Emily (Caroline's daughter) got to hang out together at the YMCA while the dads also enjoyed a baby-free night out.

Today we took Julie on the Tour de Dallas showing her neighborhoods we like, some we are considering for a future home purchase and then some of the extravagant mansions that make you wonder, What exactly do these people do? Seriously.

Thanks for coming to visit, Julie, we had so much fun with you!

All the girls on Sunday afternoon - Julie, Kennedy, Olive, Me

A close up of Kennedy's excitement to hang out with Julie.

Oh, Snap

It's no secret around here that I am kind of obsessed with Kennedy's Children's Place jeggings. They're practically Pajama Jeans for babies, super soft pants that happen to look like jeans. I bought them in the next couple sizes, because heaven forbid I am caught one morning in a jam where the current pair don't fit. The obsession is felt among my friends with babies as well. I didn't really think it was possible for another piece of denim to be as cute, soft or awesome as the pair(s) she has. That was until I stumbled across this pair yesterday at Baby Gap.

Kennedy now has her first pair of snap fly, straight leg real jeans. And the best part? They are lined with fleece to keep her toasty warm on these chilly winter days. They're a total pain when it comes to diaper changing, but the cuteness factor outweighs the hassle.

Its no accident that the cuffs match the shirt.

Scootin' around the playroom in her snappy new jeans.

Those are real belt loops - a baby Vineyard Vines belt would be so cute.

Valentine's Day is Coming...

It’s time to start thinking about all things pink, red and heart shaped. Valentine’s Day will be here in just about three short weeks! It happens to be one of my favorite holidays for making fun, crafty projects. My mom used to always go overboard for Valentine’s Day. Partly because she was incredibly talented and creative, but also because it’s my youngest brother Alex’s birthday. The house was always decorated within an inch of its life and the kids were all outfitted in (often matching) Valentine’s Day shirts.

I hope to make this a fun holiday for Kennedy as she gets older. My friend Jill has even arranged a Valentine's Day Crafternoon with some of our friends! When Kennedy is older, I can't wait to find lots of fun and crafty projects for her.

We had so much fun making our Christmas cards with Shutterfly, that I think we might just send out a Valentine's Day card as well. We snapped a few V-Day pics when Kennedy had her 6 month photo shoot with Kelli and I'll turn to my trusty friend, Shutterfly, for the fun Valentine's Day cards.

Valentine’s Day isn’t traditionally a gift giving holiday in our house, mainly because our anniversary is just a week later. But I am not sure I will be able to resist some of these photo gifts for Greg. My brother Alex is an avid coffee drinker, and I think he would just love to have a photo mug with his litte niece’s sweet face on it! If you are looking for some personalized gift ideas, be sure to spend a little time looking through all the fun ideas on Shutterfly!

Baby Things

We like cool baby things. We have a sleek and modern highchair, a cool kids stroller and a fun bottle drying rack that looks like a patch of grass. We like things for the baby that don't necessarily look like they're for the baby. Its not that we don't find baby things with bright colors and animals on them cute, we do. We just don't want them taking over our house.

At least that was the plan.

Enter the Jumperoo. Its the biggest, loudest and most obnoxious entertainment vessel available at Babies R Us. It's also the toy she loves the most. So now we do too.

We're starting to change our definition of what things are Cool Baby Things.

Weekend Fun

Greg finally wrapped up the new business pitch he had been working on and got to be home with us for a 3-day weekend. We decided dinner on the town was in order for Saturday night and met Aunt Jill at Taco Diner. It's kind of a 'cool kids' place, but it turns out that its a place where cool babies can go as well. Saturday night at 5:30 is total Babyville. Good to know for future outings. My friend Caroline had been raving about the Taco Diner margaritas since I was pregnant, and I finally got to have one. Just one. It did not disappoint!

We also got to do fun stuff like watch movies and play with Kennedy and some boring house chores like hanging new curtains and sorting through all the clothes in Kennedy's room that don't fit her. I wanted her to wear this denim skirt one more time, but it was so small on her. I felt bad even keeping it on her for more than a picture. I think we will loan it to our friend Hadley so she can enjoy it for a bit.

We have some fun outings planned this week and are excited for my friend Julie to come visit us on Friday!

Ready for dinner at Taco Diner.

Brrr. It's cold outside.

You can barely see the denim skirt. It has been absorbed by her tummy roll.

Hello, Friend

Every child has some sort of security item, whether its a blankie or favorite stuffed animal. When Kennedy's Uncle Pickles was just a wee one, he couldn't sleep with out Mr. Lion. Her cousin Julia has Bear (will also answer to: BearBear and Sweetie Bear) and Bear goes everywhere Julia goes.

Kennedy is at the age where she will start to gravitate towards a transitional object. We're trying out a few Special Buddies to see which one becomes The One. I've provided her with quite the assortment of lovie blankets, but it looks like she is more of a stuffed animal kinda girl. Right now, the frontrunner is looking like Minnie Mouse, but she also loves Glowy the Seahorse and Lambie the Lamb. Or as Kennedy refers to them, ga, ba, baaaaa, blah.

Happy Girl

Juice in the City

My friend Caroline (of The Pfeiffer Pfamily) has just taken on a really cool part-time job with a new company in Dallas, Juice in the City. It's a lot like Groupon, where an awesome deal is offered each day, but these deals are tailored towards women and moms. Think Brazilian blowouts, mani/pedis and deals at great Dallas restaurants. It has already been very successful in other markets and the Dallas deals will be here very, very soon. Sign up today so you don't miss out on the fun.

Also, if you don't live in Dallas, don't fret...look for your city on their website. Juice in the City may be in your city already (or coming very soon!)

Brrr

It's the first (and maybe only) snow of the season in Dallas, and I had nearly forgotten what it was like to be in cold weather! Since yesterday was the "big storm," Kennedy and I opted to stay home and play indoors. We had some errands to run today, and I had to make sure she was adequately bundled for our outing. Here she is in her matching scarf and hat:

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Top Baby Blogs

Hi friends! We have been added to Top Baby Blogs, which is a directory of hip and cool baby blogs on the web.

Kindly take a minute and either click on this link: Top Baby Blogs or the badge to the left to vote for The Littlest Hunter. We would like to get featured closer to the top, and that is going to take a lot more votes so be kind and vote (you can actually click on the link every time you visit our blog).

Half Birthday

It's hard to believe that Kennedy is already 6 months old. The time has really flown by, and yet, it feels like she has been a part of our lives for longer than just 6 months.

She is doing great with solids and hasn't met a food she didn't like. Except for peas, but really who can blame her, peas are disgusting. We are up to two solid meals a day and sometimes a snack in the afternoon. She absolutely loves lemons! She likes to gnaw on a lemon wedge and doesn't even seem to be phased by the sour taste. Her pediatrician said citrus is ok and suggested I give her some clementines.

She can sit up on her own now, which has completely changed her world. She loves to sit and play with toys and prefers the toys of the noise making variety. She is lunging herself forward as if she wants to crawl, but so far hasn't started moving yet. Olive is very enticing and I think she will learn to crawl by trying to chase down that puppy.

She sits in a high chair when we go out to eat and you can tell she is enjoying every second of being the center of attention. Last night we gave her a plastic wrapped fortune cookie and it kept her busy through the entire meal, banging it, crushing it and squealing at it. Packages of crackers have proven to be just as entertaining.

Kennedy has such a sweet, happy and calm personality and we are enjoying how easy it is to take her places...as we know this is going to get more difficult as she becomes more independent!

Her 6 month stats and percentiles:

13.1 lbs, 8%
25.8 in, 60%
16 in head circumference, 10%

She is having her 'official' 6 month pics taken next week, but here are some recent shots of her:

Fud (A Dad Post)

Now I understand they’re in style and every baby that’s any baby is doing it, but I’ve had a hard time learning to “appreciate” the head bow trend. In fact, I may or may not have given Amanda some size and sparkle parameters to go by when choosing head ornamentation for our child. Amanda has tried the, “But how will people know she’s a girl?” argument a time or three, but I’m not as easily persuaded as she might have you all believe.

However.

All it takes is one time for your sweet baby girl to don what appears to be a cute little hat and come out looking exactly like Elmer Fud for a dad to say, “Pass me that bow.”