It's Snowing Styrofoam!

This morning Jessica amused herself by picking apart a Styrofoam block and throwing the fragments into the air to make snow. Yes, it did require quite a bit of cleanup afterwards, but she really enjoyed herself, so it was worth it.

Sandy Fingers

On our second and last day in Columbus, we went to Columbus State University's Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center--which turned out to be a bust because their trails were all closed due to the recent flooding, and, because they were preparing to move to a new building, all of the animals (except for one snake) were off exhibit.

But they did have a sandy and rocky area just outside of their education building, and that was all Jessica needed to have half an hour of fun--digging in the sand, tossing it up and getting it in her hair (two days later it's not all out), and drawing in it with various sticks.

Here she took a brief pause from her activities to show Daddy her dirty sand-holding hands:

Columbus

We're in Columbus, GA, for a couple of days while Mommy attends a conference. Thursday afternoon, after supper at the Columbus CiCi's (actually, one of three CiCi's in Columbus), we went for a short walk by the Chattahoochee River. Here are three pictures of Jessica from this visit:

Climbing

Sunday afternoon we went to the (relatively) new Alexander Park in Lawrenceville. Jessica had a great time playing on the playground and climbing on the rocks:

Jessica Sings

Here's a 35-second clip of Jessica singing to Little Pink Bug:

Note how brilliantly Jessica distills all lullabies down to their basic essence: "Please go to sleep..." (And no, it's not because she hears that from her parents a lot. Occasionally, maybe, but not a lot. At least not as a song.)

It's a...!

We went in for the Littlest Burdett's twenty-week ultrasound this afternoon; that's the one where, among other things, they might be able to tell the sex of the squirming little baby. And boy, did she squirm! She wriggled around and flailed her arms and kicked her legs, and oh does she have a heartbeat! A hundred beats a minute at least.

Can you guess what they think she will be?

Prob'ly Monster Food

A few days ago Jessica and Daddy were playing with the video mode of our compact digital camera, and we shot this little interview about mosters:

"What do you think that monster likes to eat?"

"Prob'ly monster food."

"What do you think that monster likes to play with?"

"Toys."

Sometimes life is pretty simple and straightforward.

Forty-Percent Through

Today Anna had her sixteen-week appointment with her doctor. Everything appears to be going just fine; they baby has a good, strong heartbeat, though it was a bit hard to keep track of. This baby squirms around a lot, just like Jessica did.

Sixteen weeks behind us; twenty-four more to go: Anna is now 40% of the way through this pregnancy. On September 16 we'll go in for the twenty-week ultrasound, and we may then learn the sex of this baby!

Reading with Mommy

Here are a few pictures of Jessica reading with Mommy on Wednesday afternoon:

Family Portraits

Today we set up a makeshift photo studio in the living room and took some family portraits. Here are three of the best:

Jessica's First Pajama Party

Last night Jessica spent the night at Granny and Pa's house. She had a great time, and she slept the whole night through!

Here are a few pictures Granny took during Jessica's visit:

Mommy and Daddy used their first free Saturday night in two and a half years to go to Thai Lotus in Lawrenceville (their favorite Thai restaurant), and then to the new Harry Potter movie. (It's very good.)

Girl in Hat

Yesterday, after a long nap on the sofa and during a particularly wound-up afternoon, Jessica put on her purple hat, and wanted Daddy to take her picture. Here is the resulting portrait:

Nap on the Sofa

Today, after Mommy left to go to work for a little while, Jessica insisted that she didn't need a nap, but she did want to sit on the sofa and watch a little TV. Five minutes into America Rock (the tape she picked out), she was fast asleep:

Yellow River Game Ranch

Today we went to the Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn, not far from Stone Mountain. It's kind of like a small zoo where you can pet and feed half the animals (including some very tame squirrels). Among the most interesting for a toddler are the goats, which Jessica thought were rather silly:

She did a good job of feeding them, though:

Near the end of that section, there was a cute little goat resting on a bench, and Jessica could not resist giving it a hug:

* * *

In other news, today Jessica is exactly two-and-a-half years old! Hard to believe, isn't it?

And, in case there's anybody reading this who doesn't already know, she won't be an only child for too much longer! Read about it here.

The First Picture of the Littlest Burdett

Today's ultrasound went very well; we heard a very firm (and fast) heartbeat, saw four distinct limbs wiggling about, and saw the Littlest Burdett squirm around as though trying to avoid the camera. It was awe-inspiring and beautiful.

The picture doesn't really do justice to the experience; when you see it live, the ultrasound really presents a picture of a tiny little human being rolling around in Mommy's belly. But here's the picture anyway:

--Chris

Anticipation

Tomorrow, Friday, July 17th, we go to Anna's OB/GYN for her first ultrasound. It is both something to be excited about and something to be nervous about.

Fortunately, for this particular procedure, Anna is required to have a full bladder; they suggest drinking 32 ounces of water an hour before the appointment. This means that mostly what we'll be thinking about is how quickly it can be over so she can get to the bathroom.

We will post a picture of the ultrasound picture tomorrow; simply for nostalgia's sake, here is what Jessica's first ultrasound looked like, almost exactly three years ago:

--Chris

McDaniel Farm Park

This morning we had breakfast at Sweet Tomatoes near Gwinnett Place Mall, and then went to McDaniel Farm Park in Duluth. It was the fourth time Jessica has been there, and once again she loved it. Here are a few pictures from our visit:

Road Trip '09: Faribault, Minnesota: Home!

We left a day early, on Sunday morning rather than the originally-planned Monday, and made it home on Tuesday evening at 9:15. The drive home was uneventful.

We enjoyed the trip, and were very happy to see Anna's family, and also glad to be able to visit a little of the country between Loganville, Georgia, and Faribault, Minnesota. Jessica was a very good traveler--she was generally content reading books or playing with the Magnadoodle and her "A Princess Mess" mix-and-match magnetic puzzle set in the car; she enjoyed stopping at various restaurants and rest stops along the way, and she was excited by the different hotels we stopped at on our route. She especially enjoyed the indoor swimming pool at the Clarksville, TN, Quality Inn on the last night of our trip.

But now we're home again, and I'm preparing to return to the real world of teaching one section (thankfully only one section!) of English 1101 at Griffin Tech this summer, starting Thursday night at 5:45.

We hope to be out on the road again soon!

Road Trip '09: Faribault, Minnesota, Day 7: Family Pictures

Last night, the last night we'll be in Minnesota visiting the Benoits, we took a few family pictures:

Great-Grampa Ray, Gramma Mary Jo, Anna, Jessica

Back: Uncle David, Uncle Jeb, Chris
Front: Uncle Luke, Aunt Molly, Aunt Theresa, Anna, Jessica

Back: Grampa Denny, Uncle Luke, Uncle David, Uncle Jeb, Chris
Front: Gramma Mary Jo, Aunt Molly, Aunt Theresa, Anna, Jessica

(Click here to read about the end of this adventure.)

Road Trip '09: Faribault, Minnesota, Day 6: Playing in Faribault

This afternoon, Jessica walked up to the playground in Faribault, along with her Mommy, Daddy, Grampa, and Aunt Theresa. Here are some pictures of Jessica playing on the slide and the see-saw.

(Click here to read about the next part of our adventure.)