She Can Do it!

As I've mentioned before, I belong to a website called babycenter.com, and I do a lot of research on that page. I read an article about how in the past it was believed that sucking your thumb can cause buck teeth, but in reality it's those darn sippy cups. Sippy cups have shown to cause buck teeth and speech issues, so we have decided to bypass the sippy cup. Joe and I have tried to teach Giovanna to drink out of a cup. While successful at times, it is often messier than productive, so we have opted to try cups and straws. What a success! What actually triggered the idea, we were at Twins (greasy spoon restaurant) for lunch on Joe's birthday and Giovanna was sitting on my lap while we ate. She kept trying to take my Coke, so I said, "If you can figure it out, you can have some." (thinking she would never figure it out) Well it only took about three attempts and we saw Coke shoot up the straw and I said, "Oh my god, she just had Coke!" This weekend we tried the cup and straw tactic, and she is doing great with it. No Coke, just water! We also introduced her to cauliflower and that's a moderate success. You have to heat it up enough in order for her to like it. If it's too cold, you just get the yucky face! Also, Gunnar and Jack's baseball teams faced eachother on Saturday. The Braves won 20-5. Gunnar hit a single, double, walk, and strike out. Jack pitched and struck Gunnar out, and Gunnar pitched striking Jack out. At least they're even!

Daddy Dressed Me

Bless his heart, Joe does a FANTASTIC job with Giovanna, but it is definitely mommy's job to choose the outfits! At least he matched the colors! In case you can't tell, that is a striped onesie, and cherry pants. When I picked her up from the sitter I said, "Is this how she came here?" Poor Janie said, "I wasn't saying anything." When we got home, I took a picture so in the future, Giovanna can see the day daddy dressed her. The picture says it all! You're the best Joe! Nothing but love honey!

Batter Up!

Gunnar's baseball season has begun, and the Braves have a 1-2 record. Gunnar is off to a GREAT start. He's pitching and playing 1st base, and rotating a few other positions. Most of his at bats, he either makes contact with the ball or gets walked. Giovanna also has her Braves Cheerleader outfit that she is proudly wearing to the games to help cheer on her big brother. A few more firsts have happened over the past few weeks. . .Giovanna had her first daddy/daughter dance at my cousin Natalie's Communion party (Joe's mom made Giovanna's beautiful dress). Joe and I are both looking forward to the time when she can dance on top of daddy's toes. Giovanna also had her first trip to the zoo. We went to Lincoln Park Zoo, and surprisingly, she actually looked at most of the animals. It was a great day for all of us. Joe recently had a birthday, and at the CTA, you get your birthday off of work. It was VERY nice to have him home on a Saturday. That doesn't happen often at all. To celebrate, we went miniature golfing. Both Joe and Gunnar received pretty spectacular hole-in-ones! Giovanna and I sadly did not, but we came in 2nd place!

Milestone Mania!

Can you believe it. . .Gunnar has reached double digits as of May 1st! He is now the BIG 1-0! Happy Birthday Gunnar! This weekend, Giovanna started mini-crawling. She would crawl one or two arm reaches and be content with that. That is until. . .TODAY! Giovanna is officially crawling! Daddy was the first to witness the event. It was so great hearing him tell me about it on the phone. I couldn't wait to get home from work today. Below is a video. She's a bit stubborn, and will only do it on her own terms. The pictures below are of Chiquita Giovanna (we wrapped a cloth diaper around her head and she LOVED it!) and Giovanna was "helping" me make the bed on Sunday.