July started with a bang - literally! We took Aurora to the Newton fireworks display on the 4th. We were worried that the crowds and noise would scare her, but she did great. When the fireworks began, she wasn't sure where to look. At first, she had her gaze stuck on one of us, probably for comfort. Once Jon took her out of her carseat and held her on his lap, Aurora was definitely checking out the fireworks. When it got too a bit too loud, Jon covered Aurora's ears.

The first few weekends, we spent time outdoors, doing work around the yard. Jon and Kathy have been trying to refinish the small deck off the side of their house. What they thought would be a one weekend job, has dragged on for almost a month, mostly due to the wet weather we've had this month. In addition, the series of severe thunderstorms that passed through Newton resulted in lots of downed tree branches that needed bagging and bundling.

Other July activites included Mother Goose on the Loose at the library, more doctors' appointments, a post-wedding bachelor/bachelorette party, having friends over for dinner, and picking out a day care.

Aurora continued to grow, meeting many developmental milestones. Early in the month, she began to regularly turn herself from her back onto her stomach. We often found her in her crib that way (and she was usually quite mad too). By the end of the month, she was flipping herself over and showing off by doing pushups! In fact, if no one was watching her, Aurora would make noises until we acknowledged her accomplishments with lots of praise. We are waiting for the day when she manages to flip from her front onto her back and when she figures out how to move her legs to start crawling. Aurora continues to work on sitting up by herself. She often tries to pull her torso forward when sitting in her car seat or bouncy chair. Her grasping ability improved and she reaches for things such as a toy or Kathy's glasses. She can even hold her bottle by herself (as long as it isn't too full of milk). She likes to wash her hands (or at least hold her hands - one at a time - under the running water). We also tried feeding her some solids for the first time. Aurora has been staring at our food for several weeks, and she has even tried to grab our plates or bowls from us a few times. Rice cereal isn't that tasty and we're not sure if she likes it or not, but it makes her feel included to have her own bowl of food.

We discovered that Aurora doesn't like it when it gets too hot and humid, but she loves to sit in front of the fan. She also loves it when we blow on her hair or when we sit on the front porch during a storm and she can feel the wind in her hair and raindrops on her feet.

July 1: Aurora starts the day by lounging around.


Due to the hot weather later that day, she got to spend some time topless.



July 2: Aurora is always happiest in the morning, after her first meal of the day.


While Aurora slept, a major thunderstorm (with hail) hit Newton. This is what the street in front of our house looked like immediately afterwards. We also had lots of big branches blown down into the yard and garden. Luckily, nothing was damaged. If we ever figure out how to do it, we'll put a video of the storm on the website too.


When she woke up, Aurora helped Kathy start a load of laundry. She's very good at dropping clothes into the washer!


That night, Aurora took her bottle out of Jon's hands and fed herself the last bit of milk!



July 4: The day began with some play time at home with Daddy. Here Aurora is enjoying some new toys. Of course, she still enjoys playing with the PopTart box too!


Then we headed out to check out some morning kids' activities sponsored by the City of Newton. While Aurora was too young to participate in the foot races, Jon and Kathy enjoyed some free Cabot's ice cream for breakfast. Aurora got a red balloon at the fair, and when we got home, Jon showed her a new game - kick the balloon.


Aurora really got into tummy time - she was checking out the magazine cover, which helped distract her a bit.



July 5: Jon cut the smaller branches off of the tree limbs that came down in the July 2 storm.


Helping Mama bag up the branches in hard work! Here Aurora is enjoying a well deserved break.


Aurora is trying to hide so she doesn't have to do more yardwork!



July 6: Jon spent several hours assemblying the Exersaucer the previous night. Here Aurora gets her first taste of it.



July 8: She seemed a bit overwhelmed by the Exersaucer the first time, but she is slowly getting more comfortable with it. She is even beginning to figure out how to move some of the items.


July 9: A special treat - some morning playtime with Daddy!



July 11: Aurora definitely recognizes and plays with her crib friends now. She's had the same two buddies sharing her crib since she came home from the hospital.



July 12: Earlier that morning, Aurora's increased mobility resulted in her first accident - she rolled off the ottoman! Jon thinks Kathy was much more traumatized than Aurora was. Here Aurora is showing off her belly button. Notice how she is surrounded by barriers to prevent her from rolling off the bed.


Aurora is happy to be hogging the bed, just like her Mama does!



July 15: Our second wedding anniversary! We all went to Minado, an all you can eat sushi restaurant in Natick. Aurora smiled and giggled at our waiter and patrons at neighboring tables. She's becoming quite a flirt!



July 16: This is the first time Aurora fell asleep on her tummy. We were surprised that she wasn't too angry to doze off in this position...but notice how she was able to get her thumb into her mouth for comfort. Of course once she became aware of Mama's presence in the room, she got mad and demanded help in flipping over.



July 18: A scorching day, which Aurora deals with by planting herself in front of the fan along with a few favorite toys.



July 19: In the morning, Aurora helped Jon clean up the basement. Here, she's looking up at Daddy to ask him what she should do next.


That night, Aurora decides that John Folger passes her finger taste test and she then proceeds to flirt with him.



July 20: Another hot day. After she was unable to fall asleep in her room, we moved her into ours and turned on the air conditioner. She passed out pretty quickly still clutching onto a favorite "toy" - her spit cloth!



July 21: Aurora had a very busy morning, examining every book and CD on the table in her room.


Then she discovered that Mama has toes too! She tried to suck on them (ewww) and got upset when she wasn't allowed to.


Aurora can totally manipulate Jon into being late for work so he can play with her more.


Later that afternoon, Aurora began typing up her life story.


This is what she had to say, with some help from Mama.


Aurora says to Harvard, "Go start the bus!"



July 22: Aurora is excited to see her good friends as we set off on an important errand to the bank.


Here she is holding onto (trying to eat) our economic stimulus check.



July 23: Uncle Anthony came over for dinner that night - and brought Aurora the awesome bracelets/wrist rattles she's wearing. Aurora decided that she could take on the oatmeal container.


July 24: Mmmm - that flower sure smells (and tastes) good!


Aurora's got a tight hold on her Mama's hair, and even tried to strangle Kathy with it!



July 25: We spent the afternoon at Walnut Hill. Aurora got to play around on the chem lab floor!


That night, we started Aurora on a baby pilates program (just kidding). Check out her thighs!



July 26: Saturday morning = playtime with Daddy and helping Mama with laundry.


Sometimes helping and playing can mean the same thing!


Aurora demonstrates that she has almost figured out this sitting thing.


We also had Kris, Aaron, Becky and Laughton over for dinner that night, but forgot to take photos.


July 27: When we had several 90+ humid days last week, we decided to get a kiddie pool for Aurora. Of course, ever since we actually bought the pool, it has been cooler and rainy most days. Not to be deterred, we tried it out between rain showers, even though it was not quite 80 degrees out. Aurora seemed to tolerate being sprayed, but did not thoroughly enjoy it. We kept her out for about 10 minutes - just enough to get a taste.


Look Wai Pao! I can eat my toes!


Watching "Nature" on PBS.


Guess Aurora wasn't too interested in the program about the Monterey Aquarium. Here, she looks to Jon to have the channel changed (for the record, she prefers "Jon and Kate Plus 8").


Since Jon didn't help her, Aurora (unsuccessfully)tries to change the channel herself. We think that she knows that the silver stick is used to control the "magic box" which she loves. After realizing that she was actually watching the TV, we now try to limit her to 30 minutes (or less) in the evenings, as she is winding down for bed.


A little more time for quiet playing before it's bedtime!


"I'm sorry, Miss Aurora can't talk on the phone right now!"





July 28: Aurora loves the new Bobby cover - she actually tries to pick up the boats and goldfish!



July 29: Kathy and Jon are trying to teach Aurora that it's important to exercise daily. Here's Aurora doing her morning stretches.


Kathy and Aurora spent 5 hours at Walnut Hill that day. Here Aurora is checking out the math office. She's probably thinking, "This chair is too big!"


That evening, we tried out the froggy pool again. This time, Kathy put on her bathing suit and got in with Aurora. No Diving! (it acutally says that on the side of the pool!)



July 30: Here Aurora is checking out her new wrist rattles and looking adorable in her hat. We are on our way to Eink.


Jon was too busy to feed Aurora, so luckily for us, Maria was there to help out!



"Honey, I shrunk the kid!"



July 31: Aurora is such a big help to Mama! Here she is ready to help carry the totebag with her toys!