A SATURDAY AFTERNOON VISIT AT BUBBY AND POPPIE'S HOUSE

Look at Amelia! She had a great time playing at Bubby and Poppie's house as Mom and Dad were out shopping for a new dishwasher and other stuff. We read books, played with Amelia's toys, went for a stroll around the neighboorhood. We came back and went upstairs to practice crawling on the carpet in Bubbie's bedroom. She's almost there. She just hasn't figured out how to get both her hands and knees working together. She'll have it down pat in a couple more days...then she will be into everything! Amelia also loved sitting out on the deck as Bubby worked on her online clourse. She especially loved all of the flowers, listening to the wind in the trees, watching the squirles, and the birds feeding. We can't wait for another visit!

A BOUNCING BABY

I wish that I would have felt better than I did when we visited Amelia, her parents, and family from Charlotte this past weekend! Unfortunately, I had an alergeric reaction or some other type of bug over the holiday weekend. But... that did not keep us away from enjoying Amelia as she celebrated her first Easter / Passover with a new "Bouncy" seat. It was so funny seeing her bounce through the doorway. She was so proud of herself! It did not take her too long to figure out how to make the "new amusement" work. She has an amazing amount of strength in those little nearly 7 month old legs!

It was also funny to watch her eat solid food for the first time. More came out than went in...I believe! But she seemed to enjoy the taste of pears and peaches.

SUNDAY LUNCH

Amelia was full of smiles today as she, her Mom and Dad came over to Bubby's and Poppie's house for a pizza and salad lunch. All Amelia got was formula! It will not be long before she is eating more than baby food as she now has one and a half baby teeth. Pretty cute! I know she is looking forward to next weekend as we all have a long holiday weekend. Grandma Wanda and Uncle Michael are coming up to celebrate Easter and Passover. I feel sure that we all will be visiting and eating alot. We wish that Aaron Caren and the rest of the relatives could come for a visit. Hopefully it will be warmer as today was too cool for a walk!

Great Hat and Shorts Weather on April Fool's Day

Finally..... another short visit with Amelia and her family today. Uncle Michael was in for a visit this weekend and it looks like they spent the majority of the weekend out of doors. I was amazed at how she has grown in the last two weeks. She is a big girl now! Bubby even had her walking on her "tippy toes" as she held Amelia's hands walking across the back yard. She will walking on her own before you know it!

Road to the Sweet Sixteen and Spring Break

This was a great week for all of the family for many reasons. Bubby found out that NC DPI selected her to become a "STATE EMPLOYEE" finally after being a full time contractor the past five years. To say the least, we are all happy about that! The rest of the family had the week off for spring break. Poppie was on Spring break from ECU and managed to go by Amelia's house for a couple of afternoons of basketball ball games. Here are a few photos from our afternoon walks / strolls.

Amelia and her dad came over to Poppie's and Bubby's this afternoon to watch the NCSU game and to have an early dinner. Mom / Meredith stayed at home to get in a couple of hours of painting in her studio. We all played on the floor on Bubby's quilt trying to encourage Amelia to sit up on her own. We then decided to take a walk over to Wanda's an Jerry's. As soon as we walked into the front door, Amelia decided that it was time for her dinner and began to cry...I mean really cry!!!!! I have never heard her cry so loud. We decided to return to have a quick bottle and then Poppie cooked the steaks on the grill. It was great to have dinner together. Amelia got bored while we were all enjoying dinner and began to cry again....She was just a little tired and took another quick catnap.

The afternoon went all too quickly....It is hard to believe that Amelia will be "half of a birthday" (six months) next Sunday. She is getting so big she is out growing her favorite outfits.

Amelia's First Arts and Crafts Activity

It has been a while since we saw Amelia, her Mom and Dad. We sure are glad that they are all well and back to school and work.

Today Amelia and her Dad went with Poppie and Bubby to a sports bar to watch a little Basketball and to have lunch. Amelia loved wearing one of Bubby's original knitted hat creations. It kept her little head warm as went downtown for lunch.

Then back to the house for a little arts and crafts. Mom, Dad, Amelia, and Bubby all helped while Poppie caught a few Z's in the living room. We made a hand and foot print photo frame for Bubby. Little Amelia loved putting her hand and foot into the cold clay. We had quite a time trying to flatten her little fingers and toes out as we tried to get a good impression. She loved curling them up. After the second try, we got a good impression. It was fun.

I am sure this will be the first of many arts and crafts projects that Amelia gets to enjoy!

HOME SICK WITH MOM

Poor Amelia and Mom. They were both at home the past two days sick in bed. We stopped by the Raleigh Day Care today during our lunch time and we were told that Amelia was at home. Therefore, we stopped by their house to see if they needed anything. Meredith wasn't feeling well at all. Amelia is still fighting a little case of an ear infection. Both of them went to the Doctor today.

We managed to get a little holding and hugging in. Amelia was full of smiles and giggles as Mama Meredith played "horsey" with her. Bubby then played "airplane" with Amelia. She especially liked doing that infront of the hall mirror. We can tell she is going to spend lots of hours infront of the mirror as she grows up. Just like a girl! She loves looking at herself in the mirror.

We hope that everyone is up to par before the end of the weekend. Stay warm and safe....I hope we get a little snow this weekend. It will be the first snowfall for Amelia!

SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT THE RBC

It was a great weekend!

It began with going to a nice dinner with neighborhood friends on Friday night to celebrate another "Bubby" birthday. On Saturday we did our regular Saturday errands and went to the gym. Later in the afternoon we went over to Jason's, Meredith's, and little Amelia's for another birthday dinner with Meredith's family who came up from Charlotte. The dinner was delicious and Amelia was a cute as ever. Today we all went to the NCSU vs. Maryland game at the RBC Center. Amelia and her mom sat behind Jason who was the official scorer, as usual. As you can see from the photos, Amelia was well behaved. She continues to love the jumbotron, the players, the band, the cheerleaders. I understand that she dozed off in the second half. She was all "togged out" in her new red Valentine's warm up suit that Bubby bought for her at Baby Gap.

SITTING UP AND SHOWING OFF FOR BUBBY AND POPPIE

Today's Friday visit composed of Amelia sitting up at four months old with an ocassional help from the pillow or from Poppie. She is ALMOST there on her own!

Bubby got to feed Amelia again as Poppie, the photographer, was trying to snap just the right photos. (I think he might need a few more photography lessons!) This time Bubby avoided getting "barfed" on today! Poppie and Bubby also got to sing along with Amelia as we listened to the music from the toys in the nursery. We all did pretty good as it has been about 23 years since we sang all of those nusery rhymes and songs to Uncle Aaron.

Today was another "NO CRY VISIT" as we spent our lunch time at the Raleigh Nursery School. She was really good and showing off for Bubby and Poppie as she was giving her good bye kisses.

We hope we will get to see Amelia again this weekend....after Dad gets to spoil her a little since he has been gone, of course!

HUGS, KISSES, AND CUDDLES ON FRIDAY

It is always a great Friday when we can celebrate the week being over with a school visit with Amelia. She is almost four months old now...Almost a half of a year old! Time flies!

We had a great time rocking and holding Amelia today. She only threw up on Bubby two times during this short visit.

Amelia is sporting a big, red BUBBY kiss from her 30 minute visit today. Check it out! Maybe it will last until her Mom or Dad pick her up at the end of the day. She also really loved showing off for Poppie as he shot a few photos. It looks like she really grew alot this week. She had lots of smiles and giggles for us today.

Here's hoping that Amelia and her Mom and Day have a great weekend outside in this 60+ degree weather.

JANUARY HOLIDAY WEEKEND

This three hour stretch of babysitting at Bubby's and Poppie's house sure was alot calmer than the last time! Bubby did not even get her first cup of coffee when Amelia and her Dad arrived or Saturday. Of course as soon as her dad left to go to the game, she decided that she was hungry. It took Wanda and Bubby a while to figure out how to heat the bottle of formula in the new bottle warmer. This new technology is a bit more complicated than when Bubby and Wanda had to do this on a regular basis!

Then we went into the bedroom for a "little catnap" and then Poppie and Amelia watched a few cartoons until the NCSU basketball came on t.v. We played in the bed for awhile, read a few books, played on the floor with my toys and did do a little swinging in my portable swing. The time passed by quickly. About 2:00 p.m. her mom came to pick her up.

All in all, it was a great few hours. No problems and no crying! We all look forward to the next visit.

Bubby's and Poppie's Visit to School

Today was a big day for Bubby and Poppie! At lunch time Poppie picked me up and we drove down Wilmington St. in Downtown Raleigh to visit with Amelia at school. It was her second day and she did great! They sure love her at school . Ms. Ferguson had just finished feeding Amelia when we walked in. Bubby and Poppie both got to hold Amelia if we promised not to make her cry. It was a great 30 minute visit! It appeared that she really knew who we were when we walked in, heard our voices, and saw us. She was having a great time and smiling and laughing a lot, which made us very happy. Bubby got a chance to rock Amelia and actually rocked her to sleep. We have never seen her so calm and happy. It appeared that she loved hearing the other children in the infants' room.

We were really impressed with the day care workers and the facility. It was so new and clean. A "FIVE STAR RATING" was proudly hung at the front door. Another good thing is that it is just a few blocks from where Bubby works and from their house .

We hope that we will be visiting Amelia often at the daycare center.

IT IS ALMOST A NEW YEAR!

It is hard to believe that another year has gone by. It was just about 10 or 11 months ago when we were surprised about the announcement regarding a new baby in our family. Maury and I are finally Grandparents! The nine months of pregnancy went fast... now three months of life is hard to imagine. Amelia is growing and changing so quickly. She will be dating and in college before we know it!

We are glad that we were able to spend some time with Amelia and her parents after Christmas and Aaron and Caren for the weekend of Christmas. Here are a few photos of Aaron's and Caren's visit, our visit to San Francisco and the Wine Country, and today's Raleigh New Year's Eve visit. It was special to be in California for Great Grandma Simon's 90th birthday. Great Gandpa Oscar Simon had his 96th birthday in November!

We love that Amelia is beginning to smile and recognize all of us. We are taking bets now on her hair and eye color. It looks like Maury is going to get his wish for a little red head!

Here's hoping for a happy and healthy New Year for us all. It will be a new year of employment transition for the Raleigh Grandparents and lots of family togetherness with Amelia.

Happy New Year to all family and friends!

PRE-CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION

Santa came early to Bubby's and Poppie's house for Amelia, Dad and Mom. Amelia got a great "Audrey" doll, an engraved silver cup, hand knit sweater, and they all got Amelia's "aquarium " high chair. It won't be long until she's up sitting at the table eating with the rest of us. Mom and Dad got a new 6 piece place setting of the dishes that they have been wanting. We enjoyed our pre-christmas pizza dinner. It was a nice little visit before Bubby and Poppie go tomorrow to Nappa Valley to the Spa and then on to San Fransisco to visit the rest of the Simon family for the week.

Here's a few photos of Amelia trying to hold a spoon for the first time and some other family photos. She is beginning to discover what her hands are for.... Amelia sure let us know that she was tired and needed to go home. Putting on her coat and getting strapped in the car seat is not her favorite thing to do.

We hope that they have a safe trip to Charlotte for the Christmas Holiday.