Ballet Princess

Both of the Stults Aunties love that Jane is also a Ballet Princess

Kunz-Freeman 4 Month Update

A few Saturdays ago, we got together with Ben, Beverly, and Natalie Freeman to catch up on how our little girls were doing at about 4 months.
Even though they were born only a few weeks apart, there are a few obvious differences between them. Natalie has SO much hair that it can already be put into pig tails! Where as headbands are about as covered as Jane's head gets ;-)

Natalie also does amazing at tummy time, pushing herself so far up
Jane has some more growing to do
Natalie also blows amazing raspberries
while Jane prefers to chew on her fists
But, despite these differences, Natalie and Jane particularly had fun together- they loved to smile and "talk" to each other.

This is definitely the beginnings of a beautiful friendship :-)

Bouquets to Art 2012

I have made it an annual tradition to attend Bouquets to Art at the De Young Museum and it was so fun this year to have Jane with me. She was INCREDIBLE- absolutely zero fussing or crying. She really loved seeing all of the people, art, and floral arrangements. Here we are in the lobby of the De Young after viewing the installations.
They do not allow flash and given the large crowds, many of my photos turned out blurry :-( but here are a few of the highlights from my perspective. I LOVE the gradation in the colors of the flowers
I also loved the different colors in this large piece- and I particularly like how the tulips are positioned on top.
This installation is mimicking the flow of the folds on the dress of the statue in the background (the flowers conveyed even more movement in person).
This one was a fairly literal interpretation of the art behind it but I think they just did a great job of capturing a few of the essential features- and displaying it on the yellow table top is really a genius idea
There were a few super random pieces this year, like one that had guns and bullet casings on it when it was just a type of color block abstractions. But the really random one had this oxygen tank in it- the top part with the tulips looks like the yellow piece in the background but I still cannot figure out why the oxygen tank was included. Let me know if you have any insights :-)
I'm already looking forward to next year!

St. Patrick's Day

Baby Jane had an eventful first St. Patrick's Day. Her Nana Stults sent her a special dress to wear just for the occasion- love the bows!
We then went to a matinee of "Shine", the Stake Play put on by the young men and young women (who are super talented) and Jane was incredible during it! It went a full two hours and she only slept for a few minutes- the rest of the time, she was content to watch the performance in the Snugli (as long as I was standing).

We later went to my friend Mary's annual St. Patrick's Day party where we indulged in green food, including these AMAZING sugar cookies (Mary was kind enough to send me the recipe) as I have been on a search for the perfect one. Jane was kind of all partied out and literally fell asleep in my arms sitting up :-)
And finally, a festive family photo (not quite sure what she is looking at :-)

Playdate with Baby Sarah

My co-worker Sukyung had her baby Sarah only a few weeks before Jane was born. It was so fun to get together and have the two girls meet for a playdate.

Sarah looks like she is months older than Jane as she is now in 6-9 month clothes while Jane still fits into 3 month and so she was kind enough to share some of her clothes with us. Baby Sarah also has much more hair than Jane- my mom said that I was bald until I was nearly 2 years old (sorry about that baby girl!)
So many of my co-workers are having babies that we need to start a New Mama's Club and have some more playdates

Jane's Tricks

It is so much fun for mama to be able to watch this baby girl progress. I feel myself tearing up sometimes with pride at how lucky I am to have this sweet angel and that I can spend a large part of the day with her.

We'll start with some of her basic skills and work on up.

Sticking my tongue out like a lizard

Daddy is already very excited to think that we might have a little adrenaline junkie (like he is)

Wee! "Put your hands up girls" is a phrase that I used to tell my sisters all the time, especially in the car in the circile going from I-215 south to Provo on I-15

"I can fly, I can fly, I can fly!"We can't wait to take her on Peter Pan at Disneyland.

Over a week ago, she started to grab some plastic rings that hang down from her car seat
(Please excuse the Thanksgiving bib- Jane is such a drooler that we have to use any spare one)

Playing with Mr. Elephant, the first separate toy that she was able to grab (btw- Auntie Brekke actually MADE this adorable creature. I seriously know such talented people!)
Playing with Sophie the Giraffe- another one of her favorite toys. She will actually lean backwards when she plays with it so that she can see the whole thing
Tummy Time progress- Jane has gotten better with it. She usually doesn't cry for the first little while. In fact, sometimes when she is crying and we then put her down for tummy time, she ironically stops crying for awhile. With a little assistance from boppy

And starting to push herself up - still need to keep practicing it and working up that strength

Excited for what trick she will learn next! (And it's obviously that we are first time parents by how excited we are about these small things :-)

Nana and Grampy Time

Both Nana and especially Grampy are completely smitten with Jane. Sarah brought them to see her straightaway from the airport. My mom didn't even wait to take off her coat before holding her grandbaby.
In Grampy's eyes, she can do no wrong and he will do anything for her. I made sure that she wore her "princess" onesie so that he could have a special photo with his Elf Princess
He has talked about her so much to his patients that one named Shirley hand knit this BEAUTIFUL yellow blanket for her. She even put a heart pattern in it. So we of course had to model it-

They both loved taking her on a walk around the park
They also both loved holding her while she slept . . .
or tried to sleep in some cases
And each had their precious moments with her- Grandma's sweetheart
And Grampy with his Elf Princess
and he is especially proud of her round head :-)
Jane is sheer perfection in their eyes and cannot do wrong.

Chillaxin'

I love it that when Jane is hanging out in her bumbo, she puts her arm up to rest. She is really just too adorable! And since she is just so cute, I have included several even though it is still basically the same pose :-)

Legion of Honor and Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

Sarah had time off school for "ski week" in the week following the blessing and so we took Jane out on a few adventures, especially since the weather was so beautiful.

We first hit the Legion of Honor to see their exhibit "The Cult of Beauty: The Victorian Avant-Garde". This was a good exhibit, especially since they let us have our stroller, which Jane was in for part of the time. The exhibit highlighted the aesthetic art movement- or "art for art's sake"- which meant that there were many beautiful pieces of art, furniture, jewelry, home decor, and even statues. It was so fun to look around at and Jane loved looking around as Sarah and I took turns holding her. This was one exhibit that she was ecstatic about- just look at her face below :-) (P.S.- this has already become one of my all time favorite photos of the baby girl)
She was the only baby at the exhibit and was very well behaved so I am hoping that this is a good start towards a love of art and museums :-)

Sarah and I also went to the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo. My friend Mary had told me about it and when I mentioned it to Sarah she said "Palo Alto has a zoo???" Yes, it does have a small one but we were super impressed since it was FREE. They have a children's discovery area with some different types of science like experiments, all of which were a bit old for Jane, but they do have a special infants only area that had this giant cocoon and some other toys.
But Jane absolutely loved the zoo- and we really lucked out as the animals were active. She really was fascinated and loved looking at everything.
We saw the bunny before he got taken away to be the model in an art class, the turtles, fish, snakes, and then the highlights. The beautiful birds, including this super brightly colored one who would not sit still long enough to be captured on film. The raccoons who were playing together in the water
And, the best part was that we were able to get up close and personal with a bobcat!
SO incredible! Jane truly has some kind of magnetism that draws the animals to her as I generally do not have this much success looking at animals when they are awake and close to us, but even on our second zoo trip, Jane is having amazing experiences.
Thanks so much Auntie Sarah for spending some of your week off having adventures with us!!