The O'Hara Family: July 2009

Which is Aven? Rory?

Dinnertime Fun

Dinnertime is an especially fun time around the O'Hara household. For example, Aven insists on rocking to her favorite tunes.

Rory dons her pink sun glasses and an attitude more becoming a 17-year-old.

And we are increasingly joined by Nonna, who has established temporary residence around the corner from us while she does important work at the Department of Justice.

Bathing Beauties

Aven is doing much better with her baths. (Much better than her first bathing experience.)

Still, it can get lonely in that big bath tub if you are all by yourself. That's why we invented ...

"Sister Baths", featuring the amusing antics of Big Sister Rory!

These two bathing beauties have a lot of fun together.

And Rory enjoys helping her little sis get nice and clean.

"Quiet Contemplation"

As I've previously said, Aven enjoys many moments of quiet contemplation. Pictured here is the photographic evidence.

Pictured here is also photographic evidence of her cuteness.

Sometimes, Daddy's thumb is much better than a binky.

Gotta love the snuggles.

Prelude to a Laugh

Step #1: Capture her attention
At this same age, Rory had two settings: active and asleep. When she was active, she wanted to touch things, be tickled, be shown toys with loud sounds and bright lights. Aven has a third setting: quiet contemplation, which usually comes after the active setting and before the asleep setting. During her quite contemplation setting, Aven finding a snug position somewhere that she can stare at the world.

Step #2: Perform a Funny Stunt
While Mommy and Rory can provoke a laugh by simply talking to Aven, Daddy has to work for his laughs. Typically, he closes his eyes and mouth, and then opens them with a popping sound. On Friday, Daddy got to spend the whole day with Aven by himself while Mommy took a break from her maternity leave to give a presentation at a conference. He had a blast.

Step #3: Repeat as Necessary
Daddy often had to get quite creative to elicit the desired smiles and laughs from Aven. But if kept at it, he could sometimes get a little chuckle from his daughter ...

Step #4: Enjoy!
And speaking about enjoying your kids, I don't think I'll be labeled a "bad daddy" when I confess that some of the best joys of parenthood are associated with getting your kids to sleep. What a joy indeed that these days Sarah and I can get both girls to fall asleep in their beds by 7:45 p.m. and enjoy the rest of the evening "sans les enfants". Both girls then sleep till 6:30 a.m. or so the next morning. (Although Tim still gives Aven that "dream feed" at 10:30 right before he hits the hay).

Summertime Fun

This summer, while Mommy is on maternity leave, she has both of her girls at home for two days during the week. While it can sometimes be challenging to plan a whole day of engaging and educational activities, it is a lot easier when the weather allows for a lazy, cool day in the backyard.

Aven is increasingly aware of her surroundings, preferring to stare rather than interact with her animal friends.

Nonetheless, Rory helps her little sister gather her animal friends together for the occasional party.

Uncle Allen Drops By

The girls love their Uncle Allen, who dropped by the other day to offer the family some help.

Aven at 2 months

Aven received a clean bill of health (and four shots) at her 8-week doctor's appointment. She weighed 9 pounds, 12 ounces and measured 22 inches.

At two months, Aven has begun sleeping through the night (8 p.m. to 7 a.m. with one dream feed at 10 p.m.) and gives us lots of smiles.

Our little "burrito baby" loves her swaddle (yes, this industrial-strength swaddle does look like a straight jacket).

Chair Surfing with George

The sport of "chair surfing" is a time-honored tradition in Tim's family, and so ...

... we were all delighted to see Rory take to the sport so quickly ... or maybe Rory was just taken with her surfing buddy, George.

As the waves tickled their feet, they would inch their chairs farther into the water in a game of dare.

Family Beach, 2009

Once again, Rory led the way down to Emerald Isle for our annual trip to the beach. Cheesy smile and all.

This year, Rory was absolutely enamored by the beach ... the sand, the waves, and the water!

Rory spend a lot of time running into and away from the waves. She's fast!

Daddy, too, spend a lot of time in the water with Rory and her cousins.

Daddy had help. Aunt Chelle was also a constant companion of Rory's.

And Opa Paul gave Rory surfing lessons!

Here, Rory practices her form.

Rory and her crew watch the waves.

Aven, too, enjoyed the beach ... but primarily as an excuse to sleep on her Great Grandma.

Sleep she did. Slept. And slept.

A close up.

Rory also enjoyed lots of time with her cousins building sand castles and water forts.

Rory had a little trouble distinguishing between the "ocean" and the "pool". The difference was Mommy!

The extended family gathered most evenings for festivities. On the last night, Rory was the "super sprayer", slayer of humidity.

The super sprayer took her job very seriously.

Here, Rory enjoys a smore.

Here, Mommy enjoys a smore, too!

The family of the super hero gathers for a shot.

Smiles on the Fourth

The O'Hara Family enjoyed an utterly picture-perfect Fourth of July (literally, I think these are some of the best pics that Daddy has taken).

While all of the tourists flocked to the D.C. mall, we took the path less traveled to Mount Vernon, George Washington's home (about 10 miles south of our home). The estate was hosting the first annual Fourth of July day-time fireworks display ... perfect for kids).

Mommy had a wonderful time with her two girls. Daughter #1 could simply not be constrained, so anxious for the music and fireworks. Daughter #2 was also al fuego, as the pictures below illustrate.