The BIG Pool

Elizabeth LOVES the water! Whether its the bathtub or her infant pool, she has a great time splashing and kicking. During our recent visit to Michigan, the hotel had an indoor pool and this was her first time in the big person pool! As you can see, she had a great time... I finally had to pull her out when her fingers looked like prunes. :) I think we have a future scuba diver on our hands...

Heading to the Norths

Happy Memorial Day! We spent the weekend in Holt, MI - just outside Lansing - visiting our good friends, the North Family - Colin, Ellie, Simone, Cecily and Felicity. Simone (age 4) is our Goddaughter and this was Elizabeth's first chance to meet her Godsister. The visit was a great time as always and Libby fit in very well with the three absolutely adorable sisters. She also was in awe of the number of toys in the house - and her mom was, too! They are moving to New Jersey in the coming weeks, so our next trip will require a plane ride. But that's okay by us!

Updated Pics from our First Family Vacation

Click on the following link to view the pics:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jdowning782/FirstFamilyVacation?authkey=Gv1sRgCO2Eyr_ly9-RIw#

Our First Family Vacation

Well, we had to get the first stamp in Elizabeth's passport! And, though AnnCatherine wasn't nearly ready for a bathing suit, we jetted off to Grand Cayman. Elizabeth is definitely in the right family - she did great on the plane! She loved her new swimsuit and inflatable pool and doing her first limbo contest with Daddy. She felt the ocean waves for the first time and loved taking her naps with Grandpa Dave on the patio in the shade. And, on April 23rd, she turned 6 months old!!! We went to Libby's first cultural event - a local Cayman storytelling contest called Gimistory. It was definitely mostly locals which we love, but our lack of knowledge of Caribbean dialects made it a little different to follow at times. There were small craft warnings out several of the days which prevented the dive boats from leaving on our side of the island, but at least Jarod and AnnCatherine got to dive together one day. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Downing for sharing the timeshare week....

There are too many good pictures that just have to be shared, so Jarod is going to post a blog link to Picasa very soon. But enjoy the preview pix above...

Diggin' the veggies

Thanks to the Easter Bunny, Elizabeth had her first veggies this weekend. Yum! Squash!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Happy Easter from the Downings (though this post is woefully late!)

The Easter Bunny found his way to our house and, this year, three baskets were filled! :) Elizabeth had no problem figuring out what to do, either.... The Bunny brought a book, shoes, applesauce and sunglasses for Libby.

But you must notice the baskets. My mom and Aunt Barb starting taking basketweaving lessons several years ago (and my mom actually did win a Blue Ribbon in the county fair, too!). When we knew our family was expanding, I asked my mom if she would made family Easter baskets for us. Aren't they great?! All are designed exactly the same but the colors are different. And, of course, Jarod's is blue! :) Thanks, Grandma Ruth!

Swieconka (Blessing of the Food)

Yeah! Lent is over.... For as long as I can remember, Easter Saturday morning has been my favorite time to go to church. Being Polish, (AC is 50% and Elizabeth is 25% and we love Jarod despite the fact that he isn't) we celebrate Swieconka or Blessing of the Food. This wasn't typically something celebrated in the Indianapolis area since there isn't a big Eastern European population. But, 4 years ago, we happened upon our Pastor during dinner at Fazoli's. We asked him if he would start the tradition at our parish and it has consistently grown every year. Each family brings a basket with a small meal to be shared on Easter morning... Homemade sausage (thanks, Grandma!) eggs, bread, butter, salt and candy are typical contents. And this year, our basket had some rice cereal and butternut squash, too! We're so excited to keep this tradition going....

Leaning to the right...

When Elizabeth sits in the chair that her cousin Connor passed down to her every night for dinner, she tends to lean to the right. Grandpa Dave tries to straighten her up, but Daddy liks to leave her that way in hopes that she's actually displaying her political preference for social and financial conservatism. (We love him anyway!)

Good friends...

My mama and daddy are blessed with good friends and I've had the chance to meet some of them recently. Marly and Daddy grew up together and have been good friends for a long time. Hong and Daddy met while they were getting their MBAs - which mama and Lan both say does NOT stand for 'Married But Available'! Evidently that is a common phrase in China where Hong, Lan and their son Alex live. Good thing we're Hoosiers!

Kids these days...

We've heard elder folk say, 'it seems like kids are born knowing how to use computers nowadays'... Well, Elizabeth is proving that to be true! Since she loves anything shiny or bright, the laptop screen is just too much fun. Besides that, we've been experimenting with our webcam to send and stream videos to our family and friends far and wide, so she thinks the computer is all about her! She did sit and type her first letter in Word the other day and managed to open functions and menus that we didn't know existed. Guess she's pretty tech-savvy after all...