Vivian has been eating solid fruits (well, actually I've only used bananas) with this feeder. She has gotten the hang of using it, but I cannot figure out how to clean the mesh part of it. Moms who use this, do you have any ideas for me? I've tried everything, it seems, but there are still dried banana pieces stuck in there...yuck!

On Saturday we took a walk around the neighborhood. Vivian likes being outside, but it's so cold these days! Aaron has taken her running a couple of times in her new stroller that Papa and Gramme gave her for Christmas. It will be more fun when spring comes (and when we can figure out how to get her to sit up more in it...also need help on this one! It lays back so far that she's almost laying down and can't see anything).

On Wednesday afternoon Vivian was gracious to go along with her mom's whim of going to Subway for a sandwich at 4 in the afternoon. She's pretty flexible (except if it's naptime of course :) )

In the evenings when I'm getting dinner ready, Vivian usually enjoys bouncing in her Jump N Go, but this past week she has preferred to just lay on the floor and do her backwards scoot. Here she has scooted back into the dining room...

Peekaboo right before getting in the bath!

(indian war cry in the background is courtesy of Aaron)

Mom, I think you gave me too much Tylenol for my fever...

Vivian started her 7 month yesterday, and I'd love to post about it, but I'm going to wait a few days. It has been tough to get smiles out of her since she feels so badly, so my camera has stayed in the diaper bag.

I will say how continually amazed I am this week about how God has created her little body so perfectly. To think about how he made our bodies to fight viruses and infections is so awesome to me! Of course, I was upset about her high fever, but I kept thinking about how it tells us that her body is working hard to get rid of the illness...isn't that cool? And about how sleepy it has made her...so that she can get rest while every part of her is trying to make things right. Talk about Intelligent Design! What a gracious God we serve.

I haven't been posting this week because we haven't been doing anything unique or exciting...just the daily routine! I took this picture yesterday afternoon at the Escalante home. We traveled to Vinton for the first time since Vivian was born. I am ashamed of myself...I love these children and the families that I used to work with, but I haven't taken the time to go see them! We're going to try and do better... Vivian had a great time. She especially loved playing with Michelle (youngest girl). Anything Michelle did made Vivian laugh. It was precious. It was a great thing to catch up with this family and ask the kids how they were doing in school. They have grown so much in the past 7 months! I love them dearly.
This was taken in June when they came to see us in the hospital.This was from Sept. 2007 when their youngest Braulio was born. He is such a big kid now! And so sweet...

Now, the sad news of the day is that Vivian is sick for the first time. She woke up this morning with 102.9 fever! She took some Tylenol and we went to the doctor around 11. It's not as bad as it could be...just a cold. But she's so pitiful and sad...this morning she just laid on my shoulder for an hour while I sang and read to her. She's really sleepy, too...she fell asleep in my arms in the waiting room, something that would never happen normally! It's breaking my heart, but she should be feverless in a few days, and all better in about a week. I knew this would happen eventually, and I'm glad it didn't happen sooner, but it's still hard to watch. Thank the Lord for his faithfulness!

Vivian plays the guitar about as well as Obama will preside over America. The only difference is, Vivian is cute...

The "strumming" motion with her hands has been a habit now for months...she does it whenever she touches anything. It is only now that her thumbs serve a musical purpose. This featured video will be the first track of her debut album "Infant Blues." There is song after song about how she can't find her paci in the middle of the night...how she cries the blues when it is time to get out of the warm soapy tub...and how awful the anticipation is waiting to find out if she will have a little brother or sister in August. Look for it in your local music shop.

On Saturday night Aaron took me out to a nice dinner at Blue 5 in downtown Roanoke. The food is great there, but the fun part is the live jazz bands that play. We got there early (8pm) so we had to purposefully take a long time with our meal so we could still be at our table for the music that started after 9. It was a great night out! Thanks to Dennis and Shannon for babysitting!

Lately when I put Vivian down somewhere, she is in a different place and position only minutes later. Yesterday I put her on her back on the mat, and a few moments later she was stuck like this: Same thing a couple of days ago...she was on her back under the toys initially, and then maneuvered herself to here:

We have a baby on the move! She enjoys being on her stomach more and more, and she usually shimmies herself backwards (away from her toys, unfortunately).

Aaron's sister Brooke came to stay with us for a week after Christmas. It was so nice to have an extra pair of hands to help out! She played with Vivian a lot and Vivian loved it.

Brooke also helped with things like bathtime. In this picture you can guess who filled up the tub (Aaron). But this was our first time using her new bath seat...works pretty well! She can't stop squealing when she knows it's time to get in the tub. Love the classic rubber ducky :)

Happy New Year! Last night we celebrated as we do every year, with an awesome dinner out at Kabuki, the Japanese Steakhouse in Roanoke. It's a fun tradition for the Flores family. This year everyone was able to make it (thanks for driving again from DC Stephen!), including Aaron's sister Brooke. She's been staying with us this week and it's been fun having her around. Another memorable New Year's evening!

Vivian wanted to say happy New Year to everyone, too! She loved chewing on the horns and listening to everyone make noise with them. She was cooperative...it helped to have Gramme sit with us. In case you're wondering, that thing around her neck is one of the restaurant's napkins. I forgot to bring a bib so we had to tie that around her.

Uncle Michael requested a photo op with his niece :)

We had other fun stuff going on last night, but I'll post on it later. Need to catch up on sleep!