Starr kids vs. the snail

A couple of days ago I sat Rachel up on in the corner of the couch and put her snail (one of Ethan's baby toys that our friend Meredith gave him) in her lap to play with. In a matter of seconds, she had the snail's antenna in her mouth just chewing away. I then remembered a very similar experience with Ethan when he was also 3 1/2 months old. Here are the pictures:

Ethan vs. the snail


Rachel vs. the snail


Our little Ray-Bug has started exploring the world around her. I forgot how sweet it is to watch a 3 month old soak up the world around them. She's really started studying my face - reaching for my nose, glasses, ears, hair, etc. I think the past few days have been the best days of her life because her 2 cousins just ooh and aah over her. Here are a few pictures of Rachel over the past week or so:

First time in the exersaucer:


She loves to chew on anything and everything:


Content just watching what's going on:


Hanging out with Dad:


After her bath:


Rachel and her best friend:


She definitely prefers her thumb over a pacifer:


And she definitely loves her Poppa (I love this picture!):


A little update on her eating - we've been making sure she eats 5 times a day to get her back on track. Last Monday she weighed 13.3 pounds, and the pediatrician wanted her to gain 0.5 pounds in 2 weeks to be comfortable with how she's doing. Well, we did an unofficial weigh-in today at the 1 week mark and on our scale she was 13.6 pounds...yippee! (Let's just hope that wasn't with a wet diaper)