We had a good day yesterday. I took the whole day off, and Matt took off the afternoon. We left Penny at daycare and went with Matt's mom to the movies to see Shrek 2. I'm not sure I agree with my mom's assertion that it was better than the original, but it was definitely fun. Puss in Boots had me rolling on the floor.

After the movie, we picked up Penny and went out to dinner. That would've gone more smoothly if Penny had taken some naps during the day, but she hadn't, so by the time we got to dinner, she was really exhausted and a little fussy. So we wound up eating in shifts, but as long as she was being held, Penny was pretty good.

After we got her home and in bed, Matt and I opened her birthday presents. Jill and Rachael and Evan sent her some really cute toys, which we'll be introducing to Penny slowly over the next few days.

We let her "open" her present from Jill this morning. She had no idea what was going on, but was willing to play with the tissue paper and the toy (a cloth book in the shape of a backpack, with three removeable cloth crayons), when we handed them to her.

My parents called to let me know that Mom was home from the hospital, and her surgery had gone well. She's on heavy rest for the next several days, but she's apparently already seeing improvement in her mobility and pain reduction, so that was really good news.

Jill's heading back home today, so we said good-bye this morning before we left for work and school. It was a really nice visit, and we're looking forward to seeing her again (along with everyone else!) in September.

--Liz