Halos

Ah-Goo!

I have to tell you that I'm particularly fond of this picture of myself - it may look like light reflections off the leather chair, but it's really a Halo...

This is my demeanor most of the time, really -> I'm happier all the time, and rarely require that someone carry me around in "the grip" for a long time before calming down. I'm also starting to understand that a pacifier has calming properties, and for both of these developments, the parents are grateful.

I have a couple of seats of my own now, but my favorite is called a "Bumbo". Very handy device, it is - it causes me to sit upright, and with that, I can participate in the dinner experience.

Yes, I've been eating rice cereal now and then for the last 2 weeks, and all I can say about it is... Yecch! Who came up with the idea of this stuff? It's not tasty. Spoons are messy, and I am in general not a fan of the whole thing. So I'm eating solids now-and-then.















I am most definitely in the oral stage, and I chew on just about everything. Toys, knuckles, whatever. Also I've started laughing a lot. No-one can make me laugh like Daniel can - that boy is funny.

I'm not rolling over quite yet (But I'm SOOO close) nor am I crawling. I can, however, push my butt in the air and rotate around on the back of my head. And that's how I get around. I even managed to launch myself off the bed the other day, which no-one was expecting. I'm ok.

Here's the family. It's not the best shot of me, but it's not a easy to get everyone smiling at the same time. And finally - me and my great-grandmother mormor.

And that's about it for now.

Love. R.

oj oj oj... (pronounced OY-oy-oy)

Friends

I've got so much to say that I had to go bilingual to do it. Yes, I've been learning Swedish lately. Why? Well, firstly because I can. Secondly, I've been surrounded by Swedes lately.


That's me with Farmor, who you've met before, and also my great-grandmother "Mormor". Mormor says she understands me better than she does the adults.


My swedish vocabulary is small, but growing. I'll say ojojoj, which doesn't mean much of anything, but farmor says it anyway. I'll do "God Natt" (good Night) , "takk for maten" (thanks for the food) and a few others.



What else is new? Well, you just wouldn't believe how much I'm talking now. I'll monologue - keeping a conversation going all on my own. If I don't get my point across, I'll repeat it (endlessly). Talking is fun - I can do it for hours.


Yesterday I put "dog" in timeout by putting him in a box and saying "dog timeout". I can't even remember what he did to deserve that. He's not my favorite toy anymore, anyway. That would be "bear".


About a week ago, Harrison brought his family over for a little cookout. We decided to go for a swim, so here we are drying off afterwards.

And that's obviously me and Rachel hanging out on the deck. Sometimes I ignore her, sometimes I play with her. I like to grab her feet and say "wiggle wiggle"

And that's about it for now. I'm going back to play with the grand- and great-grand parents.

Love, D.

Four Months Old!

Friends!

I'm four months old, and I'm all smiles about it. Yes I am, Yes I am... Lots of spontaneous smiles, and some evidence that I recognize Mama and (sometimes) Papa as people especially deserving of a smile.

At the four-month checkup I registered in at the 25th percentile for weight and head size, and the 80th for length. So again - I'm a tall skinny girl. The modelling career is still intact. That's about where I was at the 2-month mark.

Farmor is visiting, as is my great-grandmother "mormor" and Grandpa. We'll have to get a family shot for the next blog entry. Suffice it to say that I'm enjoying the extra attention.

I've gotten much better with tummy time - I used to scream like I was going to die, but now I tolerate it pretty well. I'm not rolling over, but I'm darned close and it's really just a question of time before I get that right.

I've also been practicing sitting, and I'm pretty goood at it. This is me in my new highchair (yes, it's just like Daniel's) and I also have a "bumbo" chair. So there's a lot of focus on the back and head control. Sitting up means that there are more interesting photos coming up - these "laying around" shots are kind of boring.

I'm grabbing things and holding them now. I'll pick up toys and hold them in both hands. Mostly I like sucking on my knuckles.


I'm still sleeping through the night, and I wake up as content as can be. I eat well, I'm sometimes fussy if I'm tired or hungry, but really I'm a pretty easy baby to deal with. And my personality is becoming more interesting.

And that's about it for this time. Hope all is well with everyone.

Love, R.

Spring Fever

Blog-buddies!

So sorry about the 2-week delay since last time, I know it had some of you nervous. No worries - I'm back.

I just got back from Chicago where we went to my second cousin Elaine's wedding. Last time I went to a wedding, I wasn't old enough to walk, so this was a big change. I was the life of the party - dancing with my new girlfriend Leah.

So Leah's also a second cousin - it gets a little confusing, but here's an article on the topic. Oh boy, do I ever like Leah. Sure, she's a little bit older than me at 5 years and change, but I'm up for the challenge.

Oh yeah - I realize that it's been a long time since there was a picture of all of us at the same time, so here we are at the wedding.

We stayed with my first-cousin-once-removed (look it up) Craig and Dianne, and they have a tractor. That was fun. I got to drive it almost all on my own.

I can repeat pretty much any phrase these days - you just have to say "Daniel, can you say X" and I will. Since Dad doesn't like the TSA very much he was going to teach me the phrase "C-4 goes boom!", but decided it would be a bad idea..


As usual, I was an excellent little traveller. The pilots let me explore the cockpit and that was a blast.

Ah, videos - you know what to do. The first one is of me and Leah having fun at the wedding. The second one - well, I'm playing with a bubble maker that I got for my birthday.

Until next time.

Love, D.

I'm more 3-and-a-half months old

Friends!

So this is my second cousin Elaine who got married this weekend. And allthough she's cute and all that, I really just wanted you to know that I can now ride in my Baby Bjorn facing forward.

I went to Chicago this weekend, and there I celebrated my 100th day on this earth. Now, I'm past that and closing in on 4 months old.

In addition to my excellent head control which allows me to face forward, I'm also doing crunches these days. Check out the video.



I "blow raspberries" and bubbles, so I'm figuring out the phbbth sound. I really like nibbling on my knuckles these days, and I'm a pretty mellow kid. I will let you know if I'm not happy.

Sometimes the only way to calm me down is to hold me in a football grip. That means that I'm laying on Papa's forearm with my head towards his elbow. I'm heavyish when carried like that.


OK, it's late and the editor needs sleep. Hope all are well.

Love, R.

Daniel and the Terrific Twos

How old is Daniel?

Two!

It's been a non-stop party around here, it has. I had a little birthday celebration at the park, and that was fun. I didn't know that we were going to have a party, but more and more of my friends kept showing up.


So we played for a while, then we ate some sandwiches, and cake. And I got lots of neat presents, but we didn't open any of them at the park. And unfortunately, the camera didn't cooperate, so this is one of very few pictures we have.

Aunt Erin and Cousin Chloe have been visiting for a couple of days now. Chloe and I have the same birthday, but she's 5 years older than I am. I've been able to share my toys and books with her.





Oh, and I'm obviously back from Kentucky. We got to visit Ol Granny, and my great-aunts and "gruncle" Jerry. Rachel got a lot of the attention, but they still thought it was fun to see me.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention - I went in to have a checkup on my clubfoot, and I'm "cured" so I don't have to wear a cast at night anymore. The foot looks great, and they just want me to show up for a checkup in six months to make sure it's not regressing.

And my official 2-year-old height is 32.5" and I gained a little weight so I'm now above 23 lbs. For those of you who track these things - that's not big, but it's concentrated. I think I'll nickname myself "espresso" because I'm a big jolt in a little cup.

That's enough for now. Until next time.
D.

It's been a week of being held

Hey there



Now when you're my size, you sort of get passed around and held a lot. I like it, really I do. So in order of appearance, here's me with Jackie, my great-Aunt Molly and Ol Granny.



Let's see. Accomplishments.... Hmm. Well, there are some, actually. I said my first verified two-syllable word last week. Ah-goo.

And I can bring my hands together



And I'm doing crunches



And I turned three months old



And I'm getting the typical baby bald-spot on the back of my head.

If the parents put one arm under me, I can roll over, otherwise I'm "really close", but I get so mad when I'm on my tummy.

And that's the update for this week. Until next time.

Love, R.