Our Litte String Bean

Hello, again! A delayed update in posting Helen's 9 month stats. I took her to the pediatrician on Friday. The visit went very well. Helen actually enjoyed it up until the shots were administered! Here are her stats:

• Weight: 18.5 lbs (45%)
• Length: 29.5 inches (97%)

Hence, the nickname string bean. It is becoming slightly difficult to dress her now as she needs the 12 month size for length, but she ends up looking like a hooligan with her pants falling down and showing her diapers. I have found that the Target brand of clothes run small, so she's been wearing them lately. We celebrated her 9 month birthday by dining at The Pita House (Middle Eastern fare) with Auntie Terry and Chris. It will come as no surprise to our reading audience that Alan loved it, and all I ate was a bit of pita. Below is a pic of the celebration.


All of Helen's caregivers, including Mommy and Daddy, love the fact that Helen opens as wide as possible for any bite. Thus far, we have found nothing that she is unwilling to eat. Yet another trait she got from her Daddy.

As if you needed any more proof, here's a picture that shows yet again that Helen got all of her genes from Alan and none from me (except for the outie belly button). No one doubts who her baby daddy is.

In other news, Alan and I enjoyed a wonderful, fabulous, and refreshing night out on Saturday. Mrs. Lorain from the daycare baby-sat for us. We enjoyed dinner at Outback and walking through the mall. I'm finding that these breaks away from Helen are becoming more necessary as she is now fully mobile. It has also made me reflect that living away from family makes child rearing a little more difficult. It makes me feel blessed that we do have such a caring and generous extended family of friends and neighbors!

-Kim

It makes me smile

I was thinking about what makes Helen laugh the other day, so here's a Top 5 list of some things that make Helen laugh and smile...

1. Peekaboo. Any variation will do. Hide behind the couch, cover your face with hands or a towel, pop in during bathtime-- it all works stupendously. Great big 'ole laughs guaranteed.
2. Blowing raspberries on the belly. Zerberts. She loves it so much she pushes your head away. Hilarious.
3. Dora (the dog). Usually Dora running at her will do it, or alternatively flying super-man like while chasing after her is another sure-fire way.
4. Other children. Whether at the daycare, church nursery, or at "Mother Goose on the Loose" book reading in the library, Helen gets a giggle at other little tikes.
   
5. Splashing. Helen loves bath time in general, but when she sees pouring water and splashes around, you'll hear the delight.

Photos upload

As I tried to pick out a few good pictures for another blog update, I realized it would be easier and perhaps more enjoyable to upload to another web album. So, if you like, check out the latest photos from Jan 1 through today. And feel free to add a caption to a photo if you like!

-A

Northwest of it all

Last Monday I made a business journey to the far northwest corner of the continental US to Sedro-Woolley, WA. It was fairly exciting to make the trip, despite the roughly 6.5 hours of flying time via Cincinnati and the time change to -3 hours. I did miss seeing Kim and Helen this past week, although we were glad that her mother was willing to stay and visit while I was away.

The town, about 1.5 hour north of Seattle is a quiet place that grew up around the logging industry. If I was there this coming weekend, I could see the bald eagle festival. Although I would still rather be at home with Kim and Helen! There wasn't time to sight-see, but of course I did soak in the views as we drove around. It's an amazing place with snow capped mountains that lead into the Cascades, yet extremely flat farm areas that make up a river valley. The area boasts one of the largest tulip harvests around, actually exporting tulips to Holland. And some of the winners of the annual chainsaw carving competition can be seen lining the downtown streets.


Here is a map of where I was at:

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Note the flat river valley where the town is at and the surrounding mountains. I will definitely have to take a camera next time!

The surprising thing to me was that I expected cold, snowy, rainy, dreary weather up there and it was actually warmer (34-45' F) than in South Carolina. I missed the 3" of snow and sub-freezing temperatures. It's the proximity to the Pacific that gives them their weather, and it keeps the local weather forecasters busy I could tell.

Here's a picture of Grandmama and Helen checking out the snow (Helen's first time!).

Baptism

Helen joined the faith family this past Sunday. It was an awesome experience. We were worried that Helen would decide that the whole baptism thing was not for her; however, she surprised us by acting like the perfect little angel. She loved it all and could not stop looking at all of God's people. I'm making this a short picture post as I'm quite tired. Alan is out of town, and I had to work all day today after throwing a big party yesterday...can you see that I'm a bit spoiled by my work schedule. I usually don't have to work on Mondays, so this one was hard :) Enjoy the pics!

Notice the beautiful banner in the backgroud..."Today God called my name...Helen Kathryn"

The proud Grandparents

Our extended family. Helen is so blessed to be loved by so many wonderful people!

The after party. No dress can slow Helen down! Please notice that both hairbow and shoes remained on the entire day...all mothers know that is quite a victory!

First week of Oh Ate

After a short work week that seemed like a full week, we made the transition back to some semblance of a routine. Kim actually worked her full 2.5 days from Wednesday to Friday, while still fighting through her sinusy sickness. Helen seems to be generally feeling better and just has the same old drippy nose that is the norm for her. I guess that's the same for me, too. One thing that doesn't look like is changing for the 2008 forecast is our cycle of family illness!






We are however working on starting a new routine of getting some more exercise in. I had the opportunity to head back to the pool at the gym Friday after work. After getting over an eery feeling like I was a stranger in this place that I hadn't seen in many months, I jumped right in and enjoyed a good swim. I'm planning on competing in another sprint triathlon this year because I had such a great time doing that back in 2006, but I haven't decided which one or when. In any case, I need to start training for it now!

We're spending most of the weekend cleaning up and putting away. The rest of the Christmas decorations are in the process of coming down. And the rest of the Christmas gifts have been unboxed and assembled from our trip, much to Helen's delight. She was really on the move tonight, demonstrating a real crawl, not just her forward movements. And then she went right back to her preferred pulling up and 'cruising' around the couch. Earlier today, I played Mr. Mom and went shopping for some clothes with Helen in tow, while Kim took a much needed rest to help with her sickiness. Since Helen loves going out and seeing things, she was no trouble strolling around the store and soaking it all in.

Time to go to bed. Tomorrow is a full day of getting back to church and completing another list of chores!
-Alan

Home Again

On our Xmas trips, Helen saw cats, cousins, the beach...but nothing made her happier than coming home to her sweet sister.

I've posted many of our Xmas pics. It was quite an adventure. I believe we traveled a total of 1,030+ miles during the entire trip. We spent a glorious New Year's at home, catching up on rest and trying our best to unpack. We both headed back to work on Wednesday and are looking forward to the weekend! Happy 2008 to everyone!!

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Xmas Pics 2

The best part of a trip to Panama City-Krystal Burgers in Phenix City!!

A walk with Cousins Julia and James

Cousin Nari with her most favorite Xmas gift-a Harry Potter scarf :)

Time to go home! We had a very blessed holiday season.

Xmas Pics

The weather was WONDERFUL in Panama City. We enjoyed a few moments at the beach-scratch that-Alan and I enjoyed the beach...Helen was not so amused!

Helen's newest trick-pulling up all on her own. It opens a realm of possibilities (ie new things to break)


Helen with PawPaw-they both got the memo that it was maroon day

Uncle John did not enjoy his trip to PC very well this year. He ended up in the hospital for 4 days! He kept a positive attitude, despite pain, possible surgery, and the worst thing of all-sharing a TV with his roommate!

-Kim