I want to crawl!

Over the Thanksgiving weekend I got to spend a lot of time with Jacob, and it was fun to watch him try and figure out how to crawl.  He’s got the pushing his body up with his arms part down pat as you can see below.  The rest of the time was basically him flopping onto his chest, pushing himself up and backwards, eventually pinning himself up against the wall and getting frustrated.  The little moose has been trying to eat us out of house and home and continues to pack on the pounds.

 

Thanksgiving 2007

Thanksgiving was mostly a quiet affair as unfortunately we were all sick to different degrees…  But as we usually are able to do, the whole family got together to celebrate.  Between Auntie Amy, Auntie Tricia, Gma Roo, Gmi & Bapa-I don’t know if my kids realize how much they’re loved but I know they will never want for an amazing family.

Here are Bapa and Miss Kate getting ready to water the plants (4 year olds have their own ideas of what is most important ).

And here are Jake and Aunt Amy hanging out waiting for the good grub!  My son you know, is all about the food.

And finally, the morning after Thanksgiving, Gma Roo and I made our usual trek (or insane dash for the savings, depending on how you feel about Black Friday) for a little Christmas shopping.  The funny thing is that Jake didn’t even join us but he was apparently worn out on our behalf. 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  We truly hope that this holiday season is safe, happy, and full of joy for all our friends and family!

7 months old today

Kate and I were discussing the fact that Jake is 7 months old today and she asked a great question…  Is it his birthday?  I replied that it wasn’t but that we recognize each month a baby is older, typically until they’re 2 years old, just because they’ve spent so little time with us so far. 

After all this wisdom from the mouth of babes ;) I thought why don’t we apply that more in our general lives.  Don’t just wait for the big ticket items to celebrate but take joy and notice the little milestones too.  So this week I’ve decided that we should celebrate:

• Kate’s 2nd week anniversary of successful eye therapy
• Pete signed off on shipping VS (OK, so this is a big one, but those aren’t excluded )
• Jake is 7 months old
• I completed the 2nd WEM Sprint without killing anyone (for those of you who don’t know Scrum Project Methodology, trust me when I say that you don’t want me to explain but that this is a good thing )

And as always, the mandatory photos:

He who has the most cups…

…Wins!  Jacob has his new favorite toys.  Even the kids at daycare are making sure he has cups to play with (probably because he screeches at them if he doesn’t have them). 

Asleep at the wheel

This weekend was a new set of fun for the kids.  Kate gets to revisit one of her most favorite toys ever by introducing it to her brother.  The merely annoying, musical, steering wheel, button filled, only makes sense to an infant….  Ta da!!!

Unfortunately we didn’t realize how much the driving had gotten to Jacob until a little later in the afternoon.  Jacob was playing away quite happily (= noisily) in his high chair when Mom’s sixth sense finally picked up that the cooing, “da, ada, da, da”-ing, and general screeching had ceased.

And you thought he was cute awake!

Now… For a random Jake-ing

Why?  Just because…  And remember, pay no attention to the woman behind the Jake.

Kate’s good news

 

We visited Kate’s new opthamologist, Dr. Heidar, for the first time on November 1st and we’ve already got some good news!  She’s been wearing her glasses for a little more than 2 weeks and even without patching yet, her left eye is beginning to recognize input.  She was able to read letters and numbers at a magnification of +250 (vs. not being able to read them at all at her last exam).  To ensure that we get the most out of the window we have available to treat her condition though we will need to have her patch her right eye for 4-6 hours a day until her next check-up in about 2 months.  At that exam we will assess her eyesight again and review the prescription to ensure it’s correct.

I met with Kate’s teacher, Miss Reidy, and we’re all squared away for the patching therapy at school.  Kate has been a trooper about wearing her patch so far and she isn’t fighting us at all.  Really, things are going well and Dr. Heidar expects Kate to overcome the amblyopia without lasting side effects.  We’ll let you know more when we do.

And “Boo” to you too

Kate and her best friends Juliana, Kendal, and Yvette all got together today for a play date.  Being this close to Halloween we decided to get a little more mileage from the costumes.  So may I present (left to right) Princess Yvette, Miss Cat, Cinderella, and Harvey.  Sorry that last one’s a bit off, Kendal’s not 6′ nor is she invisible, so let’s call her the White Rabbit.