Gobble Gobble

Things I’m thankful for on this, my very first Thanksgiving: Strong tummy muscles and balance (YAY! I can sit up by myself!); Norman the kitty; Grandma Jan’s big bathtub; tummy gummers; my pink and white fluffalump; rides on Daddy’s shoulders; Baby Orajel; and, of course, all of my family and friends who love me so very much.

I’ve been on rice cereal now for about two weeks, but on Thanksgiving, I got to try pureed apple for the very first time. Initially, I didn’t know what to think about the sweet-tart taste and strange texture, but I’m gradually getting the hang of this whole eating-from-a-spoon thing. Next, I get to try smooshed-up green beans. Mmmmm.

To commemorate my first Thanksgiving, my day care teachers made me my very own place mat. It’s a small rectangle of laminated paper printed with Thanksgiving-y pictures, and in the center of the mat is my pretty face superimposed on the image of a girl pilgrim. It’s very festive.

Since my last report, I’ve learned how to clap! Mommy heard that most babies don’t clap until they’re at least ten months old, so she’s pretty proud of me. At first, I tentatively brought my fists together during the song, If You’re Happy and You Know It. Now that I’m a more advanced clapper, I applaud with wild abandon while gleefully bouncing and squealing at whatever delights me (Daddy's kisses, squirrels, my feet, Normie...).

I’ve also established quite the repertoire of consonant-infused gibberish. My favorite sounds are, lalala, dadadada, bababa, and the combo, ladabadalala. When I talk, I move my toothless jaw up and down and wiggle my tongue all around. Since we’re on the topic of adorableness, you should see my hair. It’s growing in quite nicely, especially on top, and is reminiscent of baby duck feathers. It’s sooooo fluffy and soft.

So, I went for my last well-baby exam a couple weeks ago and learned that my weight and height are leveling out a bit. Daddy was right on about my weight (15.5 pounds), but I grew only half an inch taller in the last three months (27 inches). Dr. Jan told my parents how healthy and bright I am. What a perfect assessment! Everything about me is sunshiny bright.

For the record, Mom feels very bad about poking fun at Daddy for losing one of our photo memory cards a few weeks ago. It wasn’t nice. After all, it was just a thing. It’s not like he lost the entire camera, case, both batteries, and the other memory card. That would’ve been tragic, which is precisely why Mom feels so bad.

You see, the camera and afore-mentioned accoutrements just happened to be in Mom’s possession this weekend when they mysteriously disappeared. We completely retraced our steps, plus we scoured the house, vehicle, bags, purses, and everything else that could’ve possibly been harboring the missing camera. But it is tragically, heart-breakingly, eternally gone.

Despite this dramatic set-back to our photo-sharing regime, we will persevere. In fact, we were just thinking how great it would be to have a combo camcorder/camera to capture all of my upcoming “firsts.” After all, I’m much more mobile now, so we clearly need to incorporate action-filled videos into our photo library. I’m pretty sure that Santa will be coming to our house a few weeks early this year…

In the interim, if my parents can figure it out, they’ll try to add a few pictures to this site via their camera phones. Until then, Happy Holidays!

My Day In Court and Other News

Here I am! Did you miss me? I know I've been MIA lately, but hopefully I haven't lost the interest of any of my regular blog visitors. I have lots of fascinating tidbits to report and we finally accumulated enough blog-worthy photos to share with everyone. There was an unfortunate photo incident, but more about that later.

First of all, how cool is Halloween? It's one of Dad's favorite holidays and now I know why. I was quite taken with the pumpkins, costumes, and excitement. I wore a cozy green sweet pea costume. How appropriate, right? I had a great time trick-or-treating with Benji and his pups, and I even got about six treats in my tiny pumpkin pail!

Something quite significant for our family took place yesterday: My adoption was finalized! Our case was assigned to a very nice judge who conducted a lovely ceremony as she signed the official paperwork. I was in such a happy, giggly mood during the entire proceeding. The judge even let me sit on her bench and play with her gavel while she marveled at what a sweet baby girl I am. It was a joyous day for our little family.

Since the last time I checked in, I've mastered the fine art of squirming. I roll and wiggle and worm my way across any flat surface. What can I say? I have places to go, people to see. I'm very close to sitting up on my own. In fact, I can keep my balance for quite a long time before I eventually tip over.

Some recent discoveries: I have a belly button. I love balloons. Peek-a-boo is the best game ever. Norman is fun to lick. I love to be hoisted up in the air over Daddy's head and flown around the house like an airplane. Vrooooom!

Mom is delighted with the fact that I am completely fearless around animals. I haven't met an animal I don't love. Dogs, cats, pot-bellied pigs, chickens, you name it.

So, about the photos. Someone (we won't say who, we'll just call him Shmaddy) accidentally left one of our camera's memory cards at the Costco photo counter. Unfortunately, it hasn't resurfaced despite Da -- I mean Shmaddy's -- attempts to find it. He even left our phone number with Costco in case someone returns it. But, we've been making up for lost time with daily photo shoots so we should have more photos to share in the coming weeks.

That's about it for now. I'm still showing signs of teething, but I haven't actually cut a tooth yet. I'm going for my next well-baby check up on 11/13, so we should have good news to report next week. We haven't taken bets for my weight/length in awhile. Any guesses? Mommy is guessing I'm about 16 pounds and 29 inches long; Daddy thinks I'm 15.5 pounds and 28.25 inches long. We'll see...