More "Firsts"

Last week Andrew learned to do three things: Eat his chunkier food without choking, drink water from a sippy cup, and do the inchworm crawl. He finally gave up trying to coordinate his hands and knees to alternate and just decided to find another way to get around. Boy, is he a happy baby now!

Nine months old.

Learning to crawl.

This is what Sarah decided to do when I left to turn the oven off in the kitchen....

Andrew after Sarah fed him applesauce....

An expression we have seen a lot of lately!

Oddly, they seem to be in the same mood.... (See above and below.)

Sarah giving Rosie some much needed love.

New

It's a new year and new things are happening in our house. After getting over the "holiday let-down" (the few days after Christmas when you realize all the hoopla and chaos is over for another year) it always feels good to purge the house of a few things, put away the new loot, and pack up the Christmas decorations. I'm always surprised at the square footage that we reclaim on January 1st.

Andrew will be 9 months next week. We are quickly closing in on a year! This weekend, per doctor's recommendation, we began the transition from formula to whole milk. He eats baby cereal for breakfast and about 4 jars of baby food per day. We are starting to add some snacks in between feedings, too. He has an aversion to chunky foods, so we are slowly working on getting him to tolerate gumming soft noodles, eggs, etc. He is working so hard on coordinating his hands and knees to crawl. He's also getting pretty close to being able to flip from his knees to a sitting position. I find myself on the floor coaching and coaxing him to move forward. But, in the back of my mind I am thinking about the freedom I am going to lose. As it is right now, I can go about housework without watching Andrew's every little move. Sarah is a big girl and can play in her room or independently in other areas of the house without getting into trouble.

It's been really fun watching Andrew's cognitive ability develop. He loves books and interacts well with them. He also engages in fairly long stretches of play with his toys. Andrew is a happy baby that loves to be with people, but the one that makes him the happiest is Sarah.


Last weekend we transitioned Sarah into her toddler bed. Well, let me rephrase that.... We removed the front of her crib to convert it to a daybed without any warning to her. The first two days she was pretty discombobulated. The first night it took 2 hours to get her down. The second night was slightly better. The third night was perfect. All things considered, it could not have gone better. I'm not sure she has figured out that she can get out of bed when she wakes up. And, I'm not going to let her in on that secret yet. I can't complain. Both our kids sleep for 12 hours nearly every night.

Before....

And, after....

Sarah is pretty much potty training herself. I wouldn't say that Sam's Club is in any immediate danger of losing my diaper money, but she is certainly making progress. She usually informs me that she is going to go "pee-pee" and then takes off the the potty. She gets her pants down (if they aren't fastened), her diaper off, puts the step-stool in front of the potty and puts her little Dora seat on top. She can pretty much take care of everything except getting the soap on her hands to wash afterwards. I really have no clue what I am doing and I lack the consistency to actually train her. Every day that we are home together I tell myself to remember to have her go once an hour. But, I always forget. About half the time she forgets, too, which is why I will still be purchasing diapers.


Michael continues to have new ministry experiences, including a funeral/memorial service and a grave-side service. (I can only imagine what some of you are thinking....) In the fall he married his first couple and he has a few more weddings coming up this spring and summer. He is busy ramping up for the spring semester with his college students and young adults.

What's new for me? Staring Monday I will have jury duty for the first time in my life. I'm really bummed, even though I know that is is my patriotic duty to serve. I do have two books that I am looking forward to reading while I sit in a dark hole in the county court house. Other than that, I'm serving on a committee to plan our agency's first ever Vietnam Heritage Weekend that will happen in June. There are some really neat and talented adoptive moms on the committee, so we should hopefully pull off a successful event.

Hope everyone's 2008 is off to a blessed start!

New Year's Eve gathering at Chuck and Jean Anne's