1st Birthday!

We've made it a whole year!! It's hard to believe it's been that long (or that short).
Brian, Angie, & the kids and Kristin came over tonight and helped us celebrate DJ's birthday. She had a good time and really tore into the cake. New photos are in the album.

Tomorrow we head for Dallas, to celebrate Thanksgiving with Matt & Steph (and Maggie & Quinn) and Mom & Dad.

Cruisin'

Delaney cruises around the coffee table...



Getting rid of the hat...





Today I installed a baby gate at the top of the stairs. Within moments of finishing Delaney had already worked her way over to it and started shaking the bars. It's all about ti ming.

Moo cow

Last week was Delaney's first Halloween, which she celebrated by dressing up as a cow. We took her to visit both of our offices and she seemed to have a fine time scrutinizing everyone. It was unseasonably warm so we took the costume off until later in the evening, when several of our friends came over. It was at that point that "Moo Cow" became "Barf Cow", and the costume was retired for the rest of the evening.

From DelaneyJeanette

11 months!

We've reached 11 months! Delaney's just moving right along...she's getting really good at elbow crawling, but hasn't quite figured out how useful her knees would be in crawling. She's also pretty good at pulling herself into a standing position (depending on what she's pulling on) and she love love loves standing. She can cruise the length of the coffee table (as long as it's to the right) and navigate the corner as well.
Friday will be her 1st Halloween, and we've got a nice costume for her so she can go trick-or-treat at both of our offices.
New pictures are in the album...

Goin' Mobile

Delaney's new trick:

Sumter

Sumter

Had a good time in Sumter, visiting old haunts and relearning the streets. The reunion was pretty fun, consisting of a rainy football game (Sumter kicked ass), a picnic at the school, and a dinner/dance. The picnic got rained out, so it was moved inside the school. 20 years later we were eating lunch in the Commons again. We also got to take a tour of the Sumter High and see all the new additions that have been made.

It was a great vacation, but now we're happy to be home with Delaney again. We're really grateful that Mom and Grandma Jan came out to watch DJ while we were off eating shrimp and learning that Spanish Moss is neither Spanish nor a moss, and is, in fact, related to pineapples.

Charleston

Charleston

Charleston has been pretty cool...the street in front of our hotel was under construction so it took a while to find the parking. The hotel was pretty nice, squeezed in among the other buildings. The streets in downtown Charleston are very small, and it's interesting to walk down those streets and realize you're walking through history. The oldest buildings date to the late 1600s.
We took a really good carriage tour, an excellent walking tour, and went to a couple of plantations, Boone Hall and Middleton Place (which was featured in The Patriot, with Mel Gibson). That tour got cut short because of the torrential downpour we were receiving.

Now it's on to Sumter!

Savannah

Savannah

We're getting ready to finish up the Savannah leg of our vacation.

Savannah has been really enjoyable, very pretty. We stayed at the Inn at Ellis Square (A Days Inn joint) which is really nice. It's located within easy walking distance of just about everything and we had a pretty good view from our 4th floor window.

We did a lot of walking around, ate a lot of food, took some tours (including a really cheesy Ghosts and Graveyards tour...the guide was like a cross between Jon Lovitz and Dwight Schrute, but with no talent and an annoying tendency to over-emphasize the wrong words) and generally had a good old time.

Best quote so far..."No ma'am, we don't have any plantations, General Sherman burnt them all down".

Now we're off to Charleston...

10 months!!

Delaney turned 10 months old yesterday. She's getting bigger and bigger, but she's still a wee girl.
She really wants to be mobile, but she just hasn't worked out the mechanics yet.

Next Sunday Jess and I go to South Carolina for a week, so my mom's coming out to take care of Delaney. I think they'll both have a great time.

From DelaneyJeanette

Takin' a walk...

Last week we took Delaney on a stroller ride to the park. It was the first that she took an active part in, as opposed to falling asleep. She leaned forward, hands on the tray the whole time, and was constantly scanning the world as it went by. Very cool.

From DelaneyJeanette

We've also been working with her on standing, and she loves it. Any time we pick her up she tries to pull herself into the standing position (and we help just a little tiny bit). The other night she took it upon herself to latch onto the coffee table and try to stand up. She pulled with all her might and managed to float her butt above the floor for a while, but she couldn't quite get her feet under her. It's only a matter of time, though.

New pics are in the album!

Over the river and through the woods...

This weekend we went to Bolivar, MO, where Delaney got to visit with Grandma Jan and Uncle Maynard.
She had a great time, making her first visit to a mall, enjoying her first tapioca pudding, and having her first big girl bath.
She's getting much better at pivoting on her belly; crawling isn't too far around the corner.

9 months!

Delaney turned 9 months old this week, and is growing like a petite little weed. She's 14 lbs 3 oz, and is learning that she can pivot while on her tummy, and that if she really works at it, she can move from Point A to Point B, as long as Point B is only a couple of inches from Point A.
She gets a cold every other week or so, which results in coughing spells, but her immune system is learning new things all the time and she stays pretty happy through out the process.

Earlier in the month Delaney got to visit with her cousins Ian and Erin Kubik. She had a really good time and went to the Lincoln Children's Zoo for the very first time. The only down part was when we all went to Grisanti's and she Brought The Barf, big time.

At the beginning of August I attended the Doane Woodcarving Experience in Crete, NE. I took a week-long Santa carving class and really enjoyed it. I've really got to work up to doing more than just one project per year, because I really do like woodcarving.

Woodcarving-SantaSlim

8 months!

Delaney is 8 months old today! It's amazing how the time alternately creeps or flies.
Delaney's a little hoot...she's very curious, quick to grab things that catch her eye. She's getting very good at sitting by herself (but she does have a few wobbles to work out). She's not talking but she's been matching tone...she was doing really well with "Hello" last weekend. If her first word is "hello", does that make her a Mac person?

4th of July in Colorado

Hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday. We spent it in Colorado with my parents. Delaney's still working through her cough, but she had a great time. She was a very happy baby, and really enjoyed hanging out with her grandparents. She spent a lot of time in the car seat, but she was a real trouper and didn't let it bother her too much. DJ also rolled on to her stomach for the first time ("Did you put her on her tummy?!"; now we're just waiting for her to do it again.

I've said it before, but she's a very grabby girl (last night during her bath she grabbed a hold of the water bowl and poured water into her face...she didn't seem to mind). She wants to grab/touch/manipulate everything, and I really think we're going to be in trouble when she gets more mobile.

On the way home we stopped in Greeley so we could meet Delaney's cousin Brigham. We had nice visit (and Ross made some really good brats) and Brigham is a cute little dude.

There are a bunch of new pictures in the album...enjoy!

7 months!

Delaney turned 7 months on Thursday. She's got another cough right now (bronchiolitis) but she's just smiliest girl on the planet.
There are some more pics in the album.

This week we head to Colorado to visit the grandparents. Should be fun!

Assorted Stuff

As of today Delaney is 12 pounds even. She's moving right along, but she still has a fair bit of weight gain to go.

She's really close to sitting up and rolling on to her tummy by herself. She's also a very grabby and very chatty little girl, and very importantly, she has an unending supply of smiles to hand out.

I'm posting 2 videos...the first is Delaney learning a new game, the second is Delaney telling a story.

Yum yum

Delaney had her first solid food today. "Solid" is a relative term, because it was basically rice water. She did really well, and particularly enjoyed blowing bubbles in the spoon (i.e., "motorboating").
New pics in the album...

Six of one...

This weekend we were in Scottsbluff to visit Jess's parents. Delaney had a good time chatting with her grandparents, and she even met her great-grandmother Ellen (and DJ only barfed on me twice).

On Saturday Jess and I went on a date and saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Long title, kick-ass flick.
On Sunday Wayne and I went golfing in Bayard. It was a beautiful day for golf, it would have been even better if I could have hit the ball with something resembling consistency.

Today is Delaney's 6-month birthday. She's a killer cutie, and she just keeps growing and growing. She's starting to figure out that she can control her pacifier...she holds it like a little steering wheel. She's also getting very close to turning over..she only needs a little help now.
As always, she's a talker...she tells stories to her toys, to her bottle, to her blanket, to your hand, whatever will listen.

New pics are in the album, enjoy.

On the Road

Delaney goes on her first long trip tomorrow, as we're headed to Scottsbluff for the weekend to visit Grandma & Grandpa Hofmann. Hopefully she does plenty of sleeping during the car ride, and hopefully I don't.

This week Jessica was in Asheville, North Carolina on business, so it was just me and the kiddo. Other than the cough she's working on, we did fine; the house didn't burn down and Delaney was still smiling at me by the time Jess got back.

On Sunday Kristin watched Delaney while I played softball; we're still maintaining that perfect record ( 0-3 ).

Update

On Friday when I picked up Delaney from day care, Sarah the day care worker told me that Delaney had cut loose the loudest burp that Sarah had ever heard from a baby. Daddy's little girl...

Yesterday we went to Deepa's birthday party; it was Delaney's first visit to an Indian restaurant. She didn't sample any of the food, but she did visit just about every corner of the table and met some new people.

Today she went on her very first trip in her stroller, as we went for a walk with Deepa and Maya. Delaney spent most of the trip sleeping, but while she was awake she enjoyed looking at the passing trees.

Yesterday was Delaney's 5-month birthday (already?), so there are new pictures in the web album.




Delaney does tummy time and explains...something.