Busy Summer

We had a fun and busy summer. So busy, in fact, that we didn't get around to blogging very much. New photos in the album. She's looking more and more like a little girl and less like a baby.

From DelaneyJeanette

Our Top Chef

We took these photos a few weeks back. Our friends Drew & Deepa Buss had the mini-chef gear and Delaney loved it. More photos in the album.

From DelaneyJeanette

left right left right

Delaney is a walking machine. This week she switched from "mostly crawling/some walking" to "mostly walking/some crawling". She's had a very obvious increase in confidence and ability, and it's been very entertaining to watch her move around the house, from backdoor to bedroom and back again. It's a far cry from a year ago when we could place her on her blanket and there she would stay.
She's also getting good at following directions; tell her to take these shirts to Daddy, and she does it. She was also handing me her clean clothes so I could fold them.

On Thursday we took Delaney to her first baseball game, the Lincoln Saltdogs at Haymarket Park. She had a good time crawling around on the berm, and had plenty of activity to watch.

New pics are in the album...

From DelaneyJeanette

Video Test

Testing the new camera with Delaney walking around a bit...make sure to hit the HD and fullscreen buttons.

She's on her way!

From DelaneyJeanette

Delaney put all the pieces together today and decided to go ahead and start walking.

16 months

Well, after a month of ear infection, cold & cough, stomach virus, and double ear infection, everything seems to be settling down, other than the fact that Delaney now seems to have a bottomless pit for a stomach. I assume she's just trying to catch up on the weight she lost, but Jiminy!

She's been increasing her vocabulary bit by bit...she now says "outside", "night night", "all done", "more", "daddy", "mommy", "mine" (it might be "milk", though), "more", "go go go", "hi", "hello", "bye", "no", "baby", "puppy", and I'm sure there's some other things I just don't understand.

Her teeth are still coming in and her hair is filling in nicely, and she's well maintaining her cuteness quotient.

There was something else I was supposed to mention also...what was it? Oh yeah, she walked by herself tonight.

Some notes

Delaney went to her first pancake feed this morning.  She took her time and examined the room and then had some tasty pancakes and bananas.

She has two teeth now, upper and lower, and she's working on a couple more.  If you say "teeth", she'll start playing with them with her tongue.  

She's also started standing on her own.  She'll lean on me and then let go for a little bit, over and over.  You can tell she's working out the process, and seems to really enjoy it when she can do things like this on her own.

This week she's had an ear infection so we've been dealing with that, but at least it's not an ear issue.

She loves her shoes and socks, and tries to put them on herself.

It's hard to believe she's almost 16 months old.

15 Months

Delaney's 15 months (plus a couple weeks)!

She's really growing and changing...she's getting better and better at cruising and crawling and eating and talking and throwing fits and all that baby kine stuff. She's not quite ready to walk by herself, but she has a grand old time pushing around an upside down laundry hamper.
The other day she was standing at the sliding glass door, shouting....not screaming, but shouting. I don't know if she saw something, or was telling a story, or what. That's our girl.

From DelaneyJeanette

Delaney All Better

Delaney's feeling all better now, and the doctor says you'd never know she had ever been sick.
Actually, I think she's a little more active/rambunctious since coming home from the hospital.

Here are some videos of her moving around the living room. Enjoy!

Delaney Update, pt 2

We're home!

Delaney's doing much better, so they let us loose today. She still has to take some antibiotics and do some albutarol treatments, but we're definitely out of the woods.

Now we have to catch up with everything around the house. Thanks to everyone who wished us well, or sent us flowers, or ordered pizza! It definitely meant a lot to us.

Delaney update

Last Wednesday Delaney was diagnosed with RSV. By Thursday she was diagnosed with pneumonia, so we admitted her to the hospital and have been there since. Jess and I have been spending nights at the hospital (in a room with no wireless access of course) and alternating coming home during the days to clean up.
She's doing much better now...if she keeps up the good eating and drinking and comes off the oxygen successfully, we may be able to go home tomorrow. She has a lot more energy now, and as a consequence, has almost as much cabin fever as we do.
I was really not looking forward to seeing Delaney wearing an oxygen canula again.

New, unrelated pictures are in the album.

Rockin'!

Delaney tries out her new rocking thingamajig...





She's doing pretty well...starting to regularly mimic noises we make (which, apparently, means I have to stop making monster noises). She can also touch her head, nose, and mouth on command (or at least, when she feels like it), so I'm sure Harvard will be calling in a day or two.

Happy Holidays!

Delaney, Joe and I traveled to Scottsbluff for the Christmas holiday. We had lots of fun visiting my parents, sisters and their families. Delaney especially enjoyed watching her four cousins run circles around the house. We also were able to spend a few hours with my cousin Ross and his family, Kristin and Baby Brig.

She has currently mastered pointing and is curious about the names of everything. She is quick to offer her toys to you, but just as quick to take them away. Not so sure about sharing yet.

New photos in the album. Delaney met Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

What an exciting year! It has really shown us how blessed we are. Delaney has changed our lives and made everything even more fun. (Well, almost everything.) We have also experienced an amazing amount of support and generosity from all of our friends and family. Our deepest thanks to all of you.

Here's to an even better 2009!

From DelaneyJeanette

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!