Monday, April 30, 2007

11 months... oh dear.

Yes, it has been 11 months since Sara was born... and we are even starting to plan out what we are going to do for that big day... when she turns one! But until then, we can have some fun like we did this weekend... The weather was decent, though not as nice in DC the previous week. Still, we got out and did some stuff... in fact, we took Sara to the playground and she got to go on a swing for the first time... Do you think she liked it?



We also spent some time on her other favorite playground attraction... the slide. Here she is at the top...



and the bottom....



Other than that we basically played around and did work around the house for the most part. I finally got around to working on some painting that I started back on the first day of school in August... which is appropriate I guess, since today was the last day of classes for the Spring semester... and I even mowed the lawn for the first time. But basically there was sufficient time for reading books to Sara and playing with blocks and other toys.... and of course, that other favorite activity... eating Cheerios..



The Cheerios are an important part of the day, in large part because Sara is in serious teething mode again... it looks like she has a couple more teeth coming in on the bottom, still none on the top though.

Danette and I were talking earlier this evening about how tall Sara has gotten (she is standing on her own a lot, and cruising around the furniture too... walking must be getting closer) and also that a year ago we were planning for an imminent arrival of a baby... hard to believe that she is turning 1 so soon... very crazy. And soon our friends Nate and Claire and Gretchen and Phil will soon be know what we mean... what a cool, crazy world it is.

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Sunday, April 22, 2007

Hello, Timmy!

So, I have some meetings in the Baltimore area this week and that afforded us the chance to piggy-back a family trip back to this area to see some friends. We came out Friday night and spent the weekend with Ben, Cari, and Tim. Sara and Tim are only a week apart, so they had fun playing just like their parents. And well, their parents had some fun with them too :)



Sara took her second round-trip airplane ride this weekend. She was a bit more active this time on the ride out, but had fun and we were lucky to have nice people around us. She also took her first flight with only one parent (Mom) on her ride home, which also well.

Basically we just chilled out and played with the kids and caught up... though Ben an d I did manage to get in nine holes of golf... which was a lot of fun, especially given that the weather this weekend was stupendous, not humid nor buggy, and the pollen basically left me alone!!!!

The kids had a pretty good time too, though we worked on sharing a bit, especially when it came to one of Timmy's cool books that baa's like a lamb on every page when you press a button... clearly a favorite. Sara climbed the stairs twice... and as you will see later, was trying to show Tim how she did it too! Sara had a little trouble getting to sleep, but we finally got it figured out too.



One of the highlights was a walk in the nearby park, where the flowers were in full bloom and kids of all ages were enjoying the weather and the color.



Here are some nice pictures from the park, first of Sara and Danette:



and then Cari, Tim and Ben:

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Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Happy Birthday Danette!



Yup, its her birthday! And she is as great as ever. Love ya babe!

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Sunday, April 08, 2007

I'm dreaming of a white..... Easter?



Well, as mentioned in the last post... the weather turned colder here since the shirt-sleeves and a nice after work walk, record setting high temperature weather that we had been having here to.... snow. More on that with the pictures below... but since the easter bunny came to visit Sara for the first time... with two easter baskets even, I thought I would post a few of those pictures first.



Sara had a fun time with new books and toys from the bunny... even some stuffed Peeps. Needless to say, she has had a good day playing. A bit better than her eating lately, either she has become significantly more picky, or eating just isn't all that fun right now... which could be true given that she only has one tooth at the moment. But, she is still eating well enough to have grown to 24 lbs on Friday... and we haven't measured her height, but she seems quite a bit longer. She played with friends Isaac and Julia on Saturday, and even though they have a 2-3 years on her, you can tell she is going to catch up...

So while Sara was playing inside with Mom in the morning, I was out snowblowing for the second time this weekend... only about 10-12 inches on average this time... though on the table on our patio there is a good 2.5 feet or so. Later this afternoon, we decided to go play in the snow, but it was a little too deep in the yard for Sara at the time, therefore we went sledding in the driveway and sidewalk that I had previously cleared... now with 3-4" of the white stuff.



It took her a few minutes to settle into it all, but she had fun and caught a few snowflakes on her tongue too. We also tried to make some snow angels, but Sara isn't really into laying on her back anymore (especially during diaper changes, unfortunately) so that didn't go so well.. but we did sit and make snowballs, and hang out for a while... She even makes a good scale for measuring the depth of the snow bank since she is about 30" tall, give or take...

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Thursday, April 05, 2007

Springtime (and snow) is in the air.... hello, Cleveland



The picture above really says it all about how Sara is approaching life right now, grab the bull (or stroller cup-holder as it were) by the horns and get moving. Up until yesterday we had been having a nice early spring warm-up. In fact, we apparently set a new record high on Tuesday of 80 degrees. So, after work/school each night we have been taking Sara out for walks when we can and she has been absolutely loving it.... she pulls up, looks around, and is excited and engaged for almost the whole walk, always.... pretty cool.



We have also gone out in the yard a few times, even though it has been a bit on the squishy side. Sara was none-to-pleased the first time I tried to get her to crawl in the grass... she just started a slow cry... I guess the grass is so new, and scratchy that she just doesn't know what to do. We have tried a few more times standing with her shoes on, which has gone better... but something to work on.

Speaking of standing, she is pulling up more and more and beginning to take prompted steps or shuffles when we are around (who knows what she is doing at day care in that respect, though, could be a lot more). Sara has also made some first attempts to climb stairs... well just one stair and then she gets back down, but she has fun doing it.

Sara still has just the one tooth, but it is growing all the time. Her eating is far more variable lately than it used to be. One day she will not eat much at all, the next she will inhale everything in sight, and the next she will do both... getting more picky with what she eats too. She will still try new things, though, when she is in the mood to eat... and when that happens the eating goes well, too.



Last weekend we also had a play-date with some of Sara's friends... Here is a picture of Sara going down a slide (another first!) at a local elementary school last Saturday.

Otherwise, things are going basically well here... I said to Danette on Tuesday (when it was 80) that I would have mowed the lawn, but it is in the shop, so oh well... and then it snowed yesterday. Sara has tomorrow off from school, so Mom is going to stay home most of the day with her as I have some meetings I have to be at.... and that seems like most of it.

Oh yeah, can't forget to make a big blog of public congratulations to Nate and Claire who announced they are having a baby this summer... that is mucho exciting. We will be looking forward to meeting the newest Hellman after they all return to the US.

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