Ploughing Ahead

The title of this blog refers to the video at the bottom... keep reading for more. But first, we had a very busy weekend! On Saturday Nate went on a hike in Southern Indiana for some Daddy time, and I took Annabel to the zoo with Amber, Nathan and Brooklyn. For the most part she enjoyed the people more than the animals, though she did like the dolphin show! I actually have a funny story from the day - we were walking out of the dolphin show, when I was stopped by an tourist... I'm guessing he was from India. He was with his wife and one of their sets of parents, and he was carrying a huge camera. He asked me if he could take a picture of his wife with my baby! I wasn't sure why, but I smiled and stood by her with Annabel while he took the picture. I can only assume that he wanted her picture because either she's the cutest baby he's ever seen, or because they wanted a picture of the fat american baby. I choose to believe it was the former. :)



Saturday night we went to the KPMG hayride, which was a lot of fun. It was really great to see my friends from there again, and catch up with everyone. Annabel's friend Brooklyn was there, since Amber works for KPMG now, so Annabel was excited about that! Here they are both wearing the same puppy dog hat... so cute!

Pictures from the hay ride - Amber, Nathan & Brooklyn

Family picture on the hay ride

On Sunday, our friends Leah and Bob and their little girl Maggie came to visit... Maggie just turned 1 year-old, so she had a lot to teach Annabel. In this picture, she's showing Annabel where her belly button is. :)

Leah & Annabel

Maggie & Annabel

Play time with Leah & Maggie!

As soon as they left, Annabel crashed... she slept in my arms for a pretty long time... I loved it! Anyway, when she woke up she was all sweaty and had some crazy bed head - check it out!

So this morning Annabel decided to wake up at 4:45... We finally figured out that she wasn't going back to sleep, and got up to feed her. I thought after that she'd be ready to go back to bed - but NO.... she was ready to play! But look at this face - how could I be grouchy about it?

I don't know what happened today at daycare, but all of a sudden Annabel came home and had aged at least a month. First, I learn that she drank 2 whole ounces out of her sippy cup... up until now she had not shown any interest at all. Good for her! Then, we were playing on the ground and she made her first forward scooting movements towards a toy! It's really funny, actually - She plants her face into the carpet, and then pushes with her legs. It's not pretty, but it works. :) Then, for good measure, she did a little walking while holding onto my hands. You can see videos of both of those things below... They are kind of long, but then again these major accomplishments don't happen quickly! So be patient, and Enjoy.... :)

"Ploughing Ahead"

"Wobbly Steps"

That's all for tonight, folks. Thanks for stopping by! :)

Apple Works

Today Nate's office had a family event at the Apple Works, an apple orchard on the south side of Indy. I took off from work early to join them, and we had a really great afternoon! You absolutely could not ask for a better day in the middle of October! There were apples, of course, but there was also a petting zoo and pumpkin patch. Annabel had a great time, though she pooped out at the end of it. Here are some pictures from our afternoon.

Annabel enjoyed petting the goats... she actually grabbed a big handful of this one's neck, so that was the end of that. The goat didn't react, but there's no point in tempting it!

Pumpkin patch

This is Annabel's pumpkin, the one we bought and took home.
She picked it out all by herself (ok, maybe Daddy helped a little).

Me and my pumpkin

Too much fun!

Tomorrow KPMG has a similar event, which we are going to attend. There will be lots of kids there, and a hay ride! This is turning out to be a very festive fall weekend.

In other news, this was Annabel's first half day at the new day care. I was a little bit nervous about how she would do, since she's definitely old enough to recognize strangers. She was great, though! As soon as she saw all the other babies playing on the floor, it was like I wasn't even there. She didn't watch me leave, and probably didn't miss me at all! I think she's going to do very well there.

For those who are wondering, I am also doing well with my new change of scenery. It's been 3 weeks now, and I'm finally starting to feel like I belong at Cummins. I'm getting to know my team, and at least some of what I do day to day. It's an overwhelming change, but I'm enjoying the challenge.

Alright, that's all for now. Look for more pictures later this weekend!

Nostalgia

So I'm eating lunch at my desk, and looking through my friends' blogs. Two of them recently posted pictures of their kids now and the year prior, to show how much they've grown. I know Annabel hasn't been here that long, but already the difference is astounding to me. Here are three comparisons -- I like to include things or people that stay the same size, so you can see how she has grown. I can't believe it's been 6 mos already!

Notice how big the pacifier is on her face, compared to the one below.

The bathtub looks a lot smaller now! Also, this picture shows something we haven't seen in months - Annabel's ankles! :)

We think Daddy has stayed the same size... Annabel definitely has not!

That was a fun little trip down memory lane.... Now I better get back to work!

Weekend on the road

This weekend we headed to Logansport and then West Lafayette, to visit friends and family. First stop - Logansport, where we had dinner with Lisa and Andy and Annabel encountered her first cats. Since I'm allergic to them, she probably won't get the chance to play with too many going forward, either! These two are kittens, and they were just as curious about her as she was about them. It was fun to watch... they checked her out while dodging her grabbing little fists. Very cute! Here are some pics from that:




Because of the kitties and my allergies, we decided to stay at a hotel... these are pics from Sunday morning... a lazy morning, as you can see!

breakfast in bed!

Annabel has some kind of nasy viral cold, which has caused a very severe cough. Since we can't treat the cold, we were given a prescription to at least treat the cough. She's given albuterol through a gas mask... yeah, you can imagine how much fun that is. Sometimes she takes it calmly, but most of the time she is none to happy about it! We only have 4 days left - thank goodness! Here is a pic - it's not nearly as pathetic as it looks.
After the meds, we had breakfast at Bob Evans with Lisa and Andy, and daddy made Annabel a hat with her placemat!
Next we went to West Lafayette to visit Gretchen, Rob, Hannah and Abby. They are only an hour away, but it's been much too long since we've seen them! We had a nice relaxing afternoon... here are some pictures:

Hannah and Annabel

Annabel and Aunt Gretchen

Finally we made it home, and for Annabel it was dinner, gas mask, and then bed. Before dinner, though, she had her first biter biscuit. She liked the biscuit well enough, but quickly realized that it wasn't doing anything to satisfy her hunger. Here's a picture of her trying to figure it out:

And that's our weekend! Hope everyone has a happy Monday.

Gene Simmons is my hero

This picture is for everyone who noted the similarities between Annabel in the video and the Kiss front man.... Annabel is thinking of trying out for the band. Seriously, though, when do you think we should start worrying about this tongue thing? :)

In other news, we took Annabel to the doctor for her 6 month check-up. She measured in at 27.25 inches, and 20 lbs, 6.5 ounces - that's the 97th percentile in both! She's a big girl, but she's proportional! And, for those of you who wonder where she got this size from, I want to let you know that at 6 months I was 20 lbs and 27.5 inches - so there's your answer! Like mother like daughter... :)

Here are some more pics from our play time tonight, and Annabel's nap afterwards.

Our big sweetie

I think Annabel has reached my favorite stage so far.... she is so cuddly, and so curious and fun right now, I just love it! Tonight, she excitedly grabbed my face with both hands and laid a big slobbery kiss on me, complete with tongue. Even though she's got a really nasty cough right now, it didn't gross me out - in fact, I melted. It must be love. :) She is so interested in everything around her... she never misses anything that goes on in a room, and is reaching for everything in sight. Tonight Nate wanted her to take a nap before dinner, and he had to leave the room because as long as he was there she wanted to play instead. So cute! She loves her daddy. Oh - I almost forgot - she is also showing the first signs of crawling! She scoots backwards when she tries to go after something (which actually ticks her off), and she has also gotten up on all fours and rocked a little. It doesn't last long, but it's a start!

We have our 6 month doctors appt this Wednesday, so I can't wait to see where we measure in. Stay tuned! In the meantime, here are some more pics:

Aunt Terri sent her some new clothes, which she was excited to play with.

Thanks Aunt Terri!

It must be her lucky day, because Annabel also got a package from her Grandpa and Nana. She loves the frog they sent, however after hearing the same counting song 20 times, I'm not sure if it will be one of mommy and daddy's favorite toys! :)

Here's a quick video... Annabel's ball popping toy blows a lot of air when you take the balls out of it. She likes the wind in her face.... it totally cracks me up to watch her.

Dinner time

I'm posting a video today.... now I admit that this is not the most riveting video you've ever seen, and it's a little on the long side, but I love it. It's a very disheveled looking Annabel eating sweet potatos, which she really enjoys. What cracks me up about it (besides her hair) is the fact that she stares at the camera pretty much non-stop while we are filming. She is totally mesmorized by it! And then of course at the end she tries to fit her bib, as well as both her fists into her mouth. Maybe Nate and I are the only ones that really finds this amusing, but I doubt it. There are some grandmas out there who I know are going to eat this up! (no pun intended) To everyone else, I won't be offended if you don't watch the entire three minutes - just don't tell me! :)

In other news, I survived the first day... It was your typical first day, filling out paperwork, getting my badge picture taken, etc. I met some nice people, and have started learning about engines - something I never in a million years would have guessed I would care about! Tomorrow will be a heavy information dump, so I think I'll probably need to hit the coffee pretty hard. It's hard to make it all the way down there by 8:00! The commute kind of blows... I made it twice today, actually. I had to go down there this morning for a pee test, and then had 4 hours to kill before the training started, so I went back up to Indy to check out a daycare. I really liked it, so I think we're going to switch Annabel over there. It's a better place, with a separate infant room... that is the biggest thing I don't like about where we are. I think Annabel will learn a lot more if she is with more babies her age and in an environment where she can play on the ground without fear of a 3 year-old running her over. Maybe one of them will teach her how to roll over from her tummy to her back! (She can only roll over one way, and gets PISSED when she gets stuck on her stomach. That really sucks at night when she wakes up angry.)

Oh - I almost forgot one more thing - I remembered that I never filled you all in on Annabel's hearing test after her tubes were put in. We went back 3 weeks after the surgery, and they tested her response to sounds in a sound booth. They said that she responded appropriately for a baby her age, and normally that would be the end of it. However, since she has failed hearing screens in the past, they are going to do an ABR test to identify exactly what octaves and frequencies she can hear. That is basically an EKG for her ears... they sedate her, and hook electrodes onto her head... then they play noises that they know she can hear, observe the brain response, and then reduce the volume/frequency until the brain response goes away, meaning that she can't hear it. This will be a conclusive diagnostic test that will finally provide all the answers we need on her hearing. Hopefully the answer will be that everything is perfectly normal! The test is on Oct 3. I'll keep you all posted!

This "brief" post ended up being pretty long. Sorry!!! More to come later....