Paper or Plastic?

Soooo many milestones lately. 
- Walking, nay running.
- Solid food consumption in copious amounts
- 1st occurrence of talking with mouth full
- Bike rides!
- Play dates
- And... Money!

So it begins.
r

2012 Already? Here's What's Been Going On.

The following is a brief, and incomplete, summary of what has occurred in my extended - and shameful - absence from this hallowed b-log. It encompasses a birthday, a Christmas, a New Year, and a new season full of wonderful food and events. Images will be able to tell most of the tale, though I say again that they will tell only a partial story due simply to the fact that I have not been as snap-happy as I once was by half. Very well,  let's begin.

First, Hannah is making great strides these days - literally. She can scream up and down the sidewalk and through the house behind her walker, and she has begun to take unassisted steps. Last night she walked 5 paces from Mama to Momma Donna.

And her vocabulary is growing. She can now say:
No
No - No - No
Uh-Oh (either I dropped something or I'm about to)
Aw'ight! This is said in a Kathleen Turner husk as she gives you 5
A'woh! (Hello - complete with wave)
Bah! (Bye - also with a wave but also with an expression of genuine interest in where the person is going)
Ya (Yes - though it is doubtful she knows that she is not saying, "no")
Mamamamama and Dada are still around though there doesn't seem to be thought connected with the sound.

As she has grown the weather has turned. So too, therefore, has what sounds good for dinner. Seen below is a fine spread from local Fresh Air BBQ: pulled pork, Brunswick Stew, beans, slaw, hot and mild sauce, sweet tea, b'nana pudding, and, of course, an 8-pack of Sunbeam buns. Mmmmmm-mmmmm, y'all!

But I do still high-brow it from time to time with my homemade mincemeat pie (no, there's no real meat in there, just magic). This pie was so good Sarah looked at me and said in a tone of surprise, "the pie is good, Hon." I can think of no greater praise.

But I can't take all the credit. I had some help making it.

Historically, the fall has been my time to be in the best possible shape for Cyclocross season. This year I must say that I am a far better father now than I was a year ago but I am a shadow of my former self in terms of athletics. Oh well. I still look wicked tough, though, don't I?

Sarah and Hannah even came to this race with me... all the way to Augusta. I did my best for them and had a great time. The girls took a little break from their pre-ride-home snack to smile at me.

Hannah's been getting into all kinds of things lately and has been amazing me with her new-found manual dexterity. Her fine and gross motor skills are coming along quite nicely. Shapes and sizes, catching and throwing, these are all things that are coming on faster than I had anticipated.  

She can crawl faster than most people can walk.

 And she can climb: into and out of boxes - into and out of chairs - up and down stairs - and almost into the bath tub. No pics of that here but it would be safe to say that bath time is far and away her favorite part of the day. Splashing and crashing and playing with cups and washcloths. She stays until the water turns cold.

This is the box from the (drum roll, please) BIKE SEAT! Yes! Helmet: check. Bike seat: check. Daddy willing to ride a bike: um, check. Hopefully the next installation of this b-log will include our first ride report. 

more soon, prolly.
r

What is it about Elmo?

I mean really!

Sesame Street struck gold with that one. How does he have such a grip on children?
Let me know if you figure it out.
r

The Vocabulary as of Nov. 14, 2011

Hannah is quite the talker - lots of sounds coming out of that girl these days. Some of them, I suspect, actually have meaning behind them. The first of these (yes, her first word!) was......

Uh Oh

 Yes indeed. If an object leaves her hand and heads for the ground, you can be sure an "uh oh" is not far behind... and there is plenty of that going on these days. Hannah accidentally drops a block, "Uh oh." If Hannah looks at you, grabs some food, and drops it off the side of her high chair, "Uh oh." Hannah throws all of her toys out of her crib at night - yes, "Uh oh." The apple doesn't fall far, as they say. I'm told by a reliable source that my first sentence was, "Uh oh, bloke it." It must be genetic.

Other words in her ever-expanding lexicon:

"Whoa!" This is uttered in any time of excitement (read: all the time)

"Hewoh" This is said when Hannah is feeling sociable. Sarah still laughs thinking about H's birthday party at cake time. We put her in the high chair and pushed her up to the table to meet her cake. She looked at the massed assemblage around her and piped, "Hewoh!"
It was a hit.

And of course, "No!" complete with shaking head. Her comic timing with this one is something special and had Grandpa Wayne laughing on a regular basis. "Hannah, you want some avocado?" "No." "Hannah, you ready for night night?" "Noooo!" Sometimes she just shakes her head and smiles. Whether she's just having fun or practicing for later years is anyone's guess.

Fall Festival & Pumpkin Huntin'

 Fall is our favorite time of year. Great weather, nature's colors, and the season's flavors all make this the finest of the year's four quarters. Each year, Watkinsville (Athens's neighbor city to the south) hosts a great fall festival. It's the kind with pony rides and hay rides, local arts and crafts and local music. Everybody goes: the parents with their children, the middle schoolers go to hang out with their friends. Now that I have been freed from my weekend of restaurant servitude, how could we not go?

The weather was a comfy 70 something and the ground was dry after the week's rain.

We walked and walked. We saw all kinds of crafts, food, face painting, hair feathers, pop-guns, etc. But the only thing we actually waited in line for was...

          KETTLE KORN!

And wait, we did. It took us 20 minutes to wait the line out for this stuff, but I didn't regret a minute after I'd had my first sweet-n-salty bite.  And really - look at these girls! How could I not?

Meanwhile, my social butterflies were making new friends. 

On the way home, we drove by the Baptist Church on South Milledge that always has copious amounts of pumpkins out on their front lawn. After 11 years of swearing that I would get my pumpkin there, I finally did. They have this great method of determining price: a dollar per inch of pumpkin width, height notwithstanding, erring in favor of the customer. We got this pink one for $8!

Everyone was ready for a break after such a busy day

More soon,
r

Cousin Matt Got Married

October is a fine time for a road trip. So much so that Sarah acquiesced to allow Hannah to venture on her longest road trip to date.

It was an eight hour journey by car to Richmond, VA to see my cousin Matt get married. We're still not sure how he conned the poor girl into agreeing. Maybe it has something to do with his rather scatter-shot resume: Historian working at the Virginia Holocaust Museum and unshaven stand-up comedian. Who knows?

The trip up was quite nice and Hannah did beautifully for the entire weekend. It was great to see so much family in one place. I find I'm somewhat starved for occasions like this since my immediate family scattered to the corners of the country.

Pics!

The day we got in, we got settled at the hotel and then headed on over to Dean & Mary's house. It has an amazing, well-built and well-lived-in energy and has changed little since I can remember. A new edition this time, though, was the bottomless pitcher of Mimosa. It was a nice touch.  We went over again the morning of the wedding. Carol & Jerry had just arrived, complete with a new smocked dress for Hannah. Thanks, Carol!

Now, there should be a pic of the ceremony here .... but I forgot my camera.  I did remember to bring it to the reception, but I was thwarted in my photographic ventures by a pine nut finding its way into Sarah's mouth 5 minutes after we arrived. Off to the hospital we went, and there she would stay for the next 16 hours. We were all more than a little displeased at the caterer, who had just cleared S to eat. I'm told Carol laid into the caterer for it, too. Thanks again, Carol.

Benadryl and Epinephrine and O2 masks, oh my.

Since there was no place for me to sit, at the hospital and certainly no place for Lil' H to fray around, H and I were on our own. Really, there was nothing for it but to head back to the reception. Total drag to have been only 2/3 there.

The following pics are ripped from Faceschnook.
Dad and Jerry were taking in the scene.

 

I say again, Hannah was a super-star. No sooner had I gotten back to the party then she was taken from me and passed from one fambly (yes, that's how I spell it) member to the next. Here, Hannah examines her other Uncle Matt while Dean and Anna have a dance party for two in the background.

In honor of Matt S., I didn't shave. In honor of Hannah, I sported a prototype tie. Anna was kind enough not to laugh too hard at either.

Once the party wound down, I headed back to the hospital so H & S could conduct their meal-time ritual. Then it was back to the hotel. That night was the first time they had not been together. H was a very good sport and slept the whole night through.... eventually.

Sarah was released early the next morning. After a little time to recover she felt well enough for us all to head back over to Dean and Mary's for a brunch party. Everyone was there; even this guy who had a really nice gift for Matt and Stephanie-

More soon,
R

In Chi-Town for 18 hours

Today business called. So off to Chicago I went with my bosses, Christian and Mike. In the line of duty I:

- Kissed my wife good by at 6:30 a.m. as she went to nurse down our fussy bebe
- Learned about a new, top-secret, marginally better parking lot at the airport
- Flew to Chicago. It was cold and rainy.
- Toured a world-class bakery guided by the COO, Director of Ops, and the top sales rep. They gave us pretzel croissants (awesome!), fresh sourdough boule (awesomer!), and three flavors of ruggelah straight out of the oven (awesomest!!)
- Saw the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot hotels and the Sears Tower (Beuler? Beuler?)
- Supped and drank wine with a Fortune 1000 CEO. I ordered for the table - yes, he paid. Ate bacon-wrapped dates (awesomester!!)
- Fell asleep at the Hilton (in t-minus 5 minutes...) 

All in a day's work, right?
Right?

Home tomorrow afternoon. I hope I'll be in time to get to Ted's Most Best with my favorite girls!
ah, this sweet, charmed life...
r

___________________
The next day...

Bright and sunny, coffee in hand, I strolled through Millennium Park and Grant Park while my co-workers were in a meeting.
Thank you, Chicago!