Castle Chronicles

wow!  we managed to survive a very active, busy weekend with minimal crying and screaming.  we helped with the comic book stand on friday night at "boo at the zoo."  of course in our hurry to get out the door, we forgot our camera so we're waiting for photos to be emailed to us before we can share.  not too many animals are out at our zoo on chilly evenings in october, but c did get to see lions, hippos, zebras, and a peacock, as well as many small wild children.  we got c to bed around 7:30pm and she slept until 8am on saturday. we spent most of saturday, preparing food for the reformation dinner that our church hosts every year.  once c woke up from her last nap we headed down to the springs to run errands and help set up/decorate the fellowship hall for the dinner.  once again, we didn't get c to bed until 7:30pm.  once again, she slept until 8am sunday morning. sunday rolled in, we went to church as usual.  we headed straight home af...

we made it to nebraska safe and sound.  we made it back home safe and mostly sound.  c does not want to go for car rides anymore.  we don't want to take her for car rides (at least not long ones for as long as we can avoid it). it was great to see everybody. it was a joy to see a dear friend happily married.  but... c is very happy to be home.  she loves her crib.  she loves her room.  she loves her toys.  she loves her daddy's toys.  she loves the doggie. c loves saying hi.  she practices all the time.  she especially loves saying hi to j's plush gandolf. c has also started crawling for real.  she was very excited to be able to crawl from one end of her bedroom to the opposite end of our bedroom.  she still reverts back to the inchworm on harder surfaces, but she's quite fast on the carpet. m's back still dislikes long car rides as much as c does.  forecast calling for 8-14 inches of snow tonight despite it ...

well, we thought a 1/2 pound + weight gain was good.  then the dr's office called and asked us to keep a food diary to make sure c's getting enough calories.  we did.  the girl eats almost a pound of food and nurses 6 times everyday --- well within the recommended intake for a baby her age.  she looks and acts healthy, but she's not where their magic charts say she should be so they're driving us crazy!  so for now, they suggested more meat & starch.  they want us to have her checked again in about a month, so we'll see where she's at when she's 1 year old ('cause that's only 1.5 months away). c's now proficient in pulling herself up to standing.  she simply needs improvement in getting back down.  so far she only knows how to get back down by falling, which she has not been doing very gracefully.  she got her 1st bruise during one of her many falls on friday.  she also bumped the side of her crib hard enough to get a bloody nose ...

we woke up to 3-4 inches of snow on saturday morning, and we probably saw another 1-2 inches fall before the sun came out in the afternoon.  c was absolutely fascinated by the falling white stuff.  she kept trying to grab it off the windows.  neither her or the dog have figured out the difference between what's inside the glass and what's outside.  we made sure c got her 1st taste of good clean, white snow.  we let huan eat whatever snow he wanted 'cause he also thought the snow was big fun.   c got a new toy this weekend, which has encouraged her to start pulling herself up from sitting to standing.  after a couple of days of banging on this bargain activity table, she's now able to pull herself up on her own.  the dog tries to help by nudging the buttons with his nose, which c thinks is hysterical but huan doesn't seem so sure.  c loves the doggy & we're pretty sure she's trying to say "doggy" both vocally and signing. our w...

the aspens are losing their leaves.  the pine needles are falling.  the temperature has dropped from the 80's to a high in the 50's today and 30's tomorrow.  boo.  thankfully, it's colorado though and we'll be back in the 70's late next week. c's cold is mostly gone, just a bit of lingering snot left.  now the battle to encourage more independence begins as she became very clingy while sick.  m's back simply can't handle a constant cling-on, even if she's a lightweight.  c likes to cling to j too so that helps, but we certainly are fond of her being able to play on her own when we're nearby.  more dishes and laundry get done that way:) c has discovered cheerios and loves their crunchy goodness.  crackers are pretty good too as long as we break them up for her.  (otherwise, she shoves the whole cracker in her mouth at once --- which she thinks is big fun until she chokes). she likes it when we move things up and down, and has finall...