Keelin's First Christmas!

Check out the Pictures!.

Swimming star

Keelin has had a great week at swimming class. She does lots of different moves now, including: sliding through the water being held, float face first among Dad, Angela, and Natalie, 'elevator' straight down into the water and back up, and she's liking it.

Keelin Movies!

Check out some Keelin Movies! We finally put together a few short clips from all the video we've taken, hope you enjoy them. The quality isn't great, so if you'd like to see a better version just let us know and we can mail a CD or DVD with the full-length high-quality versions.

Keelin, 7 months!

Check out her Picasa Album for pics of October 20 through November 19. We'll take a few more between now and then too, and the traditional on-the-19th shots.

Keelin Warrior Princess is changing so much! She's really talking now, and dada is her favorite thing to say. On Friday November 14th she slept ELEVEN hours, and when she woke up she rolled over on her tummy. She's been rolling over for awhile now, but that was the first time she did it first thing in the morning. She's eating all kinds of fod now, and she and Kim have a great time with meals. She's sitting up nice and strong, and even pulling herself up to a sitting position (if she is reclining). Her swim instructor claps each time Keelin swims with her, so now K is clapping. Sometimes she can make a sound, but she's still working on it. Tonight Mike threw her a ball and she CAUGHT IT! I thought it was a fluke, but she did it several times. She and Mommy clapped like mad at that accomplishment! She has a great sense of humor, and laughs all the time, gives hugs and kisses, and smiles at you as if she knows what you are thinking. We're so in love!

Rock the Vote!

Miss Keelin was a big hit at the polls, they were hoping she'd stay with them and pass out 'I voted' stickers. She helped her Dad vote (directing him from her perch in the backpack), and even got her own sticker. Only 18 more years and she can do it herself!

From Rock the Vote

Teeth!

It is hard to see, but we can definitely feel a tooth poking through! Last Friday, Halloween, she was chewing on my finger and I suddenly got jabbed. Sam has been very concerned that she doesn't have teeth, so we made sure to tell him immediately. He decided that she can eat spiders now.

All about texture

Keelin is very open to trying new food, but she definitely has opinions about texture. Banana and avocado have not been well received, they almost make her gag. But peas, which didn't smell great to me, went over really well. So I think she has trouble with the slimyness of bananas and avo. We'll keep trying though.

Now she's had rice cereal, oatmeal, carrots, yams, peas, banana, avocado, and apples. We're still mushing everything up, but she tries to chew it anyway so I think it's time now to start offering her chunks of the softer stuff so she can gum it.

Happy Halloween!

Keelin had an amazing Halloween weekend! She had a great time on her first Halloween night, watching the neighborhood get ready and then seeing some of kid's costumes. She has a pretty early self-imposed bedtime, otherwise we would have kept her up to greet more of the trick-or-treaters.

We had 2 pumpkins carved and lit up, and sat on our porch to give out candy and watch the fun. Our friends across the street (in my old house) had their house all done up, with ghosts and a fog machine. The kids loved that, and some of the younger ones were pretty scared.

Keelin has really changed in the last few days, sitting up and playing with her toys, carrying on conversations, drinking from a cup with more skill, and inch-worming around the floor. We have all heard her say 'hi' before, but now she's adding 'da' and 'ma' (we've all heard it). She's babbling a lot now, which sounds much more like words than the sounds she's made before. And kisses! A Keelin kiss is the best, she grabs your ears and plants a big one on you. I think we should offer Keelin therapy to unhappy people, because she makes you feel like dancing with joy!

Check out her Picasa Album for pictures taken on Halloween. She's having carrots, one of her favorites.

Apple slice and her munchkin

She tried an apple slice in her munchkin today, and that was a semi-success. She liked it at first, but then tossed it aside. I'm going to try it again when she's a little more hungry (she just had her milk). It's great for teething cause she can gum it like crazy, but only gets little tiny bits of whatever is inside. Can't wait to try lots of things in the munch.

Solid food, continued

This girl loves her food. She's had rice cereal and oatmeal, sweet potato, and carrots. The sweet potato is her favorite so far, she got a look of wonderment on her face when she first had that. She's really good at feeding herself, she often takes the spoon and puts it in her mouth. Unfortunately, she sometimes grabs the bowl of it and gets food all over her hands, but she is getting the idea. She loves to drink her milk out of a cup, that is very exciting. She can't handle the cup herself, but she drinks from it quite a bit. We got a small cup with handles for her, so she can practice doing it herself. (We'll start with water so that it's not a terrible mess!)

Swimming lessons are a success!

On Friday 10/23 Keelin had her first swimming lesson. The other 2 kids in her class didn't come, so she had her teacher, Angela, all to herself. For this first lesson Angela kept it pretty simple. She got to know Keelin and MJ, scooped water into her hands and poured it over Keelin's head, and swished Keelin through the water on her back. She was very gentle with Keelin, and when she poured water over Keelin's head she made sure to wipe the water off of her face each time.

I thought it was too loud and chaotic in there with lots of kids running around, splashing, and jumping in and out of the pool, but Keelin loved it. She smiled and laughed, and liked Angela. She did so well that Angela said she'll put her face in the water tomorrow. She'll go three times a week.

We have video of her lesson, will post once we get a video area set up.

Video difficulties

Sadly, my friends who built the business and website 'eyespot.com', have shut it down. We had Keelin's videos there, but you cannot reach them anymore. So, we are making some new and much smaller video snippets of Keelin Warrior Princess, and will publish them on our Picasa site.

Keelin, 6 months!

Check out her Picasa Album from September 20 - October 19 (her sixth month).

Keelin, solid food at last!

Keelin has been watching us intently as we eat, and she finally got to try some for herself. We were going to wait until she was 6 months old to start solid food, but she seemed so eager that we decided to give it a try. Last Saturday (the day after she turned 5 months old), she had some rice cereal, and loved it. At first she made a funny face, but by the third spoonful she was grabbing the spoon herself and enjoying it. She even held the spoon pretty well -- if we position it right she'll grab the handle and put the bowl of it in her mouth. It's an extremely messy activity, and she usually ends up with cereal covering her face, but she doesn't mind. Luckily she enjoys her baths. We got her first meal on video, we'll post a link soon.

She is supposed to try each new food separately so that we can watch for a bad reaction, and the rice cereal has made the grade. This weekend we'll add squash and see what she thinks. We use her milk to make the cereal, so it's not all that different from what she's used to. The squash will be a very different taste, so we're looking forward to her reaction.

Keelin live!

Check out some video of the cutest girl in the Universe!

[update, we have to move these. check out our picasa site.]

Keelin, 5 months

Check out her Picasa album for August 20 through September 19 (her fifth month).

Keelin, 4 months!

Check out her Picasa album for July 20 through August 19 (her fourth month). The one with her and her cup is video of her first time drinking out of a cup. She liked it, and managed to drink some.

MJ also has a few stills on his picasa album from the videos we've been taking

Keelin's first time in a pool!

 
 
Keelin's first time swimming in a pool was Saturday August 7! Jeff and Carrie bought a new house with a pool and a jacuz, Mike helped them move and then we all went over there with pizza to see the new place. They have their own little resort, it's very pretty. James had just bought his iPhone, and took a bunch of pics.

Keelin loved the pool! Mike took her in very slowly, holding her closely while lowering her into the pool. But she was so comfortable, she was soon kicking around, laying on her stomach and her back, and having a lot of fun. She's a little mermaid, like her Grandma Bonnie predicted!

Keelin, 3.5 months

Check out her Picasa album for June 20 through July 19 (her third month).

South Dakota, 7/23-7/29/08

We had a great trip to South Dakota to see Mike's family and friends, and attend his 20th high school reunion. I'll post pics soon.

When we got to the airport in SanD, Keelin started to cry very hard. We had tried to set things up so she was hungry as we took off, so that drinking her milk would help with the pressure change. But that didn't work, and we were a little nervous about the trip ahead. But, once she had some milk she was happy as a clam and we had a pretty good trip. It's hard to change a baby's diapers on a plane, and of course MJ was in the bathroom trying to change her as we started to descend. He said that was a fiasco! But our return flights were even easier, Keelin was her usual cheerful self. The traveling wasn't as difficult as I envisioned.

Everyone was so happy to meet Keelin, and she loved meeting so many new people. Of course she already knew her Grandma and Aunt Carol, and she got to meet lots and lots of other relatives and friends. We got pictures of her with her aunts and uncles and cousins (first cousins, and first cousins once removed), and even got a big family picture with 4 generations. I was amazed at how relaxed she was with so many people, she was passed from lap to lap and just gazed at faces and smiled. Bonnie had set up a crib for her in our room, and she slept beautifully, no worries about being away from her own room. But, when we came home and brought her into her room, she smiled ear to ear to be back home with her aquatic friends.

We had dinner with Bill and Lisa (our first time meeting Lisa), and went to Mike's high school reunion parties on Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and Saturday night. Mike and the boys did some serious drinking on Friday night at Flanagan's, so everyone was moving slow on Saturday but still had a good time. On Sunday, Bonnie threw a huge BBQ with ~60 people, and Mike got to see family that he hadn't even met yet.

I'm pretty sure we managed to go to Taco John's every day (Mike's favorite, but we don't have them here). We all had a great trip, and we're looking forward to next time!

Keelin, 3 Months!

She is amazing! At 3 months she's holding her head nice and steady, grasping and holding things, bringing things right to her mouth, jabbering up a storm, and playing the monster game with her Dad. They growl, and he nibbles on her toes and fingers, and she giggles like crazy. She's such a happy baby. On 7/19, her 3-month birthday, we took her to see Justin, Kristin and Greg's son who was just a couple days short of 1 month. What a difference 2 months makes! Keelin looked like a giant compared to Justin. I bet he'll catch up with her fast! (I stole some of the photos from Kristin's album.)

July 4, 11 weeks

We went to Jeff and Carrie's for the 4th of July, and Keelin wore her red, white, and blue dress from Grandma Bonnie.

She is doing great, healthy and happy and a lovely person. We have a nice routine of eating, having fun, and sleeping. She is smiling all the time, and talking up a storm. She has definitely said 'hi', Mom and Michael and I have all heard it. When she greets people they usually get a smile, and a burble or two. Pretty hard to resist!

She goes for a walk every morning with her Cheriska (Mom), and talks to the red trees that she loves. On their walk they usually see Maximus, the huge (170 lb) American Bull Mastiff who exudes happiness, and Rocky the Rottweiler who is a leaner just like my Stone (also a Rottie). Their owners take the dogs to the park very early so that they can wander off-leash, and the owners think Keelin is the cat's meow.

She loves baths. Even if she's crying on her way to the tub, once she's in the warm water she starts smiling. She's splashing a bit, and loves to have the water poured over her shoulders.

I think we're starting to get better pictures of her, I'm getting more close-up shots, so you can see better how she's changing. I love this set, especially in her towel after her bath, and the set of 3 where she's talking and laughing with her Dad. I also love the one where she is on her Dad's shoulder, and seems to be hatching her plan to take over the world.

Keelin, 10 weeks!!

Sleeping through the night for NINE hours! She's the coolest kid ever. By 6-7 weeks she was sleeping 6 hours, after 7 weeks it was 8, and for the last week it's been 9 hours.

Father's Day

Michael was white-water rafting on Father's Day, so we decided to celebrate on Sunday June 22. Keelin and I got him 2 white rose bushes, one from each of us. In the afternoon, he planted them right outside our bedroom window, and they are beautiful!

(The rafting trip was for Martin's bachelor party. Unfortunately, we won't make it to their wedding in France because it seemed a little too soon to take Keelin to Europe, but we wish Audrey and him the best!)

Keelin, 2 months!

Keelin, 6 weeks

Saturday May 31 Keelin was 6 weeks old, and she went to her first birthday party. Luke turned three years old, and had a great party, with a big jumper, bumper cars, puppet show, etc etc etc. Keelin had fun watching all the bigger kids. She wore her new red, white, and blue outfit from her Grandma Bonnie. (Luke is Fred's son, who works with MJ at Zoovy.)