9 Month Jade

Alisha says: This past month has been one for exploring. She has perfected the art of crawling and pulling herself up to a stand. She now has two little bottom teeth that have just started coming in. She likes to play in the pantry and loves to go on walks in the wagon. She likes to be chased and loves it when Skye will play with her. Sometimes they make each other giggle which is adorable. We have left her a number of times with babysitters and she has done well with them when I am not around but as soon as I am around she gets so excited and only wants me. I love the little snuggles she will still give me, especially when she is getting tired.

9 Month Pediatrician Stats:
Weight: 16 pounds 12 ounces (25%)
Height: 27 1/2 inches (50%)
Head Circumference: 17 inches (30%)

October

Alisha says: This is what we did in October!

Halloween- A Witch and a Tiger

Dave says: The kids had a lot of fun on Halloween this year. Skye got a witch costume from her cousin Allie to wear around. Jade got the famous tiger costume as a hand-me-down. Skye is old enough and extroverted enough that it was a lot of fun for her to go up to houses and say "Happy Halloween" in a very loud voice when people opened the door. In our neighborhood there are just a few little kids and so everyone was giving them lots of extra candy. Skye had a glow stick wand and her bucket with the light up handle. When her bucket got too full, I dumped it into the bottom of the wagon so that it wouldn't be too heavy to carry and then gave it back to her. Jade rode in the wagon and was very content to sit there and bite on candy that was still in the wrapper.

In the days leading up to Halloween, there was one house in our neighborhood that went all out with lots of decorations that were on motion sensors. Fortunately, the first few times we went by were during the day so Skye could walk around without getting scared. Then, we went at night and coffins were opening and things were popping out of boxes. However, Skye liked all these decorations so much that she never really got scared of them. She even walked right through all of them on Halloween night. At the end, Skye poured out a huge bucket of treats on the floor. We put them in a jar and have been eating them on special occasions. Her favorites right now are suckers, tootsie rolls, and Three Musketeers.

Fall Break in San Diego

Sea World

 Children's Museum

 Beach

Lego Land

Dave says: We always love San Diego in the fall. The weather is perfect and nothing is too busy. As usual, we took the trailer and stayed in Campland on the Bay. Pretty much every day we were in the swimming pool and spa. Skye is very social right now and is on the lookout for random people and kids to say hi to. One new addition this time was bringing the bike trailer for the kids to ride in. On the first day we rode down the path and around Fiesta Island. Later in the day we went to La Jolla Cove and saw the beach and smelly sea lions.

We spent a day at Sea World with no lines and Skye had a lot of fun doing pretty much everything that she wanted. Her favorite rides are Elmo's Flying Fish that spins up high in a circle and the eel ride that she calls "the green one" that takes you up high and then drops you down a bit. The drops made her laugh. She was feeling reasonably brave and even touched a little shark and a stingray. Alisha and I also took turns going on Sea World's newest coaster which goes straight up in the air and is pretty legit for a roller coaster wuss like me. Jade had a good time looking at everything and crawling around in the area for little kids.

We went to the Children's Museum near downtown one morning. There were lots of kid activities from climbing around to painting but Skye's favorite was playing around on a giant jumping bed area with lots of tire-shaped pillows. Then we did a long walk that included a carousel ride at Seaport Village and a trip along the waterfront down to Waterfront Park. I rented one of those electric Bird scooters to zip back to the car which turned out to be pretty fun. Later in the day we rode down to the beach and got nice and sandy. Jade seemed to like crawling around in the sand quite a bit.

We hadn't planned on going to Lego Land but decided to spend a day there. After waiting what felt like a long time for Skye's roller coaster ride we were glad that nothing else was too busy the rest of the day. They definitely don't have the efficiency thing dialed in like Disney. Some of her other favorites included a ride in helicopters that lifted up in the air, a submarine ride that we could all go on, and an airplane ride that went fast in the corners. Overall, Lego Land seemed pretty well-suited for a nearly-three-year-old and so it was worth the trip.

We had a lot of fun and also learned how hard it is to travel with two young kids. On the drive home there was a lack of napping and a lot of shrieking. It felt like we were hauling tons of stuff everywhere and that it took forever to do anything. At the campground, we felt like there was never an unsupervised moment. Skye is still afraid of the ocean waves which is surprising because she likes water so much. At the same time, we also had plenty of nice family moments together. I'm sure we'll be doing the whole thing again next year.

Preschool School Picture

Alisha says: Here is Skye's first school picture!! She loves preschool and her teachers Ms. Bear and Ms. Mansfield. I think snack time and playground time are her favorite as that is usually what she talks about. She has gotten in a little bit of trouble for throwing sand so we are still working on that. I love the little art projects that she brings home.

The Still Hot Days of Septemeber

Dave says: In September, it seems like fall should be almost here and yet the temperatures are still plenty hot. We spent a lot of late afternoons in our pool and Skye has been an excellent swimmer this year. One Saturday we went over to the beach pool at Val Vista Lakes.

A benefit of the heat was lots of very early morning bike rides. One of our favorites this summer when we could pull it off was out to Canyon Lake on the new smooth pavement that they just put down out there. I also saw a few rattlesnakes on early morning mountain bike rides. In early mornings and late evenings, we found that the kids enjoy going on wagon rides around the neighborhood now that Jade is able to sit up in the wagon. She is really well-behaved and will sit there for an entire ride playing with a toy or old food wrapper. Skye does a bit of riding on her bike, scooter, and pretend horse. Often, I am carrying this object on the way home though.

We also had some fun trips to Payson to escape the heat. One weekend we were up there with Christine's family and did some hiking and looking for crystals and geodes. She got to sit in a RZR which she calls "jeeps" and now she has been obsessed with pointing out jeeps everywhere.

At work, September was my busiest teaching time with three sections of the online MBA ethics course. However, I had great students and it turned out to be another good year.

8 Months and on the Move

Alisha says: Jade has grown up so much this last month. First of all after one particularly rough night where she was up 5 times in 5 hours we decided it was time to move her into her own room. The first week was a little rough as she still woke up multiple times wanting to be fed but we have since settled into a steady routine where she goes to bed at 7:00 PM and will usually sleep until 4:30 AM and get a snack and then she will go back to sleep until about 6:30 AM.

She is officially crawling and can go from a crawling to seated position and back. She even enjoys doing a little bit of standing. It is fun to watch her maneuver herself around to get different items that she wants. She is already getting into cupboards and the tv buttons.

Although she is a mommy's girl and wants me whenever I am around she will also sit and entertain herself a little bit. She also enjoys going on walks in the wagon and will just sit and look around and play with her toys. We love her so much and I love her smiles, giggles and growls.