Nine Months Old and Baptized

The baby stage is going fast with Adeline.  She had her check-up this week: 19.8 lb (75%), 29 inches (95%), and 25.5 cm head (90%).  She is crawling and "coasting."  She pulls herself up on everything.  She waves, gives kisses, claps, does "so big" with arms up, mimics raspberry sounds, and drinks water from a sippy cup.  Her first word was "duck," but it sounds like "daak."  She said it during our California trip, but we were not sure if we heard her correctly.  Now she says it every time we see a picture of a duck in one of her books.  She is also now saying "dada" and "mama" to refer to us.  The rest of her efforts are still unclear, but she babbles on-and-on so she seems to think she is saying something.  She loves her books and enjoys pulling them from her shelf and flipping though them on her own.  She watches Oliver's every move and wants whatever toy Oliver plays with.

She was baptized at the same church as Oliver.  She is a lucky little girl and had her crew of family and friends there to share her baptism and brunch after.  It was a beautiful day.

Water boy

Oliver has had a complete aversion to water activities and getting water on his face since he was old enough to have an opinion.  This summer, we had a few big advances like getting him to play at the pool and playing outside in our kiddie pool.  But, he remained strongly opposed to getting water on his face.  On Saturday, we went to the aquatic center pool and they had the fountains turned on in the kid section.  He nearly did not go in at all, but eventually decided to just stay clear.  That night in bed, he was asking about the fountains and said he wished they were not so high and was thinking maybe he wanted to try playing in a smaller version.  He asked if there were any water parks with smaller water fountains on our continent.  I said I'd look into it.  So on Sunday, he asked about going to the water park again.  We decided to go to the splash park at the park near our house (one which he never wanted to play at before).  What followed blew my mind. Our water hating child was running through the fountains, basking under the daisy shower and laughing through the body misting arch.  He played for nearly two hours.

I've learned that my son is truly capable of just about anything.  However, he will only do things in his own time.  He does not hurry through life.  He takes it all in and when he is ready, he embraces it with an open mind and heart.  

First trip to the ocean

Adeline took her first trip to sunny California over Labor Day weekend.  Meghan and I took her on a girls trip to visit my friend Staci in Redondo Beach.  She did great with the travel (even the red eye flight home).  She had a great time walking in the ocean for the first time.  Looking forward to taking both kids on our next beach vacation.