Discovered

Roxy found her belly-button!

See, there it is!

In other noteworthy news, Roxy can now do sign language! We tried teaching her for a while, but weren't too consistent. She finally does "more" but for her it means give me food or drink. I think she may know diaper change. We'll confirm later. Anyway, this should cut down on her and our frustration. Hopefully too she has caught on to the concept and we can teach her more and then show her off to the world as the smartest baby in the world! Oh wait, we have to learn sign language first...

Updating

I think I am going to stop with monthly updates on Roxy and just post as things happen or come to me. With that, as of today the most steps Roxy has taken is 17. She has about 13 teeth which is a lot for her age. She adorably babbles a lot and her latest phenomenon is pointing usually accompanied by "wuzat" which sounds like "what's that." Her eating habits are changing for the worst. She has been picky. Oh what a frustrating thing - trying to feed a hungry baby that gives a tight-lipped whine and turn of the head to something you try to feed her that she has enjoyed many times before. She is very passionate and I like that about her - except when she is passionate about doing things she shouldn't. Anyway, here are some good pictures from the past month.

Stroll in the park. Roxy and I both need to get our more. We enjoyed our outing.

She got herself in this predicament. So you don't think I am cruel, she was laughing when I starting taking the picture.

We do take good care of her, I promise.

Fire!

I almost burned the apartment down. I had a candle on my desk and was printing something. The paper flew off the printer onto the candle which caught fire and inflamed a folder on my desk. I was in the bedroom when our loud, trusty fire alarm went off. I ran to the scene and carried the flaming folder to the sink. After ventilating the alarm went off and we surveyed the damage: burnt head phones, charred spots on desk, melted printer cable, some paper, travel wallet melted, and lots of ash to vacuum. Pretty fortunate! My computer inches away is unscathed.

Where have we been?

The main reason that I haven’t posted in a while, besides being generally busy, is that we do not have internet at home anymore. We cancelled it in conjunction with our landline - saving money and cutting down on the distraction. I have internet access at school and Trish has it at work. Plus, there are wifi connections here and there. Right now I am at the library working on a research paper.

In regards to my last post, Roxy has recovered well and is back to being as active as ever. This week we started Roxy in daycare, http://www.eldc.org/, for one day a week to give her some interaction with more kids and structured “development” and give me some time to get school work done so that I don’t have to stay up so late and can have more time to spend with Trish when she is home instead of doing catching up on what I couldn’t get done during the day watching Roxy. Wow, that was an impressively long, grammatically correct sentence. Or is it not correct? I figured out that I was spending at least forty hours a week giving Roxy undivided attention or taking care of her in some way (laundry, making baby food, etc.). Although fulfilling, it still means I am “working” a full-time job and going to graduate school full-time (I actually take 2 more credit hours than full-time). Needless to say I have some stress in my life. Stress can be good and bad and so it is with me.

Poor Baby

Thursday night Roxy threw-up (Meredith, how is your bag smelling?). Friday it didn't stop so I took her to the clinic. She has an ear infection that was probably brought on by a cold. In combination or as a byproduct, she has a fever, diarrhea, soar throat, coughing, cold sores, runny nose, was still throwing-up, and popped a blood vessel in her eye. To top that off she has a couple of teeth coming in. We took her to the clinic yesterday and they prescribed suppositories. She hasn't thrown up since and seems to be doing better today. It was so sad this weekend holding our pathetically weak baby. She has been cuddly though for the first time. We like that but it sure isn't not worth it.

Cake Face

Here are the pictures I promised. Why do we ever stop doing this? Given everyone's fascination with watching the "baby's first cake eating extravaganza," I think (whether you'll admit it or not) that we all wish we could smear our birthday cakes all over us and people not think we're crazy or immature. I'll be the first to confess.
Thanks and a shout out to Meredith for the pictures.

Happy Video

I finally got around to figuring out how to get video on my blog. So if you want to see a 26 second clip of our genius baby click here:Video.

Partytime

For Roxy's First Birthday Party we had people over to our apartment clubhouse to celebrate. We had 23 adults and five babies join us. It was a lot of work to put on but was well worth it. I cooked all the food in an hour and half but only a third of the food was eaten. I couldn't believe how much was left over! Today was actually Trish's birthday so I got a Cold Stone Creamery cookie dough ice cream cake for her. It was a hit!
So Roxy's cake eating extravaganza didn't go over quite as expected. She didn't know what to do and then started crying when Trish put her hand into the cake. After a few minutes she caught on though and had it everywhere. Sorry the webcam did not work out for those who tried to tune in. A friend took pictures so I'll post some once I get them.
Trish's parents are in town and watched Roxy for us after her party while I had a surprise party for Trish at a local pub. She was surprised and very appreciative. What a day!

ONE Year Old

Can anyone else not believe it? I want to give a quick update and I plan on posting some reflections when I have more time.
Roxy still prefers crawling so she hasn't made any progress since her three steps a couple of weeks ago. She is TOOTHY! Other parents we talk to can't believe how many teeth she has her 10th tooth just came through and second molar. Hopefully that is why she has been crabby. We've had some stressful days lately. She has a few more syllables in her vocab and has recently starting doing a "g" sound which is cute but also resembles a clearing of the throat. One of the cutest things she has been doing is coming up to us and laying her head on us. We love it! She is afraid (cries) of the vacuum cleaner but she faces her fear and follows it around. Strange! She still doesn't realize the danger of falling from things (like bed), or maybe she is just that fearless? She picks things off the ground with her mouth. Separation anxiety has set in. When she sees us when we're with other people she cries until we pick her up. It makes us feel special, but it makes things more difficult.
That is all I can remember right now. Oh, the picture is of Roxy's toy chest we got her for her birthday. It's actually a pine blanket-chest but it works perfect. Thanks for tuning in!

Day in the Park

A front passed by, as you can see from our balcony, and left some lovely weather for us. On Saturday we took advantage of this and took a family trip to the park. Not that exciting but some good pictures.

So Roxy does not like the swing!

She hasn't walked on her own again since the first time nine days ago.

This is classic Roxy as of late. Always reaching out and make a "ahhhooouuu" sound like she is amazed.

Kiva

Thanks to Josh Sandoz I ran across an awesome idea at Kiva. For those socially responsible types, check it out. I realize some may be sceptical, but there isn't much risk. Kiva is the first microlending Web site designed to provide individuals with the ability to connect with and make personal loans ($25-175) to small businesses in developing countries.

Microlending is a great strategy for helping the poor.

The ONE Campaign

Do you ever feel like you want to do more for the suffering poor, I do. Something simple, quick, and easy we can do is sign petitions for things we believe in. Elected officials seem to care what people want. At least they should. Anyway, here (The ONE Campaign) is a sign-on letter at the ONE site asking the leaders of the House and Senate Budget Committees to fund President's Bush's full budget request for International Affairs. If you've never heard of the ONE campaign, check out there site. They are doing good things.

A Million Voices for Darfur

Here is another one. If you do not know what is going on in Darfur Region of Sudan, please check it out at savedarfur.com. Also, please sign this petition, A Million Voices for Darfur.

Firsts

So we have some firsts to report: two induced, one contrived. Firstly, we couldn't wait for one year to give her cow's milk (that is when you are supposed to make the switch from formula). So two weeks early (oh, how rebellious) we decided to start introducing organic whole milk. She likes it.

We also have held off on giving her meat, UNTIL NOW! So our little vegetarian tried some chicken. She didn't like it. Also of note, the spoon was a gift from my grandparents that they used to feed my mom. How cool!

So now the big news. Roxy WALKED! For the whole story, when Nathan was here she took a step, but didn't land it. So I will leave it up to you if you think that counts. Also, Nathan was the first to hold only one of Roxy's hand as she walked. So tonight at the Dancause's home, where Roxy took her first crawl, she took her first step (and remained standing). Thanks Meredith for all of your motivation. Of course, we couldn't stop there. So after several more attempts (probably too many), she made it to three steps. Roxy walks.

Nanny ain't movin'

Click on this article: to read about my great-grandmother in the Orlando newspaper. I'm so proud of her.

Na Na

Na Na was in town! I have known Nathan Powell since birth. Our fathers were and are friends and so we grew up together. Through the years we have spent varied amounts of time together in different seasons of our lives. We can relate well with each other since we come from very similar upbringing. That is one of the joys of our friendship. I am so appreciative that Na Na made the effort to come see me, Trish for only the second time, and meet Roxy.

As for keeping ourselves entertained, we went to a Jet City Improv show on Friday night which was different than what I expected, but there were a few laughs. The main event was snowboarding on a beautiful, sunny day. It was a little icy, but the mountain not being crowded and the view made it worth it.
On Sunday, we went to the 270 foot Snoqualmie Falls and then to China Town in downtown Seattle. Good times, but now back to the books. I have lots of reading...

Artistic?

11 Month Update

In another month of life Roxy proves to be quite the handful. She is active as ever, but still not walking. She can stand just fine, but she chooses not to. We have to trick her into standing. She Two days ago she got her first molar. It looks so painful, just think about a molar pushing its way through your gums. Ouch! That's her ninth tooth and first one to come through in a couple months. In other firsts, she projectile vomited. Trish was the recipient of that fine present. Pretty gross, and they didn't manufacture the car seat very well for cleaning. We are still in awe of how she is developing. I predict she will be passionate, talkative, inquisitive, rowdy, pouty [she already throws tantrums (thrashing on the floor, quite funny right now)oh, and I wasn't trying to rhyme], and demanding. She's is going to be fun (I don't mean that sarcastically - in case you got that impression from my prediction).

No Rain

Seattle had twice as much rainfall as usual in January. I really didn't mind it, but today is the second day of lovely weather and I do prefer that. I took Roxy in the jogging stroller yesterday. It puts her in this zone: no movement, no sound. It's a nice change. Besides that, I've been staying more busy than I'd like with school and taking care of Roxy. I'm getting a lot out of it, but I wish I had more time to hang out with friends, communicate with my geographically distant friends and family, exercise, experience the NW, brush my teeth, etc.

Haiti

I received the following email from a missionary friend in Haiti. Ask me sometime to tell you about this amazing women.
"Well my friend fasten your seatbelts!
Today at hospital General a person was brought in who woke up! after laying in the morturary for 3 days pronounced dead! The family is so poor they were trying to borrow money for the internment so the body laid untouched on ice.
A man from this area 15 days ago died , also woke up in the funeral home.This man wrote and sang "The Risen Christ. sadly he was killed by the guard who thought he was a ghost or worse .The people were so outraged they burnt the funeral place down.
Hundreds of people flocked to the hospital today declaring this to be signs from God ,that He has not abandoned this country and He is Faithful!
I will tell you I am right with them, hands raised and declaring also that my God is a God of Miracles!
Our election is Feb.7 and here in the south the candidate is a Baptist pastor well known Chavanne Jeunne( not Joel Juenne seen on TBN) for his many years of service.
Today it does not matter if democracy comes because people are so excited and thankful that God is with us! God is not a stranger and He is in control of our lives!
I am so excited to be here in this country and as you know I aint!!!! gonna miss God.I truly wish you were here with me .Shalom Judy"