Nuts!

Here's a cute video to tide you over for the Christmas break. Micah and his can o' cashews.

tree exploration

twinkly lights make me smile!

Hmmm...I know there's something under this tree for me

I managed to get a few tree photos up! I let Micah explore the tree and the ornaments I'd placed low enough for him to handle. He had a great time picking each one up, tasting it, and moving on to the next one. I drew the line at eating the lights, but he just wanted to touch every one. He came close to opening a few gifts ahead of time, but we're saving that for Friday night before leave on our trip. Thanks to all who have sent packages!

Computer problems

For those who have been wondering why the break, my computer is on the fritz so I can't post much right now. I promise lots of cute photos from Christmas! We are driving to Wisconsin this Saturday, 15 hours--wish us luck. I won't be able to post until January since I'll be at home with the family. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year's!

Nuts about Nuts

O, CHRISTMAS TREE!

Micah loves the nut jar

Micah discovered our plastic jar of cashews this week and the fact that it makes a really cool sound when you shake them up! Of course, he can't have any yet due to the allergy and choking risk, but I figured no harm done to let him rattle them around a bit. He's been glued to it ever since. Dan jokes that we should call our tree a Christ"moose" tree since most of the ornaments on there are moose. Everybody needs a moose on their tree, right? I know it's quirky that people in Arkansas would have such a tree but hey, you can take the girl out of the north but...you know the drill.

Non-Micah-centric post

There's not much to tell this week. We've all got a cold in different manifestations. Micah's got the sniffles but is OK to go to daycare. I've got the full-blown runny nose, watery eyes, cough bit. Dan's got the sinus infection. Gotta love the cold season! My friend Julie had a fun post on her blog, so I'm copying. The following is a list from cuppa java with friends. It's a list of life experiences. I've bolded the ones I've done. How many have you done?

1. Started your own blog (uh, hello?)

2. Slept under the stars (at camp--with the fire and the shooting stars and the whole bit)

3. Played in a band (nope, I'm a piano, choir kinda girl)

4. Visited Hawaii (nope--but Dan's family is from there)

5. Watched a meteor shower (yes--very cool)

6. Given more than you can afford to charity (wish I could say yes)

7. Been to Disneyland (but I liked Epcot and Universal better)

8. Climbed a mountain (yep--with my dad :-))

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped (you couldn't pay me enough... )

12. Visited Paris (yup--for a week in the summer with two good friends)

13. Watched a lightning storm (my brother used to make me so I wouldn't be afraid.)

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (I taught myself how to crossstich)

15. Adopted a child (I've adopted a cat, does that count?)

16. Had food poisoning (Hmmm..I had something like that on my honeymoon)

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty(I went there, but we got there too late to climb it.)

18. Grown your own vegetables (I have a brown thumb)

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France (Yup. It was smaller than I imagined)

20. Slept on an overnight train (no, but I slept on an overnight ferry to Greece)

21. Had a pillow fight (of course!!)

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (not in Venice...)

29. Seen a total eclipse (Yes, in Paris!)

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (it never gets old)

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise (compliments of my in-laws)

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community (I lived most of my life less than an hour fro one of the largest)

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (this is a complicated one, so I'm skipping it)

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke.

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (not to the top...)

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business (does a lemonade stand count?)

58. Taken a martial arts class.

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (--shudder--)

65. Gone sky diving (see #11)

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone.

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican (on Easter!)

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life.

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a mobile phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Read an entire book in one day

Baby, Don't Lose My Number

Micah's been taking an interest in the phone lately, even going so far as to hold his play phone up to his ear like he's talking in it. I took this video yesterday after Micah watched me talk on the phone for awhile.

Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Feel the Burn

We all need to work off those extra few holiday pounds. Here's Micah "feeling the burn" on the stairstepper. (He just couldn't stay away from the weird machine mom dragged into the living room Monday.) I don't know if Micah will be aware of what's going on this Christmas--he's still a little young for that. I'm thinking his focus will mainly be on the crinkly paper. Surprisingly, he hasn't really tried to touch the tree at all.

The apple doesn't fall far...

Anyone who knows Dan, knows that his favorite dessert of all time is brownies. I suppose it's only fair to expect that Micah would feel the same way about the chocolately goodness. Here is a very cute video of him tasting brownies, or chocolate for that matter, for the first time. Can't you just see the pure joy on that little face ? :-)

A Very Corinth Thanksgiving

Micah gives Ms. June a smooch

Playing kickball in the Pace's living room

Mr. Glen and Micah

We made the 5-hour trek to Corinth, Miss., for Thanksgiving and it was so nice to have a delicious meal (that I didn't cook!) and visit with friends. We spent the night at the Pace's house and headed back home on Friday. We decided it would be a good dry run for our 17-hour haul at Christmas to Wisconsin. Micah did great in the car, as long as we took regular breaks to stretch and burn off energy. We put up the Christmas decorations this weekend, too, and I even cooked a turkey so we could have that "holy grail" of Thanksgiving meals--the leftovers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving! We will be making the trek back to Corinth for the day! We're so thankful for him and for our friends and family that have stood by us through our nomadic life and stayed in contact. Here's a video depicting one thing Micah is thankful for. I just have to brag on him for a minute. I had a book out with a bathtub scene on the page this weekend. Earlier, we had been playing with Micah's rubber duckie--"duckie" is one of the first words he could imitate. Whenever he talks, it's hard to know whether he really understands the meaning behind a word, or whether he's just imitating the sounds he hears us say. Anyway, I held up the page and asked him if he could point to the duckie since he seemed to really be concentrating for the moment. He looked at both pages for a moment, then pointed right to the duckie. Now, it could have been a fluke, but I think he really was able to recognize that item! I was so proud. It seems like everyday he understands a little bit more. I'm thankful that we get to be a part of his discoveries.

Sippyyyyy!

We've finally managed to get Micah to drink out of the sippy cup! Not a whole bottle's worth, but at least he's getting the hang of it! He loves to try drinking out of the regular cup, but he often gulps it down too fast and coughs, so we're doing this for now.

Tarzan Micah

Here's a video of a sleepy Micah doing his Tarzan interpretation. You'll hear him and then me, trying to get him to do it again, which of course was unsuccessful! This was a little trick that Grammy Noden taught him during my parents visit. Sorry it's so dark!

Checkup

Micah had a visit to the doctor today for his 12-month vaccinations and check up. The doc observed him walking around the room and pointing to everything and asked us a few questions about the words he can say ("Mo" for "more," "Kitty"--these are words he can say spontaneously. He imitates many other words now like "duckie," "thank you," and "turtle."). He said Micah was doing well! He's also gained some height as we suspected--now 31 inches. The nurse administered the shots and our little trooper did very well, just crying a little during the procedure. Of course, the pain was quickly eclipsed by all the of the interesting and new things going on in the office. It's times like this that I am glad for his curiosity! A few smiley face bandaids later, he is back at daycare, doing his thing.

Entertainment

I love how Micah can find enjoyment in simple things. He's got a floor full of colorful toys to play with, but he lets out the biggest belly laugh of the day while using Pop Pop's hands to clap with.

More birthday

"Wow--this thing is cool!"

"Dad, I'm not so sure this hat is me."

"Hmmm, let's see who this one is from." Micah did sit with us as we helped him open his gifts from guests, but I think he was mostly interested in playing with the crinkly tissue paper and bags. Dan attempted to put a birthday hat onhis head, but he was having no parts of that!

Here are a few more photos from the birthday bash.

snapfish photos

For those who are interested, I have loaded new photos on snapfish. If you would like the password, e-mail me! I'd post it here, but you never know who is reading.

Mmmmm...cake!

Here's a video of that iconic moment--the 1st birthday cake! As some of you faithful blog readers already know, this was not Micah's first experience with b-day goodies. But, it was still a "first" for us. It's fun to watch him play with his new toys--he's still running from one to the other, in awe that there are so many things to do. The rocking horse he mastered in no time, but a few of the other toys he's getting frustrated with because they won't do like he wants them too. We got him one of those old school "poppers" that you push like a mower and it makes a sound. He keeps trying to touch the popper part to figure out how it works, he hasn't quite gotten the message that he needs to push it to make it noisy. I don't think it will take him too long, though. He already loves to push his umbrella stroller around the yard. This morning, he discovered that jumbo blocks are not just good for banging together, they actually stick together so you can build things. It seems that the blue ones are his favorite since he grabs those out of the pile most of the time.

Micah's 1st Birthday!

"Yippee Kai-aaaaa!"

"Hmmm, a bit on the dry side..."

We had a big week! We all enjoyed visiting with "Pop Pop and Grammy" from Delaware and celebrating Micah's birthday. In the photos above, Micah is enjoying his new rocking horse from Grandma and Grandpa Inouye and eating a big slice of his birthday cake. I made a no sugar added carrot cake with cream cheese icing for him and of course, a yellow cake with chocolate frosting for our other guests as well. I think he liked it! We had about 10 people over

including a few kids which made it a great time. Micah got some toys and books as gifts, and I think he was a little overwhelmed with all the new things! Needless to say, he had an extra nap and slept very well yesterday.

Our little puppy

"Grammy, I'm tired"

"Hi, mom!"

"I know there's supposed to be something in here, but what?"

Here are some pictures of Micah all dressed up for Halloween! I cobbled together a "Blue" (from Blue's Clues) costume out of a pair of pajamas with puppies on them and a blue sweatshirt. It's not gourmet, but he sure does look cute. Since Blue has spots, I just cut up an old onesie to get those. The best part of this costume was that I could snip off the tail and spots, take off the slippers, unzip the sweatshirt and waa-laa, bedtime-ready! We didn't end up going to the Halloween party since Micah has a cold and his nose was just running like a faucet that night. He was tired anyway. We'll have plenty of years ahead for him to enjoy the festivities! We did have a few trick-or-treaters come to the house and we carved a pumpkin to put outside, although our attempts at getting pictures of him sitting next to it were fruitless. I'm glad we were able to get this photo-op at least :-)

Happy Halloween!

Our little munchkin in his favorite position

Hope all you trick or treaters out there have a great night! Grammy and Pop Pop from Delaware are visiting us this week so I'm sure they'll have fun watching Micah in his blue puppy suit. Pictures to come! Since the big Homecoming game at Henderson State is Saturday we'll all be trekking out to that as well. Go Reddies!

Brrrr

It's starting to get cold around here! Yes, folks, even us Arkansonians need to throw on a coat every once in awhile. Here's Micah all dressed up in his green fleece jacket, toys in hand. Just the thing for that chilly car ride to daycare in the morning. I've finally decided what Micah

will be for Halloween this year--Blue, from Blue's Clues. It's amazing what a little glue and some jammies can do. Since we will be attending a costume party, I'll be going as "Steve," Blue's sidekick from the show, which means I'll just have to throw on a rugby shirt and call it a day. Now that's my kind of costume!

...And Again

Here's another one!

Silly Micah

Here's our little entertainer! Micah was soo excited when he came home from daycare yesterday "talking" up a storm and just generally in high spirits. Here is a video of Dan holding him upsidedown, one of his favorite things :-) Get a load of those teeth!

Brave New World

Micah really enjoys being outside. He's constantly trying to make a break for the driveway despite the surprise meeting his upper lip had with it the other day!

Micah's infomercial

"Here's Where the bubbles come out."

"And this is how you make it work."
"And here's where you put the battery in."

Micah and I enjoyed some outdoor playtime this weekend! He loves his bubble maker from Aunt Helen. Whenever he plays with battery toys that makes noise, he has to locate the source of the sound--the speakers--and push all of the screws and things that look like they might possibly be buttons. I think he's interested in how things work. His curiosity got the better of him yesterday. You can't really tell in this picture, but he fell on the driveway and scraped his lip a bit. Of course the next day, he was right back trying to do it again!

Breakfast

Here's a little video of Micah eating his cereal this morning--crunch, crunch, crunch. Today I created the invitations to Micah's 1st birthday party! It won't be a huge shindig, but we plan to have a few guests over who know Micah and my parents will be in town then. November birthdays are a tradition in my family. I can think of at least 4 other people in my immediate family that share this month with our son.

Bobbing for Apples?

In this video, Micah is bobbing for his ball--I guess he's practicing for Halloween! We've had a busy week so far. Dan's still receovering from a sinus infection, Micah's getting over a cold and we're all battling the fleas that somehow managed to take over our house despite the fact that our cat doesn't even go outside! In better news, some Arkadelphia friends gave us a load of clothes for Micah that their sons had grown out of--all the way up to size 4! Now all we need is a snowsuit for that Wisconsin weather at Christmastime.

11 Months Today!

I can't believe it. In exactly one more month, our little Micah will be 1 year old! I was just thinking about how many things he's learned over these past few months. His latest accomplishments include, giving "5" and sharing. This morning as we were eating breakfast, Micah took the bottle out of his mouth, unsolicited, and offered it to me as he said "mama." Of course, I dutifully faked a sip (oh yeah, like you'd actually drink soy formula) and handed it back to him. He thought that was just the bees knees :-) He also loves for me to try on his socks, which only fit over my toe. That's one good thing about daycare, he's learning so many social skills and developing his sense of humor.

Overalls

It's no secret that my favorite thing to dress Micah in is overalls. Not because they're easy to deal with (just the opposite sometimes) but they are so cute. Here are some photos of Micah in an overall and longsleeve outfit. We are having some chilly weather and this was just perfect for daycare today. Yes, he's back in "school" again after a couple days at home. Doc says it's another ear infection this time but he's not letting it slow him down too much. Now if we could just decide what to dress him in for his first Halloween!

Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

Micah was fascinated by the rain on Saturday morning. We had a thunderstorm come through and he was glued to the window watching those drops fall and make splashes on the patio. He didn't much care for the loud thunder, though :-) Unfortunately, he's caught another illness and is at home today with a fever+. Dan's got a cold. Inouyes vs. The Bug--take 3. Our Sunday trip to Memphis, while good to get out, was punctuated by phone calls from our dutiful babysitter: "Should I give him the Tylenol now?", "He's not eating, how would you like me to proceed?" Let's just say it wasn't quite the relaxing day we'd hoped for. We're hoping it's a 24 hour bug.

Breaking out the pants

This morning I raided Micah's closet for a pair of pants he could still wear. Well, I found one! We have other larger pairs, but I had them packed away so guess what I'll be doing tonight. We've been having cooler weather, especially in the mornings so he'll be needing a little more than just a shorts romper for daycare. Here's a picture of a sleepy Micah and Daddy this morning.

Let them eat cake!

Feeling a bit blue...
"Didn't your mother ever tell you it's not polite to point?"

Yesterday when I picked Micah up and kissed his head, I smelled a familiar scent. No, not the daycare worker's perfume...frosting. The fact that his hands were blue confirmed my suspicions. Someone had had a first birthday and all the kids ate cake that the mom had brought in. Well, I wasn't too happy. Dan and I had decided that Micah wasn't going to have cake until his first birthday in ths spirit of saving some "firsts" for us and also of delaying that addiction we all have to refined sugars. Instead, I picked little pieces of vanilla cake out of his hair while I oohed and aahed over the daycare teachers cell phone photos of Micah covered in blue frosting (before their attempts at wiping him clean.) You can see a bit of the frosting in his hair that we could not remove in the first picture. To the daycare's credit, I just didn't think to tell them not to feed him anything that we hadn't supplied from home, and I guess they thought a little nip wouldn't hurt. At the end of the day, I figured, let him eat cake. I mean, you're only young once :-) And who wants to be the only kid on the block without the "cool blue stuff" that you can eat? We'll just have to make sure when it comes time for Micah's 1st birthday, the frosting isn't of the indigo variety.

This second picture just illustrates Micah's love for pointing at everything and anything.

Who me?

A moment of silence for all the cute outfits Micah is too big to wear now! This may be the last time he gets to wear this little overall getup from Grammy so here it is. The weather is turning chilly in the mornings so I'm sure we'll be having to break out the pants and socks soon. It reminds me of just last year about this time when it was Indian Summer in Mississippi and I couldn't wait for him to get here!

Dan and I will be taking a nice trip this weekend to Memphis to see a musical with some friends from Corinth! Micah will spending the day at home with one of his caretakers from daycare who babysits on the weekends. When you live in a town as small as this one, getting out to the "big city" every once in awhile is a must (and so is seeing high-quality theatre for Dan).

A Balancing Act

Here's a cute video taken over the weekend of Micah toddling around the living room, teether in hand. He's got some pretty saggy pants on--he's outgrowing a lot right now--but he doesn't let it get him down! He had a low fever again this weekend which we are attributing to some new teeth coming in. Hopefully, he won't develop any illness. We've had enough of that for awhile!

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Here are a couple of videos I took this week of Micah being his goofy self. He loves to play with his bottle at dinner and the one video showcases that and his growing set of teeth. I have yet to get a good shot of them for you! The other video is of him crusing the furniture in search of something to occupy him--toilet paper! He loves pulling pieces of it off and stuffing them in his mouth, a pasttime that I discourage him from doing ona regular basis.

Future Farmers of America Here We Come

I just love these overall shorts--I had to post a picture of our little farmer in them.

We're all doing much better today, over our stomach flus and the like. It's been a busy but good week. I've been working on getting HSU's movie and TV ads in place for fall, Dan's been making beaver tails and crowns and generally overseeing all costumes for OBU's production of The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe opening today and teaching classes, and Micah's been really good at mimicking our words. At dinner as he was enjoying banana chunks and I was repeating the word. He came out with "ba-na-na." Now, granted, this word is made up of syllables he already knows how to say, but it was the first time he had put them all together to say the word. This feat was followed by "ar" when I was saying "star" and "up" when I was trying to demonstrate that. I doubt he knows what any of these words mean, but can't a girl brag on her kid a little bit ? :-) He's just having fun making all the sounds he can make, all the time.

Long Time, No Blog

DJ "Jazzy" Micah
Micah attacks a formidable enemy--the new gate!

Well readers, I appreciate your patience this last week. We were offline due to illness--Dan's mine, Micah's. We're all on the mend now for the most part. Here are a couple photos of our little explorer. Yes, the new gate is working!

Casualties

Micah sports his fat lip Negotiating sippy cups

Well, it's one of those days. Yesterday at day care Micah banged his lip--no great damage done, but of course he's got a bit of a mark there. I guess we can expect a few more of thse bumps and bruises as he's getting around more now. We're also trying to encourage him to use the sippy cups but there's not a whole lot of interest there. I try to bring them both out several times a week just in case. I've got a cold and Micah's got one too, or something like it. This morning he has a sick tummy so I guess I'll be spending the afternoon at home while Dan watches him in the morning before class. I'll be glad when it's Friday again.

Check, please

"Waiter, this Cheerio is not cooperating. May I have another?"

"Aah, Cheerio bliss."

Here are a couple photos from our weekend. Micah's been experimenting with some different finger foods--not all of which he likes! We esacped the clutches of Hurricane Ike with little more than a few downed branches in the backyard and a light rain through the night. We didn't even lose power, for which we are grateful. Having talked with some friends in east Texas, things were pretty rough in other places. Micah is battling allergies again! We had to take him off of his Claritan temporarily so we could put him on a cough med when he had the cold. Now we're putting him back on, but of course it takes a week or two to really start working so we've been using the "Boogey Snatcher" (read: nasal aspirator) regularly. Above is a video of him taking a few steps! He's gotten all the way up to 7 or 8 at a time now.

Walking and Water

We're still here! I've had to juice up the camera bettery so I haven't taken very many pictures this week, but I am working on getting a video of Micah's walking skills! He's able to traverse large swaths of flooring at a time now (read: a whole 3 feet!). Yesterday he walked out to me when I came to pick him up from daycare. Any minute I expect him to turn around and ask me, "Mom, can I borrow the care keys?" No really, it's fun to watch him take a few steps, get so excited and then fall down, get back up and try again. I'm sure that within the month, he'll be toddling across the kitchen floor like he was born doing it.

In other news, we are expecting to get hit with Hurricane Ike this weekend. It's not supposed to be like what Texas is getting, but we should get a lot of rain and some wind starting tonight. Several of the gas stations are empty because people kind of panic over this sort of thing, and can you blame them, given that many have probably been through Katrina and that mess? Anyway, I'm planning to stock up on essentials tonight just in case we need to "hunker" in place for the next couple of days. As long as there's no serious damage, a rainy weekend at home with movies and my family sounds pretty good right now.

car seat

This weekend we switched over to Micah's new car seat. It seems massive in comparison to him, but I know we'll be glad we got it in a year or so. He seems to really enjoy it. When I picked him up from daycare yesterday he sat in it and started to run his hands up and down the sides. There is a fuzzy material on the seat, so I think he likes the feel of it. He and Dan are pretty much recovered now and we're in full swing.

Hitting the Bottle

Micah loves mornings

Here's a cute video I took this morning of Micah finishing his breakfast. He just loves the camera and tries to get it whenever I stick it in his face (quite often). We're looking forward to our weekend, hoping to make a trip to Hot Springs just to get out of town. In more "bottle" news, our little town of Arkadelphia succeeded in getting the wet/dry debate on the ballot this fall so we'll all be voting on that. Should be an interesting election!

Gustav update

For any of you concerned out there, we still have power although it seems like we're living in a waterworld out here! Only one of our campus buildings is without electricity today so we're still in business. Hot Springs got hit pretty hard since their downtown area floods readily, so they've been all over the news. All of the local school districts are closed because outlying areas are still flooded, but the main roads are a lot better than last night. It is still raining! We've gotten 9 inches so far here in Arkadelphia.
Turns out, Micah has an ear infection--just a little one. Nothing a little antibiotics can't clear up. And he can still go to daycare which helps us out a lot.

Here is a cute video of Micah enjoying his favorite snack--Cheerios. You can see his eyes are a little red, but he's on the mend. Dan just gave him his new haircut!

Hi folks

"Look mom, I can do it myself!"
Nothing stands in Micah's way

Well, after two straight days of rain from Gustav, we're still here, minus a few ceiling tiles at work. We did shoot commercials on campus yesterday, which was a very wet affair, but we managed. Dan and Micah are still under the weather, but Dan's fever is gone and Micah is going to the Dr today to have his cough evaluated. I am still holding out! We are trying to teach Micah to use a cup. He really isn't interested in the sippy ones so we're just going with the real thing. Of course, it's usually pretty messy, so we practice when he's in the tub, as you can see. So far, he's got the hang of it, but drinking from the bottle is so much easier so he usually prefers that. This second photo is of Micah figuring out that he can just push the plastic bins out the way. We had been using these to block his passage into the hallway, but I guess we can't do that anymore! Micah's the kind of kid that has a plan and is going to figure out how to get it done.

Happy Labor Day!

I am at work today but the president is letting us out early! And it's a good thing since Dan and Micah are both sick with colds, etc. Send some prayers/thoughts their way if you will, especially for Dan who has to prepare for classes this week. Micah doesn't have a high fever so I think he'll still be able to go to daycare, even though I hate sending him when he's under the weather. No pictures today since I forgot my camera cord, but I'll have some tomorrow.

Gustav update: We have a large group of Gustav refugees staying in our town. Dan said that some of them were parked in the WalMart lot sleeping in their cars. Now they have set up a Red Cross station and shelter in town, so these people can get some real rest and meals. I guess this is a good thing since it means we are out of the main line of it, but we are expected to get some rain and wind from it. That means we probably won't be shooting that commercial on campus Tuesday!

TGIF

"Do you think they fit?"
"Hmm. What sounds good--fish or chicken?"

I don't know about you, but I'm glad it's Friday! Here are a couple of photos of Micah during his evening playtime. He loves to play with shoes, which I try to discourage since he usually ends up trying to them in his mouth, (yuck!)I guess that leather feels good on his gums! But this photo was too cute. The second one is of him playing in the "Micah cabinet" in the kitchen. The video is just some general cuteness. Hope you all have a good weekend.

First Steps?

When I picked Micah up from daycare yesterday, the teacher said he had taken several steps unassisted--toward the toys, of course. My first reaction was "how great!" but I feel kinda sad that I had to hear about it secondhand. Dan says it doesn't count as his "first" since we weren't there to witness it. So for now, we'll keep it hush hush. We also got his new carseat in the mail, so we'll be switching over to that this weekend. I'm sure he'll be much more comfortable in this one since his little legs are dangling over the side of the one we currently have! We also ordered two gates--one for the laundry room (the kitty's box is in there and apparently, irresistable to babies) and one for the hallway (so we can keep him in the living room while we're in there eating dinner, etc.). Well, Dan set up the gate in the laundry room and stepped back to watch what would happen. Micah walked right up to the thing, surveyed the situation, and promptly ripped it right down and crawled over it. I think we're going to need a bigger gate!

Dan's first day of classes went well. I guess he had a few more students than expected in the history of musical theatre class--the class was listed in both theater and music so he had students from both. But everyone seemed on the ball. We went to a cookout at the dept. chair's house last night for all theatre faculty and students. It was nice to meet all the kids--hopefully we can find a few babysitters in the group. Today will be his first day to teach the directing class.

We're having a the first days of class at HSU too so since I'm in the community and university relations class. I'm required to wear a t-shirt that says "Henderson: Ask Me" and stand out on the quad. I'm supposed to be able to tell people where poli sci is or how to get to the car decal office? Yeah. Maybe I can get a shirt that says "Henderson: Ask Somebody Else." Oh those poor freshmen.

Bookworm

Micah really likes his Leap Pad from Aunt Helen--here he is "reading" his alphabet. For those who don't know, Leap Pad is an interactive toy. You buy special books to put on the pad. When you turn the pad on it narrates the book and kids can press any picture in the book and it will make a sound, play educational games with them, and a whole bunch more. It has settings for younger and older children. Micah likes the first setting which just has sounds and a few words.

The page in the picture just has the alphabet. When you push each letter it makes that sound and plays games with him. The second picture is Micah brushing his teeth after dinner. He has nine now! I'm still trying to get a shot of them, but he hasn't quite learned to smile in that way yet.

Playtime with Daddy

Dan and Micah like to have playtime at the end of the day. Here are a few photos of them "playing" basketball (yes, he's holding it by himself) and Micah's favorite--swinging upside down! He's over his cold now and back at daycare--we're still working on that whole 'nap' thing over there. I think M is so excited about all the toys and the other kids that he forgets to close his eyes! In other news, Dan starts teaching his first classes tomorrow so keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

More from Delaware

Aunt Evy takes a picture of Micah
Uncle Frank helps Micah stand up

These are a couple more photos from the Delaware trip back in July. I just have so many, I don't want to leave anyone out! I promise pictures of the house next week and I'll try to take some of the campus here today.