Our daughter is a goat...

Sure, she's a Capricorn... symbolized by the goat... practical, ambitious, self-reliant. But more to the point, the kid will eat anything (see what I did there? Kid? Ha!).

I know that all babies put stuff in their mouths. Teething, exploring, learning... I get it. But this one? She eats shoes. Wets them to the point of necessitating wringing. She eats books. Literally gnaws chunks off them and tears the pages from the binders with her powerful jaws. Given the option, she would eat a cracker off the floor instead of the one on her tray 10 times out of 10.

Christmas is going to be a hoot... and a storm of wet, chewed, discarded wrapping paper. I love it...

Tha's all folks...

I have taken at least one class every semester, spring and summer included, since winter 2003. Last night I finished the last one. My first attempt to attain an undergraduate degree began in 1992 and was thwarted by work, life, or laziness... depending upon how honest/deprecating I want to be. But, thanks to tons of help from my friends and family, those demons of youthful indiscretion have been exercised... if only to help waylay the embarrassment of not having done it sooner. To everybody who pushed, encouraged, babysat, wifesat, cooked, studied, proofread, and just listened over the past few years I can't thank you enough. To Michele in particular, thank you for telling me every day that I can do it, and that it is worth it, and I'm worth it.

Alex is walking... UPDATED

So I have no video of it to post but there is video evidence. Yesterday, Alex decided that she could walk. I don't know if it because she was watching people at daycare or what but she just got it. She would take a couple steps, then take a couple more. She even stopped in the middle of her walk to smile really BIG- as if she was saying "look at me"!! Then she would start walking again. At the end of her walk, she would dive into Wes and my arms and smile. She totally gets that she is doing something awesome. It is such a trip that we are going to have a walker. So hopefully, my tech savvy husband will post the video to show her in action!!

Typical Thursday...

If you remove the time spent on naps, diaper changes, snacks, meals, bottles, and tantrums Alex and I spent about six hours together today. Roughly one hour was occupied by her using non-walker items (baskets, high chairs, boxes, me, chairs, etc) as a walker. Another hour or so was spent going up and down the stairs. One more hour split between reading (eating) books, dancing, yelling at each other and "one step... two step... dive". The rest of the day was filled with this:

Put it in, dump it out. Put it in, dump it out. How cute is she? It's like you can see her figuring it out.

Upon request...

Alex loves to climb into things. Buckets, baskets, boxes... it doesn't matter. If she can get her little leg up over the edge, she is in it. Apparently she spends most of her day at daycare in the toy box. The other kids come by and she hands out toys... of her choosing of course.

And then at home she climbs into these little wicker baskets that we use for her toys. Six out of ten times it just tips over and she falls... but the other four times are hilarious.

Walk-y-walk...

Alex is getting braver by the day. She can stand on her own for a few seconds... when she is so inclined. Yesterday she was, over and over again, letting go of the chair she was leaning against and "walking" to me. One step... two step... dive for papa. One step... two step... dive for papa. She is hilarious.

I assure you that I was there to catch her at the end of this video...

Birthday wishes, and caviar dreams...

Yesterday was Michele's birthday and I had intended to write a nice blog entry wishing her happiness. I sat down several times to bang out a short nod, and came away with nothing. This years birthday seems like something more...

We spent her last birthday pregnant out to here and with only thoughts of the impending birth on our minds. A month later we were in the hospital more worried than excited... more pensive than joyful. If you had asked me then if I thought Michele would see her next birthday, or Alex's first, I would have said "of course". But I don't know if I would have believed me...

Now here it is... another birthday. I never thought that I could reveille so profoundly in the mundane. Another year, another month, another day... every day that starts with Michele by my side is a blessing, every meal a celebration, every moment a pleasure...

So yesterday I wished her a "Happy Birthday". Today I say "Happy December". Tomorrow, Thursday, the Wednesday of next week... happy, happy, happy.

I love you Michele... thank you for being in my life.