Day five hundred thirty three.

She likes to wear Aubrey's shoes.

Day four hundred sixty two.

Recovery mode.

Day four hundred twenty eight.

We celebrated Independence Day a bit early this year. We had a great time with family this weekend as we watched an up close fireworks show in Heber, AZ.


Unfortunately Addie was a bit worn out by the time the fireworks started. She stayed awake the whole time but became more amused with the fifty or so glow sticks than the actual show.

On the drive up, Adeline and Landon refused to comply with our carefully laid plans to have them sleep on the way to the cabin. So when we arrived Friday afternoon they were overtired and that, combined with the squelching heat at the cabin, inspired them to have a competition to see who could scream the loudest. We tried to get them to stop, but they refused to give up until one of them was crowned "Lord of the Scream". Allison and Amanda were bummed, because it's harder to tickle a baby when it's screaming. They still do it, it's just harder.

Day three hundred thirty-seven.

We flew in from Boston last night. The whole trip was really fun, and we had a great time. Although it was hard to leave Adeline in Arizona, she probably wouldn't have enjoyed the week of public transportation and sightseeing nearly as much as we did.

I will let Aubrey fill you in on most of the details. She surprised me by setting up a meeting with Greg Allen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. For those of you who don't know, Greg writes the Daddy Types blog. He showed us some really cool stuff including a secret entrance to the museum, and shared some behind the scenes NYC information. He also presented me with a limited edition Daddy Type T-shirt. Thanks again, Greg.

We brought back a few souvenirs for Addie to play with. Her favorite so far is the little pocket image viewer that the Metropolitan gift shop sells. I think she likes it because it is red.

We also brought her the book Make Way for Ducklings that we found at the Old North Church in Boston where the lanterns were hung (one if by land, two if by sea). I remember reading this book as a kid. It is about a family of ducks in Boston. Maybe she will appreciate it more in a few years.

Adeline was excited to see us last night. We spoke to her on the phone a few times while we were gone. When she heard our voices she would look around the room to find us and then try to eat the phone.

She is officially crawling all over the place. No more army crawl.

While she is very glad to have us back and to be home playing with her toys, Addie would like to thank all of her grandparents for playing with her this week and for making this trip for mom and dad possible.

Day three hundred twenty-six.

Adeline loves our new camera. Even more, she loves the fact that we took over 500 pictures the first day we had it. If I could only figure out what all the different buttons are for.

Addie has been really happy the last few days. She is normally happy, but lately she has been giggling and talking more than usual.

She is finally figuring out how to use her knees when she crawls... it looks like she may drop the military crawl after all.

Our trip to New York will be quite different without her. When she is older she will probably resent us for leaving her home. I am sure we will end up with a bunch of pictures to superimpose her face in to make her think she went with us.

Day two hundred seventy-three.

Adeline had a doctor appointment this last week. Here are the latest stats:

Height = 28 inches (70th percentile)

Weight = 16 pounds 3 ounces (11th percentile)
Head = 44 centimeters (54th percentile)

We decided this weekend to take a little trip to the cabin. On Friday at noon we decided to invite the Holdaways to come with us. Since one of their New Year's resolutions is to be more spontaneous, they came.

Other than getting the truck stuck in the snow as we arrived Friday night, we had a blast. Quads + snow = mucho fun.

Adeline got to see snow for the first time. She was quite proud of this snowman she made. The whole drive home she told Tatum all about her new snowman friend that was just her size.

Day one hundred seventy-seven

We got back from Mexico last night. We had a lot o' fun. I think we wore Addie out with all of the hustle and bustle of travel life. For the most part she did great. She just woke up from her travel recovery nap and is singing to me.

Adeline's favorite part of the trip was spending time by the pool. You may choose to check Aubrey's blog for more pictures.

*Please excuse the pale skin... Over the years I have come to realize that having a tan isn't the most important thing in the world. On the other hand, not having skin cancer and/or a body full of wrinkles is much more appealing to me.

[advertisement]Before we left we contemplated over what we should do for a stroller while out of the country. We were paranoid that her bugaboo might get stolen, but we decided to take it anyway. It was a wise decision. We took the smaller wheels off, on account of the lack of street and sidewalk maintenance in Mexico, and used it like a pull cart. It worked like a charm - she was even able to sleep in it while we wandered the streets and shops. Everyone was impressed with how easy we were able to get around with her. This stroller is worth every penny. [/end of advertisement]

Day one hundred sixty-nine.

Wow... what a weekend! We just got back from a weekend in the woods with the Faerbers and the Hills. Addie had the best time playing with her two good friends Landon and Audrey. It was nice that they all entertained each other while we fished, played games, and sang old country songs to each other.

This particular image was taken while Adeline was fascinated with the rain outside. She was so surprised that it made the hair on her head stand straight up! I guess it made the hair on my head stand up too... lay off, I had just woken up from a nap.


I hear a cute picture of Addie and Landon smiling is floating around somewhere. Maybe someone (you know who you are) will post it sometime soon.

Day sixty-eight.

Today we stayed with Matt and Amy in Logan.

Day sixty-five.

We took Adeline for her first camping trip this week. We went to Warm Creek near Henry's Fork of the Snake River in Island Park, Idaho.

There were a ton of mosquitoes. Addie and I are both proud to say that we didn't get bitten. Adeline had lots of fun roasting marshmallows around the campfire. Her favorite part was not having to take a bath.

I almost forgot about the fishing... Are you ready for this? Eleven keepers... And I threw back about 20 more.

Day sixty-four.

Last night we went to Summer's reception. It was fun to catch up with everyone. The previous night was the first time that most of the family had seen Adeline. She was very sweet. Last night she was a bit fussy.

Afterwards we went to Cam and Robyn's room and schooled them in cards. We set Adeline on their couch and she slept like a raccoon on Halloween night.

We just finished eating breakfast at the Hotel. They served waffles. We are stuffed.

Day sixty-three.

We spent a good portion of the day in Park City with some friends from Arizona. Aubrey rode the Alpine Slide and I rode the Zipper. It was lots o' fun. We took turns waiting with Adeline at the bottom of the hill.

Addie smiled more than I have ever seen her smile before. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that she was outside.

So a little advice to new parents. When you take your kids outside for more than a couple of minutes be sure to take sun screen. We remembered it for Adeline, but forgot all about our own precious vanilla silk skin.

Day sixty-two.

We are still in SLC. It looks like Adeline found a new favorite chair. She hasn't been this happy since the last time she sat in the green chair.

Just to clarify, Adeline isn't wearing casts on her legs. These are the coolest leg warmers ever. Robyn made them for her.

Day sixty-one.

Today has been such a long day. Addie did great on the car ride up to SLC. We were a bit worried that she would scream as soon as she saw the car seat, but she was quite pleasant.


Tonight we went to dinner at Cafe Pierpont... It went pretty well, until we were seated and Adeline started screaming. It took a while to get her calmed down. I think she was wondering where that extra hour went. Unfortunately I'm not much help, I never really understood the point of daylight savings.