Fast Learner

After having a cough for only a week, Reagan has learned that it can be quite handy to get some immediate attention. Her acting skills aren't very convincing; but the reason behind the faint, breathy cough and stare is quite clear.

Reagan the Cat

"This is handy. Why don't they have this on any other door for me?"

More Reagan Skillz

She made somewhat of an attempt to go down the stairs backward today, the way I've been trying to show her. Before today, it was just ...
1. dangle feet off step
2. scoot butt forward
3. reach for mommy and expect life to be saved.

Today, there was a mixture of trying to go backward with hands down on upper step along with reaching for me to save her and a little of just hanging onto the railing and plopping onto the next step butt first facing sideways.

She definitely has moved beyond sitting timidly at the top of the steps, she goes for it now. We have a gate in the hallway separating her room from the top of the stairs, but I found out today that she knows she can go through the bathroom which leads to our room which leads to the stairs from the other side. She left my side today and headed straight to the stairs the long way without being sidetracked like I thought she would by opening bathroom drawers. She means business. I can't take my eyes off her for a second and she's not even walking yet!! Yikes!

"Happy Birthday Grandpa Martin! 53's not old, I'll be 1 soon!"

Oops, it's 12:02 am and no longer your b-day. Well, happy late b-day! Mama's gonna go to bed now cause I'm gonna wake her up really early. (foxy loxy laugh)

A little bit of old news, but ...
Reagan feeds herself finger foods!

Eating grape juice soaked cheerios

Our Kitchen Project is Underway!

Before Picture (from the Camelina Welcome Project in May 2006)

Progress Pictures
Feb 5 & 6

Feb 26 (Cam did a great job patching the drywall!)

Reagan's helping Daddy pack up the lights (we're going with different ones, they were too close to the cabinets.)

She knows a nose when she sees one

After waking up from her 2 1/2-hour nap today (which she so needed cause she's still a sicky), I gave her a little stuffed Piglet to play with while I changed her diaper (keeps her from wanting to sit up and roll over all the time). Being extremely well-rested, she was very calmly studying the little Piglet and touching it's snout with her pointer finger as if it were a scientific experiment. I leaned over her and said, "are you touching Piglet's nose?". She immediately turned and looked at me when I started talking, then reached out and touched MY nose! I've done a little bit of "this is Reagan's nose, this is Mama's nose" with her, but not in the last week. She's a freakin' genius! Or at least got my good memory skills. :-)

I'm baaaaaack!! Recapping Dec 2006 - Feb 2007

Xmas and New Years were spent in Illinois seeing both families and some friends. Here are some pics of our gluttanous (sp?) times ... I literally gained 5 lbs in those 2 weeks! You can find the whole xmas album by clicking on the link to my photos to the right.

Since being back, I joined a local gym and have been LOVING doing "real" workouts again. I've taken several classes and am loving Tae Bo Extreme and Power Pump - all weight training, which you might think I wouldn't need a class for, but someone else is there to make me sore, so it's much better than on my own. I'm training for a triathlon in May in Napa http://www.envirosports.com/events/displayevent.php?eventid=1742 so I've also been swimming laps once a week and trying to get myself to take a spin class once a week, but so far have only done it once ... just once, no per week yet :-) I find that class boring, no matter how creative the instructor is, but it's a good way to get bike training in.

We also just returned from Danny and Bethany's wedding (2/17/07) in Ontario, Canada - FREEZING! It was great, we really enjoyed ourselves and the food and the toasts and our song went really well. People were giving standing ovations and telling us we should get a recording! Here are the temperature extremes of our trip.

I was appointed "Minister of Ornamental Symbology" and D & B decided they wanted to wear each other's names in binary code (black beads = 1's and white beads = 0's and yes, they had to tell me how to spell their names in binary) on a spiral hemp necklace (looks like DNA strand). So, I made them and presented them at the ceremony. Here they are on my banister at home before leaving because I apparently couldn't think to take a picture of them on their necks while I was there! It was a busy weekend and there were several times when the camera wasn't handy and my arms and mind were full of Reagan and what she needed - that girl just eats, nurses, sleeps, needs changing, constant attention, etc ... relax Reagan, we're on vacation! geez! :-)

Here also are mine (and Cam's), my Mom's, and my Grandma's quilt squares (from right, going counter-clockwise respectively) for D & B's baby quilt. There was quilting going on all weekend too and we put some sweat, blood, and tears into it for the little bun due in May.