Squaw Peak here we come!

Or something like that.

Nicole woke up a little earlier than normal this morning. I began to drag myself out of bed, planning on my typical routine of showering before feeding her. But her crying was a little louder than usual, so I checked on her. Much to my amazement, I found her standing up in her crib, holding on to the railing. This was a first! I took her out and she seemed extremely proud of her new accomplishment. I asked her to tell us how she managed to do it, but she's not revealing her secret. Needless to say, today the mattress is being dropped to an even lower level and the bumpers are coming off.

For our 5 voters out there (2 of whom are probably me and Kevin), this latest achievement may mean that you want to recast your "when will Nicole walk" vote.

8-month update

And she's off. Nicole celebrated her 8-month birthday by learning how to crawl, and now we can't keep her still. Her crawling is quite the ordeal, though. I intend to put up a video clip in the next day or two. She basically takes a step with one foot and then drags her other leg like it's gimpy. But it works, and she's all over the place. She's shown signs of pulling herself up as well. You can vote on the right about when you think she'll be walking.

What else is new? Nicole got to spend some time with her friend Maggie over Thanksgiving. She's the baby in the pictures that looks like Neil. Better than Howard, at least. Nicole also has two teeth, right in the center on the bottom. They are visible in a few of the pictures. That's really it. She's looking forward to visiting Baltimore in a few weeks for some great photo opportunities and maybe her first taste of snow.

Here are the aforementioned pictures.

These booties are made for walking ... sort of

The big question is ... will Nicole crawl first or will she walk first? She gave some hints yesterday that she could soon be ready to try either. She supposedly crawled at day care, but it's more like scooting. If you put her down and leave her be, she won't end up in the same place. But it's not quite crawling yet. Still, she looks like she's getting ready. It could be any day. As for walking, that's a lot farther away. But as you'll see in the pictures, she can hold herself up and is just about at the point of pulling herself upright. I'll be teaching her how to play softball in no time.

Here are the pictures.

Time change

Just a reminder for anyone who cares that with the end of daylight savings time, we are now TWO hours behind the east coast and ONE hour ahead of the west coast.

Halloween and a visit from Bubby & Grandpa

Once we explained to Nicole that we would put her in a costume and take her around the neighborhood collecting candy, she asked how she'd be able to eat the candy. We told her she needed teeth, so on Saturday before Halloween, with Bubby and Grandpa in town as witnesses, she got her first tooth. What timing. She also attended her first baseball game, learned how to clap her hands on demand and, of course, enjoyed her first Halloween. Tonight we continue Nicole's series of firsts, and continue the sports theme, taking her to her first football game (Jessica's old high school). She likes watching football at the bar on Sundays, so she should enjoy it tonight.

Here are pictures from Halloween and Bubby & Grandpa's visit.

Quick photo update

Here are a few shots from the past month or so. In case you missed it, Nicole is 6 months old (closer to 6 1/2 now), sits up and is eating cereal and veggies now (she likes carrots more than peas, and who can blame her?). She's such a happy kid, always smiling and laughing and very talkative. She's sleeping through the night, about 8 pm to 6 am. So all in all, things -- and Nicole -- are great.

Click here for the pictures.

Nicole turns a half!

Hard to believe it's been six months already. She's growing up so fast. I intend to get more pictures and possibly VIDEO! on the site soon, so you can see what she's looking and acting like. The main change is that her hair continues to grow in. It's not really long enough to do anything fun with, but it's at least brushable. More hair than me, at least. She's also sitting up, which you've seen some of in pictures, but she's much more stable now.

We just got home from her 6-month checkup. She's sleeping off the effects of her shots. Nicole measured 26 inches (sometimes referred to as 2'2"), which puts her in the 50th percentile and is 2 inches taller than at 4 months. She weighed a whopping 14 pounds, 2 ounces, which is only 20th percentile, but also a 2-pound gain from last time. And she's more than doubled her birth weight, which they say is the goal for 6 months. Her head circumference is 50th percentile, which really only means that she can fit into her Ravens hat for the rest of the season (which, by the looks of it, might be ending in December not February).