"Crawling" and "Talking"

You can't really say that what passes for either are the real thing, but these are Nicole's versions.

Trying this again

Let's hope this works. Here's Hanukkah video of Nicole enjoying wrapping paper.

Apologies

I spent a fair amount of time today working on videos of Nicole "crawling" and "talking" and also of her first Hanukkah. Then I tried to upload it to the site. An hour later I finally got an error message. So while I wait for feedback from Blogger and for more free time to try a different video editing program, I come back to you with more excuses.

Maybe I'll post some pictures this weekend if I get a chance. We leave on Monday for a visit to Baltimore, so we'll definitely get some good footage out of that. Hopefully I'm able to post the video. We'll chalk it up as New Year's Resolution No. 1.

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.