Someone is growing up TOO fast!

Baby Elena Moses... let my people go!

How can you NOT love my new toupee?

Caught in the act! Yes, she'd climbed up on the landing and was going to try to go up the stairs!

Elena shows off - someone realizes how big she's getting

So Elena doesn't want to take naps these days. She doesn't want to suck her thumb anymore. What she WANTS to do is crawl, climb, grab things off the table, eat things that DON'T come puréed in a bottle, dig into garbage cans, and basically get into trouble.

Now I know she doesn't realize things she is doing can be dangerous, that's our part of the bargain as parents. It IS hard to get mad at her when she is being so CUTE at everything she's doing. But I KNOW in my heart of hearts she realizes exactly what she's doing when she makes a mad dash for electrical and phone cords. She even giggles when you catch her crawling for them!

I will have to get the video up that I filmed today of her CLIMBING up on the upstairs landing and seriously thinking of tackling the steps - yes... I stopped her (see pictures above). She even attempted to crawl off the landing which didn't go as she planned. I suppose you have to let them live and learn and sometimes face-plant in the process.

Alas, my little girl is growing up. And all this at just 8 months! Had you asked me 2 months ago what she would be doing by now I would never have said climbing up stairs! Ha ha.

-Jason

New Web Album Online

Elena's Best of October photo album is now online. We had a lot going on back then so there are lots of fun and cute pics. Check it out!

http://picasaweb.google.com/naugahide/BestOfOctober2008?authkey=TU0gwWvv0YI

-Jason

Some more CUTE pics

Everybody loves pics... right? Here's a few to tide over friends and fam until the next blog post!

I'm a little pink bear... no... I'm a happy girl IN a pink bear suit!

Mom shows off Elena in her big girl overalls. Thanks Susie!!!

SOOOOOO Adorable!

Can a thumb-sucking baby BE any sweeter?

Couple of slideshows

Seems I've been asked to add more pictures and update the blog. So here's to Jen, Suzie, and ESPECIALLY Dawn. And now... for something... COMPLETELY DIFFERENT...

Embedded Slideshows! Enjoy!

BTW, I think they both play automatically to start which is kind of a brain overload, but feel free to play either one again. You can also click the blue link in the bottom left of either show to view the actual pictures in larger format and from there watch the slideshow um... larger. :-)


Elena visits friends and family



Pre-thanksgiving in Akron

This is all I have in me for now. I've been driving the last few hours and shopping at the outlet malls and now I just want to veg with some tv and origami. Hope everyone is well!

-Jason

Elena Visits Chilly Cuyahoga Falls

Bundled up in front of some cool fountain...
(reminds me of Crosley Tower, UC campus)

Disinterested in the Municipal Building...

Not so impressed with Cuyahoga Falls...

Yes, yes Cuyahoga Falls HS... I get it.
Can we go home now? It's starting to rain!

Elena is 6 months old today!!!

For another 36 minutes, at least. ;-) And what better way to celebrate than with some funny pics. You may ask why I always blog sets of 4 pics. Well, the Picasa photo organizing program I use won't do the "blog shortcut" with more than 4 pics and I'm too lazy to blog without this shortcut, so... 4 pics it is!

Baby likes Blublockers. Ha ha
(Mom doesn't know about this photo yet.)

Seriously dad?!?

All I want is a ball and you give me this???

I honestly was thinking what if she is some mathematical prodigy and solves my Tetris Cube... then she started throwing the pieces on the floor. :-(

Future lover of Gatorade.
I hope she shows the same interest in sports to warrant actually drinking the stuff.

As usual I'm overdue for a "Best of September" photo gallery. Sue me. I've been busy with NOT doing projects around the house - just ask Jen. (I still don't see why cleaning my desk IS more important than origami.) Hope these pictures put a smile on your faces. They make me grin when I see 'em. -Jason

Our trip to Oktoberfest Zinzinnati

Jason chows on a Super Brat with kraut and mustard! Yum!

Elena won't look at the camera... seems sorta interested in the Weisbrau

Our first time as a threesome at Oktoberfest (Jen and my 2nd time together)

Yes, I have been planning on visiting Oktoberfest for months now. Ever since missing last year's celebration while living up in Akron I have dreamt of the super brat... the giant Servati's pretzel... the goetta balls... AND the massively huge bavarian cream puffs!

I realize this is the worst possible food one could eat, but we all have to splurge sometimes. Besides, Oktoberfest IS only once a year. Surprisingly Elena did very well for the first hour or so of our outing, but did start to get very upset and wanted to be held. Once Jen found a place to feed her she did fine the rest of the trip and napped on the way home while Jen drove and I dusted off the cream puff.

I think this was Elena's first big outing with large crowds about. If we make it next year when she's 1 and ½, I may even buy her a goetta ball - or maybe just a hot dog.

Until next post,
Auf Wiedersehen aus Zinzinnati!
-Jason

Our Future Country Western Star?!

'Nuff said. :-)

(And no... we didn't buy the hat)

Have a Yeehaw Yipee Kiyay Day

-Jason

Too Cute!!!

This picture is SO cute I just had to blog it for everyone to see. We were without power for 35 hours and had to entertain ourselves recently. Elena is wearing a new 6 month jumper that she BARELY fits into. Yes, she is only 5 months old but 85 percentile in length and 75 percentile in weight, so we will have to jump to 9 month clothes very soon.

Elena update:
She pretty much grabs everything - including daddy's glasses.
She screams/sings/whines a lot more these days.
She can flip from back to stomach and to back again very easily.
She prefers to sleep on her stomach - usually going to town on her thumb.
She is starting to eat some solid foods and actually likes some of them.
She really enjoys standing and all she needs is just a few fingers to hold onto.

Jen and I are also doing well - trying to avoid getting sick and dealing with life's little curve balls. I hope to have a new "best of" album up shortly - time and effort permitting. Hope everyone is well.

Thanks for reading!

-Jason

Last day with the Springers

Lucas rides happily on his new Turbo ATV

Jen helps Isabella get the controls down - amazing how a 2 yr old can actually drive this thing!

A routine bubble bath leads to a soap-in-the-eyes mohawk

Isabella shows off her alfalfa spike

I wanted to blog a few more pics of our extended Akron family's visit. We all had loads of fun together. Sunday morning was a nice relaxing lazy day. We started off with homemade waffles, eggs, and sausage. Then it was time to get the newly garage sale purchased ATV out for a spin - it had been charging overnight. Both kids loved zipping up and down the sidewalk and where ever else the thing could go... yard, street, etc.

Next it was bath time for the kids. I had purchased some bubble bath (at Jen's request) and Shane had fun making hairdos for Lucas and Isabella. Isabella's kept falling over but we finally got a picture just in time before the spike collapsed.

Our final stop together was the King Arthur's Court toy store in Oakley. I hadn't been there myself in years, but they had! This store has quite a bit of every conceivable kind of toy - a kids paradise. Lucas and Isabella of course wanted to stay all day, but Kristin and Shane decided it was time to make the trip back to Akron. We all said our goodbyes and talked about getting together again soon. It's probably our turn to head up to Akron next. Maybe in a month. All this driving can be quite exhausting when I have only every other weekend off.

I will try to get the "Best of August" pics of Elena up soon. I'm currently addicted to Facebook so I have to balance my time as best I can.

-Jason

Jen's family comes to town for a zoo day!

A tired Isabella snuggles with Kristen

Elena gets her first ride on daddy's shoulders (daddy was a bit nervous and held her TIGHT)

Lucas gets a balloon race car (you should have seen him make the tires... WOW)

Isabella also gets a balloon creation

It was a nice day yesterday. Kristen, Shane, Lucas and Isabella all came down to the 'nati and braved the Columbus traffic for a nice weekend visit. We decided since I was the only one of the bunch to have been to the zoo (and it's been 12+ years) that we should all go. Jen tracked down some kids free admittance tickets from Krogers and we headed downtown-ish in the mid afternoon.

We got to the zoo around 3:30 which was perfect because more than 2.5 hours (it closes at 6pm) of walking and or pushing strollers would probably have been a tired family nightmare. The kids loved the animals - especially the cats. The adults enjoyed and were grossed out by the insects. We didn't get to see everything since none of us knew our way around and were constantly looking at the zoo map.

When the zoo closed at six we took our chances and headed to the Montgomery Inn Boathouse for a nice dinner. No luck. We got there at about 6:30 and they already had a 1.5-2 hour wait (which means 3 hours in the real world). So we headed off to Newport on the Levy and after some drinks at Bar Louie we got an outside balcony table at Dewey's Pizza. The salads were amazing and the pizzas were no less tasty. Lucas and Isabella enjoyed their cup of shredded cheese probably more than the pizza, but the rest of us pretty much crammed down as many slices as we were able (walking the zoo takes a lot out of you, really).

We saw a Graeter's sign nearby but decided to head home and get our ice cream fix in Mariemont. Well before we made it out of Newport we came across a balloon artist who was pretty darn good - and quite the entertainer as well. He made Lucas a race car with donut shaped tires (I've never seen anyone invert a balloon on itself) and decorated it with a sharpie as he entertained the crowd. I think the kids had a lot of fun but the balloon man sealed the deal.

As for Elena, she was such a good baby the whole day. She just chilled at the zoo in the stroller and slept a bit. She was a bit fussier after dinner and later on for ice cream. But all in all she's getting better and better about going out and getting out of her comfort zone.

Anyway, hope everyone has had a great weekend!

-Jason

Cute Kids

Isabella LOVES her cousin Elena

Isabella, Elena, and Lucas all smile together

Elena obviously wants to play too - maybe a few months from now...

Isabella likes to share her leelee (blankee) with Elena

Here are some of the pictures from our visit to Akron last weekend. I will have to create a new gallery entry on the main page for people to see ALL the pictures, but I thought these were the cutest ones of the bunch. Jen and I greatly enjoyed seeing Kristin and Shane and their kids. They were having a back to school party for Lucas and had invited lots of their friends with kids as well as Lucas' friends for a Saturday of games, crafts, and food - kinda like a little carnival. (They even had one of those fan-driven air-filled bouncy playpens for the kids. What fun!)

The next day we all got together at Nana's (Grandma Catherine's) house for lunch and that's when these pictures were taken. You could tell that Elena is ready to be a big girl and play with her cousins but just doesn't have the motor skills as of yet. A few more months and she'll be crawling and getting into everything I'm sure.

Anyway, I wanted to get these pictures posted since Jen was giving me a hard time as to why they weren't up on the blog yet.

Later all!

-Jason

4 Generations in 1 room!

Elena and her great grandmother

Jason, Elena, Dale, and Robert

So happy together!

Elena, Dale, Jen, Dolci, and Sally

I wanted to get some pictures posted of my grandmother's visit to Cincinnati to meet Elena. She turned 100 earlier this year and I'm amazed how well she gets around with very little help from others. She flew all the way from Naples FL to see Elena. Turns out she has 2 great grandsons (my cousin Lisa's kids - both around 10 yrs old) but did not have a great granddaughter until now.

She enjoyed holding Elena and singing to her and Elena seemed very content in her arms. Elena was able to see her great grandmother 3 times while she was in town (fortunately avoiding the tropical storm Fay that was hitting Naples during her visit here).

It was hard to get everyone to look good in ALL the pictures, so I picked the ones that were the best of what I had, so don't laugh. Try getting a 4½ month old to look at the camera AND 3 other people to smile simultaneously. A demanding task for even the best photographer! :)

Our visit ended with a rather tearful goodbye because at the age of 100 my grandmother confessed to Elena that she didn't know if she would see her again, but she would try. Even I was trying to hold back a tear or two. (Jen and I will have to do our best to make it down to Naples sometime this year or early next.)

On a lighter note, I'll have to post another entry soon because I have some fun and cute pictures of Elena with her cousins Lucas and Isabella from our trip to Akron last weekend.

Hope everyone is well and wish my grandmother and aunt a safe flight back to Florida.

-Jason

They'll sleep ANYWHERE!

So Jen had to go to a doctor's appointment and left me with Elena. I wasn't trying to be a bad dad so I put her in the kitchen with me to watch me cook and gave her some toys for entertain-ment.
About 20 minutes in she started to get whiny... like the sleepy whiny kind. Then she started to lean a bit to her left but kept playing with her toys. Then when I looked back she was pretty much slumped over not making any sound and had her eyes closed.
It was at this point that I took several pictures of her cause Q: how often does she fall and STAY asleep on her own and in such a funny position? A: very RARELY.

It lasted only 10 minutes however... she woke as I was washing dishes. Anyway, hope everyone enjoys these and I'll continue to add more fun pics when they come along.

Bye for now.