Halloween

ARg! A PiRate'S LiFe foR Me!

Polly Wanna a Cracker?!?

Isn't she the cutest parrot?

Fall Fun

That's right! The Greatest Free Show on earth!

Last week Tristan heard from a fellow classmate about some pumpkin festival going on, after a brief search we located the show. We thought it sounded like fun and the forecast predicted fairly decent weather so we packed up the car and grabbed some friends to drive down to Circleville. After punching the address into the GPS we drove down without event. . . until we got about a mile away from the exit. It took about 30 minutes to drive that last mile due to traffic. Amazing. This little town was packed with cars. They were parking on the grass right off the off-ramp and walking to the festival. We did a drive by then began searching for a parking spot. We drove down street after street of golden leafed trees hunting for an opening. After passing a dozen or so signs "Parking $10" we finally we located a free slot on the side of the road. We got all set up with Kalia in the front pack and headed to see the excitement. We were amused to see "Shifty's bar" and the adjoining "parkin" sign. There were street vendors everywhere. Our friends that'd come with us purchased an elephant's ear (scone covered with cinnamon and sugar) to share. We walked through crowded streets passing vendor after vendor advertising pumpkin this and pumpkin that. We particularly liked the pumpkin sauce with the corn dog (though we didn't actually try it). It sounded particularly peculiar.

We did sample some tasty pumpkin donuts. We had to stop and take a picture with the record breaking biggest pumpkin weighing in at more than 1600 pounds. The pumpkin is wearing the crown, not me. :)

We'd only been walking around for about an hour, but due to some rainy snowish stuff we were pretty cold. We headed to the nearest Bob Evens for some hot cocoa to warm up a bit. On the way there we discovered a back street about a mile or so beyond the freeway exit where the freeway turns into a highway that could have saved us those 30 minutes. I guess that's what happens in an unfamiliar area. It was an exciting experience, that's for sure. Maybe we'll go back next year and it'll be a bit sunnier.

Note about Tristan

Our very own Tristan was on the Dean's list for Summer quarter. We have the proof on our fridge. I really should have bragged much sooner. We're so proud of you, Tristan!

It's coming. . .

Halloween Kisses!

Kalia and I grouped some friends together to visit the farm. They had these cute photo spots set up. We also went out to the pumpkin patch and came home with one of our very own. It was a great afternoon out with friends!

Halloween Goodies

When we picked up the mail today we found a surprise from Grandma and Grandpa Parry. Kalia was pretty excited to see what was inside.

Mom came to the rescue and helped out. In a few minutes we'd extracted our prize. We found a halloween bodysuit and some candy. Kalia enjoyed playing with the packages.

Thanks Grandma ('cause we know you do the shopping)!!!

Look Ma!

First Enamel. (bottom right) Daddy's so proud.

the tragedies of cat ownership

This morning we were hanging out on the bed after Kalia had eaten and before we were getting up for church. Tristan had brought Saphira up to hang out with us. Kalia was enthusiastically talking to the kitty and trying to pet (i.e. grab) her fur, eyes, whiskers, paws, and anything else she could make contact with. We've been working with her about petting gently and to not pull the fur, but alas, she gets so excited the training leaves her brain. (Or it doesn't stick to begin with, though we persist) We usually try to limit Saphira to the amount of love from the baby, and she has been patient. However, this morning Saphira had reached her limit and made for an escape by jumping over me. Kalia was lying by my side (we were all laying down) and the cat's back claws (nasty sharp things) cut across her face. Worried, we turned on the light (early enough to be pretty dark in the room) to see a streak of blood across our little girl's cheek and under her nose. Yikes. Poor thing. And our attempts to clean up the mess only caused fresh bouts of tears. I think she will recover and have no lasting trauma.

8 months

It's update time! Kalia is 8 months old. She's so much fun to hang out with. We spend a good portion of the day playing, but she still continues to nap well. Sometimes we'll venture out on some adventure or another with some mommy friends. Kalia hasn't really figured out how to interact with the other kids. Mostly she just watches them. I think she prefers the attentions of the adults and will stare at them, smiling immediately when they make eye contact. It's always fun to go to the store or some other public place because she is always ready with a smile to anyone that talks to her. People are always stopping to talk to her and tell her what a pretty girl she is.

Kalia is a great eater. I've finally been able to pin down how much to feed her. She's still nursing in the morning, so we get some cuddle time in. The rest of the day she takes formula from a bottle. She enjoys both fruits and veggies. In fact, she eats everything I offer her. I think she's looking forward to table food. She continues to stare at us anytime we're eating.

I'm continuously amazed at the amount and variety of sounds that come from her tiny body. She now screeches so loud your ears ring and has a whispery soft voice, too. She's discovering all kinds of new sounds. Her latest is "Oooo" and she

says it with a perfect O shaped mouth. Last night she said "Da Da" for the first time. Tristan's so proud that her first word is associated with him (though he wasn't in the room, and I guess I won't mention her first sound was Ma Ma about 4 months ago). The debate continues.

She's mastered rolling over and can do it pretty deliberately to get shat she wants. She sits independently though she hasn't really figured out how to get into a sitting position. Now we're working on crawling. Tristan has been working very hard with her to get her to go up on her knees. Most of his efforts result in her face-planting it and being propelled forward in that position. She does get around using a combination of rolling and rocking. She'll turn to her side and stretch forward to reach whatever object is inter

esting her. Then she'll push with her toes, or sometimes a knee to inch forward. It's not even an inch, its more of a centimeter. She'll rock back to her tummy to check her progress, as she looses eye contact while on her side. And repeat. Saphira is usually watching with distain; mostly because she's the object of interest.

I like to stand her against the couch. She can stand on her own for quiet a while. She just can't stand herself up without help. Today I was holding my hands out and encouraging her to pull herself to a sitting position then stand. She complains th

e whole time, but smiles big when she's successful. Then I reward her with praise and a hug. She hangs on tight. She'll wrap her hand around my neck and just hold on while looking at something interesting over my shoulder.