11 Months Old

On Sunday Sabine turned 11 months old.



Time is really flying by. We've been settling into a good routine; Sabine's usually up around 6:00 AM -6:30 AM and has breakfast and sees daddy off to work. She goes down for a nap around 9:00, sleeps for about an hour to an hour and a half, and then is up for a good three hour stretch. That's usually the time we get out of the house during the day. Her second nap usually falls between 1:30 and 2:00, and that one also lasts about an hour to an hour and a half. Then she's up to play, have dinner, and go through the bedtime routine, which can take quite a while.

She's a really happy little girl with a strong personality. She has never met a stranger. I keep hearing about babies who go through separation anxiety, but she continues to offer herself up to strangers with no regard for mom or dad. This is an endearing trait when we're introducing her to people like our bosses. This is less endearing at the mall on a Saturday afternoon when she refuses to be carried and insists on walking BY HERSELF, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

We have just learned to be her shadow, and try to intercept when necessary. But she's a really amazing kid, we wouldn't have it any other way.

In other news, Sabine finally came down with her first cold last Friday. It was bound to happen eventually, and I'm just glad she's no longer a fragile little newborn. While she acts like the little bulb snot-sucker is an instrument of torture, it hasn't been all bad. Our huge humidifier has been moved into her room, and she cracks herself up leaning over it to get the fan to blow on her face.

Happily, she seems to be feeling much better today, since tomorrow we're headed out to check out the Gymboree play place. (First class is free.) Sabine is really drawn towards other little kids, she literally tackles them in her excitement. Fortunately she's younger and smaller than most of her friends, I think she might be a little overwhelming, otherwise. I'm hoping she'll find some other like-minded kids tomorrow.

Visiting Daddy at Work

These pictures are actually from two weeks ago, but I just haven't had a chance to share them until now. I finally got to take Sabine in to see Dustin at work. She was a hit at the office, and then we went out to a nice lunch together at Dixons.

(Sorry Dustin, I know that's not your most flattering look. It's the only one I got where Sabine was looking at the camera.)

Then we stopped to admire the bison along 16th Street on our way back to the car.






Looking at these pictures now, I can tell just how much has changed in just a few short weeks. Sabine is definitely taller, and has more hair.

And one more picture from our weekend in Michigan! It's hard to believe that was already over a week ago.



Sabine is now pointing at everything, and is very clearly trying to talk. The week we were in Michigan, everything was "Dat!" This week, everything is "Ahp!" Her comprehension is soaring, even if her vocabulary hasn't quite kept up. She understands quite a bit of what we say. She can point to a cat, dog, and bunny in her book. She gets (one of her many) bears when we ask "Where's your bear?" and she dances whenever music comes on. She also has a Very Serious look, which she has been flashing for a couple of months now, but Dustin finally taught her to do it on command. So now when you ask her to show you "Blue Steel" (a reference to the movie Zoolander) she will usually flash it. We haven't gotten a picture yet, but that's hopefully to come.

Busy Labor Day

We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend in Michigan, visiting Dustin's aunt, uncle, and grandmother. Sabine has now met both of her living great-grandmothers!




Sabine loved spending time with Great-Grandma Pat. Sabine read her bunny book to Grandma Pat multiple times. Mommy's little girl. That was one of my favorites as a kid, too.




We stayed with Aunt Vicki and Uncle Pat, and Sabine seems to have charmed everyone.




Thank you all for a really lovely weekend. We miss you guys already.

We flew home on Monday, only to see a large smoke cloud build and build and build as we drove closer to our house. It turned out to be the Fourmile Canyon Fire, which you may have heard about on the news. (Here's a link, if you haven't: http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=151803&catid=339 )

This isn't Sabine-related, but it is major news out here. We're guessing we're about 15 miles southeast or so from the fire. The air has been a bit smokey, so we've just been staying inside, but it's definitely not as bad out here as it is in Boulder. I took some pictures on Monday from just outside of our house.



This was around 4:30 PM




This was around 7:30 PM.




And this very squiggly picture was from around 9:00 PM. I turned the F-stop on my camera way down so that you could see the flames, but I didn't happen to bring a tripod outside, and I was trying not to wake Sabine up by opening and closing the front door a bunch of times, so that's why this picture is so blurry. It's taken from the same spot as the previous picture, so you can still make out the van in the foreground and see the orange flames in the foothills behind.

I went out to take a picture on Tuesday morning, but the foothills were completely covered in smoke. Happily, the air is clearer here today, and the hills are back in view with no smoke. But I think that must just be for this corner of the fire, it sounds like it's still out of control further north.

Hair!

You might want to sit down for the ensuing adorableness. Just a warning.

Sabine finally has about six hairs on her head that are long enough to collect into one little clip. Behold the extreme cuteness:





Tatum may look nonplussed, but rest assured, he thinks it's darling too.