Have Baby, Will Travel!

Pulled out the suitcases to start packing for our trip to Florida and the Bahamas in a week and Linkan crawled in to see what she could play with. It's a clear indication that she is just as excited as we are for a vacation!

9 Months Young!

I'm a little behind! Linkan turned 9 months last Tuesday (8/17/2010). It snuck up on me and I didn't realize it until the day of. Ben and I really can't believe it. It's amazing to think that, at this point, she has been on the "outside" longer than she has been on the "inside". :)

At her 9 month appointment last week, she was:
28.25 inches long (75%)
18 lb. 2 oz (36%)

What she is up to:
Crawling at the speed of sound
Pulling herself up on anything that she can
Crawling up the steps
Walking with a little balance help from mom and dad
Walking by herself while holding onto a walker (think - granny walker)
Loves to climb up the sides of our hot tub
Loves the community pool and our hot tub
Wears sun hats, sunglasses and headbands without protest (much to the delight of her mama!)
Loves to run errands
Lots of babbling - da da, ba ba, boo boo, etc
Loves to turn the pages in her books

What she eats the most:
Still nursing 4x day
Hummus
Avocado
Yo baby yogurt
Plums
Peaches
Apricots
Cheerios
Freeze dried fruit

She's a pretty amazing little girl. We marvel at her every day. :) Here are some pics that I took on her 9 month old birthday....or whatever you want to call that.

DaDa!

We discovered this week that Linkan can say things on cue. How fun is that!? Here is a vid of Linkan repeating "dada" and a couple other fun sounds. haha - I'm sure we will regret encouraging those sounds at some point in the near future. :)

Stair Master

Here is Linkan, the lil booger, climbing the stairs

Forever Young

Forever young...and always in my heart.

Ben's Triathlon

Ben has been busy ramping up for his IronMan race in late September. He did a triathlon (placed 3rd in his division) and duathlon (1st in his division) in July and just yesterday, did another Triathlon (1st in his division and 19th place overall) in Cherry Creek. His time was 2:34. Nate, Link and I went to show our support. It was such a hot day. Of course, it's all madness to me but if every body could do it then it wouldn't be much of a challenge. I'm real proud of my man!

I'm so irritated that I didn't get a better shot of him coming through the finish line. :(

"Whew! Glad that's over!"



You're my number one, baby! haha

Nate & Ben

Drum roll please...

It took WEEKS to come in but Linkan's first tooth finally broke the skin and made it's appearance last Monday, August 2nd. It had been such a long time coming that I couldn't believe it when I felt it! It's on her bottom gum...just one lil tooth. As of today, it still hasn't come all the way in. Last night, she slept through the whole night, making me think that it may not be hurting her anymore. We're crossing our fingers! Here is a picture of that cute lil toothless grin that I'm going to miss! PS- Linkan's Grandma P made the sunhat for her. Isn't it the most darling little hat you have ever seen?? Lots of love, Grandma!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!

Ever since Linkan learned how to crawl, she has been exploring every inch of our house. Her newest thing is to crawl over to big objects and pull herself up onto them. I caught her doing this on her walker. Check out her feet - she is balancing on it. She fell a few times but has pretty much (I said - PRETTY much) learned how to fall so that she doesn't hurt herself.

Busted!

"Watch me, mama!"

I think she was pretty pleased with herself. Can you tell? :)

Hammie!

Rockies MLB

Our friends, Rick and Kris Young and their kids Payton and Tanner (whom we hadn't seen in years!), were vacationing in Colorado last week. They stopped in Denver and stayed with us for two nights. We had such a great time catching up with them. I worked with Kris in Wichita and we all became friends after Ben and Rick met at a company Christmas party. They took us to a Rockies game. It was Linkan's first. The Rocks lost but we still had a good time!

Kris, Payton and Tanner

Rick and Ben playing with Linkan. They gave her a Leapfrog talking doggie which has since become her absolute favorite toy!

Poochin' around

Let's just say that Boss "tolerates" Linkan. I'm sure he wishes that life would revert back to the days where there was no Stella and no Linkan. He is our first "baby" and always will be. These days, he is an old man who is set in his ways. He allows Linkan to climb on him a little and then gets up to find a more comfortable place to lie down. On this particular day, he was feeling a little more playful and allowing Linkan to use him as a jungle gym. :) He's a good boy and will probably become more attached to Linkan as she gets older.

Thompson Wedding

Some of our favorite people in the world and our "family" here in Denver, Nate and Heather, finally sealed the deal on July 3rd, 2010. The locale was beautiful Breckenridge, Colorado. This, actually, was my first time in Breck. The weekend could not have been more perfect. It was amazing beautiful in the mountains. Ben officiated their wedding - it will be his last, I'm afraid! :) After the vows, we danced the night away. On the 4th, Ben and Nate took a group climbing. I was able to catch some pictures of the wildlife. Before we headed back home, Ben, Linkan and I rode our bikes from Breck to Frisco and back. That is a great bike path! It was a wonderful weekend and we were so glad to be able to be a part of it. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Thompson!

The lil Diva on the wedding day

The beautiful view!





Denise (mother of the groom) and Kikki

Creepy Crawly!

Not long after my last post, Linkan began crawling for the first time on July 19th. It's been a few weeks since she has learned to crawl and it feels like she has always been able to do it. I barely remember the days when I could lie her on my bed and know that she wasn't going anywhere because she wasn't even strong enough to roll over. Now that she can crawl, she is always wanting down so she can explore! She has even mastered climbing up the steps. Here is a video of her first day of crawling.