1 Year Well Check Visit

Libby went in for her 1 year well check visit today. She weighed 22 lbs 10 ozs putting her in the 75th for weight. She was 30 1/2 inches tall (90th percentile) and her head is 45 1/2 cm around which is the 51st percentile.

Libby has been done with formula for the past two week and is now drinking milk. She eats pretty much whatever we are eating for most meals. She loves cheese crumbles and any sort of lunch meat. Yesterday she tried broccoli and loved it, she also likes watermelon, yogurt, applesauce and hotdogs (with the skin peeled off). Each morning Libby and I share a bowl of Cap'n Crunch with Crunch Berries, each day she seems to eat more and more of the bowl.

Libby's first word is "Hi" and she loves to say it to her mom when she comes home from work. Libby can stand for about 15 seconds and can walk 4-5 steps before face -planting into a pillow (unless we are there to catch her). She is getting more daring when it comes to walking between objects. 

Happy 1st Birthday

Today was Libby's first birthday. Even though she was very grumpy most of the day, she loved having her Uncle Dan, Aunt Kris, Uncle Dave, Aunt Cathie, and cousins Matthew, Nathan, Andy, Maddie, Steve-O, and Emily down to visit for her special day. She celebrated with her best friend Isabelle, who turns One tomorrow. There were about 25 people who came to the party. There was tons of food to be eaten by all. Libby loved eating her cake most of all, she got frosting EVERYWHERE and needed two baths to get most of the way clean (we still ended up finding frosting in her ear that night). To see more of the pictures of the fun day, click here. 

Jon Jr.

Libby and I visited one of her favorite stores today. While waiting in line at the paint department at Lowes, a nice older gentleman came up and started talking to Libby. The problem was he thought she was a boy. This was not totally his fault, because she was dressed in the above outfit and when sitting down in a shopping card it looks like it could be a little blue shirt with duckies and balloons on it. I guess I should have corrected him right away, but I didn't want to embarrass him. The old guy started asking Libby her name, and asking her if "her name was Joe", I looked on smiling for as long as possible until finally he turned to me and asked for "his" name. Because I am so quick thinking on my feet, the only name I could come up with was Jon. So whenever the guy would say "hi Jon" to Libby, Libby would look at him a bit oddly. I am pretty sure that the old man knew I was lying, but oh well. 

Babydoll

For Christmas this past year, Libby recieved a babydoll from her Grandma. We finally got it out after we saw her love of children over at her friend Izzie's house this past friday. She took an immediate liking to her, she calls it LeeLeeLeeLee, after her cousin Matthew's first imaginary friend.
If you look closely you can see her top two teeth that are starting to poke through. For someone who is triple teething right now, she sure is happy most of the time.
Libby is looking forward to her female cousin's Maddie, Emily and Allie coming down for her birthday party so that they can show her the correct way to play with a babydoll. We tried to let her know that holding it by the head is NOT good mothering. 

Dirty Scrabble

Each day during Camp-a-palooza 2006 a game of Scrabble would break out. Above Mom, Ryan, Rudi and Errin are playing. By the third day everyone was getting quite bored with it. So at first Rudi suggested that they play strip Scrabble, everyone quickly told Rudi how inappropriate that would be, plus his wife reminded him how that could be quite embarrassing for him. I suggested that they play dirty Scrabble, where obscene words can be used. Everyone loved the idea!
I took this picture half way through the game. Ironicaly enough Rudi's nickname when he was in the Delta Lambda Phi fraternity was "Stormy Penis", he wouldn't tell us why though.

First Steps

Today at 5:42 p.m. Libby took her first steps. This is exactly 4 months, 3 days and 6 hours and 23 minutes after her best friend Isabelle took hers. Way to go Libby, we are so proud. Notice the graceful landing.

You Might Be a Redneck....

if your baby takes a bath outdoors in a cooler.
As you can tell from this photo, Libby was having so much fun that Elise had to join her.

Look how much fun the cousins are having.

Check out how long Liser's hair is getting.

Uncle Ryan was nice enough to let Libby use his hammock to dry off a little.

Vandal

Conveniently, after Beth's step-sister Amy had left the campground, we found the train vandalized. If you look closer at the wheel, only one person could have done it. The ranger let us know that Amy is on toilet scrubbing duty next year for her deliquency.
 

Camp-a-palooza 2006

Last weekend we went on the Kloosterman/Bonner annual camp-a-palooza. We left Memphis at about 4 a.m. Saturday morning and headed up north to Fremont, In. We stayed 4 nights at the Jellystone Park. It was tons o' fun. We had a two bedroom cabin that technically slept six, but we piled up two sets of matresses and slept very comfortably. The best part was that Libby managed to sleep really well in her pack 'n play. In fact, the first morning, we were the last to wake up (at 9:30). When we finally rolled out of bed, our brother-in-law Paul B had made us fresh pancakes.


There were lots of pools and lakes for people to swim and fish in. The weather was great--sun and 80's all week. We had a good time hanging out, and had delicious camping cuisine. Beth's step-brother Ryan was quite the chef. He made everything from carmel apple jello-shots to the "Ryan Special" which is a hobo pie made with peanut butter, chocolate and a marshmallow (or two if you are me).

Here is a picture of all 22 of us. It was a complete coincidence that we all ended up wearing tye-dye shirts for the picture. Actually Beth's parents told us that the Grateful Dead were going to be there, but as it turned out, it was a farce. Go figure, I guess they're still playing some larger venues.

As soon as all the nieces and nephews showed up at camp, the rangers placed this sign near our campground:

Great Liquor Store

Check this picture out, you can get a case of Natural Lite for only $10.99. And interestingly enough, the entrace to the liquor store is in the rear. 

Upside Down

One of Libby's newest tricks and favorite things to do is to be upside down. It started off with Beth tipping her over while she was holding her and saying "upside down". Libby loved it so much she started doing it all by herself when we would say it. As she is showing off in this picture she can even do it one handed. 

Dave's Gym

For those of you who read my brother Dave's blog, you will notice a trend in that he always complains about the gym he goes to and his work outs. You can read the most recent example of this here. Last time I talked to him I told him that he needs to just suck it up and either stop whining or just quit working out. I asked him for some pictures of the gym and the workout equipment. These are actual photos of "Triad" where he works out.


 

Wise words

On the way out of the Northwest Passage exhibit they have saying "carved" into rocks. Our friend Damon is convinced that this one pertains to the World Wide Web (www). I on the other hand understand it to be an old native american comment on the importance of taking care of the enviroment for our children. After all, they are the future. And also Indians didn't have computers.

Swimming in the Nile

After walking around the zoo for two hours in the 100 degree heat, we stopped off at the "Nile River" for a quick dip. Libby loved it. The water felt GREAT.
It was the perfect depth for her and she could sit on the first step and splash around.

She wasn't as crazy about the fountains in the middle.

Since we didn't bring her swimsuit or swim diaper, we let her wade around in her regular diaper. By the time she was done it weighed more than she did. So after a little naked time on the zoo bench, we put a new diaper on her and headed home.

The Zoo

On Saturday we loaded up the car and headed off to the Memphis Zoo. Libby and I usually go about once a week, but it is always more fun when mom comes with us.
Here is Beth doing her impression of a stalk of bamboo.


One of our first stops was in the Farm area. This horse was taunting Libby the whole time. He was quite the rude horse. He turned around and leaned up against the fence (almost breaking it), itched his butt and farted.

Here is a little known fact: Spotted Pygmy Donkeys eat a steady diet of hay and apparently children's feet. Libby is now known as "Libby Four Toes".
Which came first, Libby or the Egg?

Apparently Libby is scared of heights and would only sit on top of the plastic cow if her eyes were closed.

We explained to Libby that this is where milk comes from. The bull didn't appreciate the humor.

We had a hard time getting the attention of the goats, except for one hideously ugly goat. He was like the loaner/rebel goat of the bunch. Once we started scratching his head, he wouldn't let us leave. He had no ears or horns.


In appreciation for the head scratch, he agreed to pose for this photo.