The Explorer

This week Casey learned some new stuff.

* She is crawling for real now and loves it! Which means she is exploring a lot more. She used to just stay in the living room and play...now she is all over the place. She even crawled over to the stairs last night and pulled herself up on the first step. We're not sure we're ready for this.

* She has started eating real food. She has tried pieces of banana, bread, puffs, avocado and turkey. She makes a funny face when she puts it in her mouth, but she keeps eating them. She is still working on picking up each piece and putting it in her mouth, but she is getting better at it.

* She drank out of a sippy cup. When she would actually get the spout in her mouth, she did finally figure out how to tip it and get the formula into her mouth. It was a pretty messy experiment though...formula all over the place.

* She also went on her first winter hike...

* She wore her first pair of tennis shoes (thanks Lily for the cute hand me downs). Ok kind of a stretch for a "first's" list...but she looked really cute in them:)

showing off all her teeth

family photo

casey enjoying the first half of the hike

the second half of the hike

There's No Place Like Home

After 3 days of driving, we made it back home to Dillon. Casey was an angel in the car and in the hotels. But she was definitely ready to be out of her car seat! Frisco was pretty good...still panting a lot, but we crated her in the back this time, so we didn't notice it as much. Stan made the trip back with us and is worked from home last week.

Our last week in VA was spent at Southside Tuesday night, Dec 30, where Stan's band, SML, headlined. Casey and Frisco spent the night with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Gail. Basically neither of them notice that we're gone and get a little confused the next day when we pick them up...like they aren't ready to leave!

New Years Eve was not so exciting this year...Stan & Tracy had awful colds/flu, so stayed in bed most of the day/night. TV coverage wasn't that exciting either...but we are looking forward to the New Year! Thursday night we all went over to Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's again to watch the Hokies finally win a bowl game! After a good night's rest, we were off to CO! With a stop in Casey, IL (how cute) and Colby, KS, we made it home early afternoon on Sunday, Jan 4. Lots of snow on the ground and temperatures in the teens!

Casey started her first day of daycare on Wednesday. She seemed to enjoy it and they seem to enjoy her! Stan and Tracy got to go snowboarding at Keystone that day! Thursday was Ullr Fest...the God of Snow. Casey was a trooper. We bundled her up and brought her to the Ullr parade in Breckenridge and hung out celebrating Ullr until 9:00 p.m. What a party girl!

Over Christmas, Casey started pulling herself up to standing position. And we even saw her crawl on her knees a few times, but mostly still army crawling. She is slowly getting used to real food. We'll give her pieces of bread and banana and puffs. She has figured out that they go in her mouth and she is supposed to eat them. This weekend she actually ate a few bites! She is growing more and more independent. She likes to pull herself up using the coffee table and then feels like she should be able to grab anything she wants up there. She is not a big fan of the word, "NO." She loves all her Christmas presents. We have them set up in the living room and she'll crawl over to the pile and play with pretty much everything! She is still a great sleeper. She takes 2 naps during the day and then goes to bed around 7:00 p.m. She wakes up around 7:00-8:00 a.m.

That's all for now. I'll try and get back to my weekly postings!

Ullr Girl

bundled up for the Ullr parade with Harriett

riding her car

SML at Southsides

daddy, teach me a song

Baby's First Christmas

Sorry no post last week! We have been busy since getting to VA last Friday.

Tracy, Casey and Frisco left Dillon on Wed, Dec 17, drove to Boulder to pick up Aunt Kel, then were off to VA, with stops in Kansas to sleep, Kentucky to visit Wes, Tricia, Colin and Leah, and WVA to sleep. We arrived in Burke Friday, Dec 19. Thanks Aunt Kel for keeping Tracy company...even if you did sleep most of the way;)

Saturday we celebrated an early Christmas with the WRIGHT side of the fam, because we were going to be in Roanoke Christmas day. Aunt Marcy, Uncle Stuart, Lily and Jack came over early to Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's house to exchange gifts. The rest of "Christmas Day" was spent making Christmas cookies and playing with presents and of course, eating.

After shopping and lunch with Grandma Gail, Aunt Kelly, Aunt Marcy and Lily, Sunday night Casey and Frisco got to sleep over at Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's house, while Tracy and Stan went into DC to watch the Wizards lose to the Mavericks with Dyani and Matt. Highlight of the game was that we sat directly behind the infamous Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavs owner). Even got a picture of Stan and Cuban with the blackberry (though it is a bit fuzzy).

Tuesday we went to visit Tracy's friend Dayna in Alexandria pre-baby...they just had the baby last night! On our way home to Herndon, we stopped for dinner and to celebrate night 3 of Hanakkuh with Aunt Marcy, Uncle Stuart, Lily and Jack.

Wednesday morning we headed down to Roanoke to celebrate Christmas with Gramma Lois and Aunt Lisa, Uncle Dave, Ashlynne, Morganne and Max (in town from Miami). We spent Christmas Eve at Aunt Linda and Uncle Marvin's house. Auntie Cousin Blair and Uncle Cousin Chad were in town from Pittsburgh. Christmas was fun watching Casey play with her new car/walker, pop up thingy (that's the technical term) and basketball hoop and watching her cousins run around. She tried her best to keep up with them. She has become a very fast army crawler and has started pulling herself up onto her knees and to standing position on Christmas Eve. She'll be walking in no time! She smiles constantly and even giggles now when we tickle her.

We had a great Christmas week hanging with family!! We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and wishing everyone a safe and Happy New Year!

sporting her santa pj's compliments of grandma gail and grandpa tom

casey, entertaining grandpa tom and grandma gail

need a ride?

casey size comfy chair from aunt marcy, uncle stuart, lily and jack

casey and max getting to know each other

perfecting her dunk

frisco showing her xmas spirit

gramma lois and her grandkids

Wave Hi to the Snow

Casey is a waving maniac. It's actually more of a hold up the hand to say hi or bye and she doesn't do it on cue yet. When we come downstairs in the morning and she sees Frisco she gets really excited, smiles and waves to her now. Funny!

We tried the 2 nap thing for about a week and decided she's not quite ready...maybe in a couple more weeks. We did have to take the crib bumper off after Tracy found her pulling on it one morning.

She's getting 2 new upper teeth and they've definitely been bothering her. She is babbling a lot...today it was Baa Baa Baa and Maa Maa (which of course means Mommy). She's also starting to pull herself up more...she pulled herself up using the first step and she uses us to pull herself up.

Saturday our neighbor came over to babysit Casey while we went to Keystone, together!!! We got a couple hours of riding in before heading back home. Casey was a good girl for her first "teen" babysitter. Looking forward to using her more when we get back from the holidays. The rest of the day, Stan spent working on the rest of the window trim. It looks SO good! You'll have to come visit to see...

We got a big snowstorm on Saturday night. Woke to a good 6-8 inches on our deck. Tracy joined Colin, Geoff and Kristi for a half day at Vail. There was SO much powder! Literally up to our knees. We all realized we are def getting old and def not in shape!! Supposed to get more snow this week...let's just hope it's not on Wednesday...that's when Tracy, Kelly, Frisco and Casey are driving back to VA. Hoping the trip is uneventful!

HI

Snowboard date!

what? i'm not crawling towards the electronics...

the snowstorm

Little Drummer Girl

Was a pretty uneventful week, except for the snow. We got a lot of new snow and we went snowboarding a lot this weekend. Friday, Stan shredded Breckenridge in the morning, then Tracy went to Abasin in the afternoon. Lots of powder. Saturday, our friend Kristi was kind enough to watch Casey, so we could go ride together for the first time in a long time!

Casey has a bit of a cold and fever this week. This afternoon her temp was 102.2 so we took her to the Doc...weighs 17.1 lbs with a wet diaper on. Doc thinks it's just a virus, but we'll monitor her temp the next couple days.

We started her on baby food dinners this weekend, which includes meat. I think she's a little unsure about the taste, but hopefully she'll get used to it. She is still army crawling, no hands and knees crawl yet. She gets up on her knees and rocks a little, but then drops when she wants to move. She has learned how to pull herself into our laps and is interested in pulling herself up, she just doesn't know how to just yet.

Casey wants to wish her Uncle Dave a belated Happy Birthday and her cousins Jack and Ashlynne a Happy Birthday!!

our lil' drummer girl

watching the hokies win the acc championship game

enjoying her exersaucer...from below

Thanksgiving Week

We all flew to VA on Nov 20th for a week and a half of VT and Thanksgiving activities. We drove down to VT for the weekend to watch the Hokies beat Duke that Saturday. Casey stayed with Gramma Lois and Great Aunt Linda during the game and definitely kept them entertained.

Monday was spent at Dulles Town Center mall with Jessica and her 2 boys, Hunter (4) and Jacob (2). Casey enjoyed lunch in the food court, riding the carousel, getting her picture taken with Santa (she was so good, no crying at all), attention from Hunter (he loves playing with Casey) and people watching.

Tuesday we headed to MD to visit some CO friends (who also have a house in MD), Kathy, Sean, Dillon (1 1/2) and their new baby boy, Connor. We also visited Stacey and her kids John Patrick (1 1/2)and Cate (11 1/2 months). We then headedto Aunt Marcy and Uncle Stuart's house for dinner. Aunt Kel was in town from Boulder, Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom were also there. Casey had her first finger food...Sweet Potato Puffs. Quite a treat!

Wednesday we hung out at Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's house. Aunt Kel was there and Aunt Marcy, Uncle Stuart, Lily and Jack came over too. Marcy, Tracy and Kel went for a 5 mile run around Burke Lake to try and fend off any Thanksgiving Day pounds. Tracy spent the rest of the day making pies (pumpkin, apple and pecan). Stan came over in the evening and Great Uncle Mike, Great Aunt Jeanne, Alli and Davis arrived that evening from KY.

Thursday was a fun day hanging with everyone. Casey entertained all day and got to stay up late to visit. She sat at the dinner table eating puffs and veges and was very well behaved. Turkey dinner was delicious!!

Casey is army crawling everywhere. She loves any type of cord she can get her hands on. Everything still goes straight into her mouth. She can find any piece of anything on the floor...no matter if you vacuum that day or not, she'll find something. She also talks non-stop. Sometimes it actually sounds like she is having a real conversation. And she is very smiley! She has started understanding peek-a-boo and we've gotten a couple little laughs out of her while playing. She is trying to figure out how to pull herself up. My parents have a step from the family room to the kitchen and she kept trying to crawl up it. She is still eating 5 6oz bottles, and we have now added fruit to her day. She eats oatmeal in the morning, fruit at lunch and vegetables at dinner. She seems to like everything so far.

Friday we drove to Roanoke for our second turkey dinner at Great Aunt Linda and Great Uncle Marvin's. Auntie Cousin Blair and Chad were in town from Pittsburgh. We met up with them again on Saturday night at Gramma Lois' house for a couple rounds of Family Feud...after we got back from the Hokies game. VT beat the Wahoo's to win the ACC Coastal division and to move on the ACC championship game (being played in Tampa on Dec 6 against BC).

Sunday we spent 6 hours in the car on our way back to NOVA. We finally made it to Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's house to put up the Christmas tree with Aunt Kel, Aunt Marcy, Lily and Jack. The big event was Santa Claus stopping by. Lily was very shy and wouldn't look at him, Jack wasn't sure about the jolly old fellow, Casey screamed when she looked at him.

Tracy and Casey fly out tomorrow. Looking forward to some rest and relaxation:)!

Casey's jungle gym

proud of herself

posing

enjoying her first carousel ride

where did that puff go?

playing with Grandma and Grandpa

cousin Jack beating up on Casey

cousins on Thanksgiving Day

go hokies

at the UVA/VT game

Aunt Kel and Casey putting a Santa ornament on the tree

Casey and Santa...

Lily, with help from Uncle Stan, putting the finishing touch on the tree.

6 Months

Casey is very active nowadays. We had to move her crib down since she is so active. She is still all about army crawling. She loves crawling straight towards the fireplace and TV electronics. We're working on "no" a lot this week. She does get up on her knees and rocks a bit, but when she's ready to move, she drops back down to her belly and cruises along. Yesterday she went from crawling position to a sitting position.

She is VERY smiley, especially if one of us leaves the room and then comes back in...she'll give us a huge smile. No laughing yet, but she is getting close. She's still eating about 3 hours, but some days can push it to 3 1/2...at least for a couple meals. She eats her oatmeal with bananas in the morning and loves its and eats a vege in the evening. She loves sweet potatoes. She actually finished off an entire jar last night.

She's been sticking out her lower lip a lot this week. Very random, but very funny. So now it's either sticking her tongue out or giving us the lower lip.

She went to her 6 month doctor appt today. She weighs 16 lbs 3 oz and is 26.5 inches long. She's 50-60 percentile for everything. She had 2 shots which made her cry a little, but after her tweety bird bandaids were applied, all was back to normal.

Stan got into town Thursday night, so we got to go snowboarding on Friday afternoon at Abasin. We took turns, one would watch Casey in the lodge the other would go ride. Saturday Aunt Kel came up to babysit Casey while we went to Blackhawk for some gambling and to celebrate Mark and Amy's engagement. Sunday Kel and Tracy went riding at Keystone. We are all def ready for more runs to be open...the new gondola line was forever long...but once we got up on the mountain, the lift line was good, so we got a bunch of runs in. Stan went by his lonesome after we got back. We need it to snow!! Hopefully while we are in VA for Thanksgiving.

We leave tomorrow!! We'll have a lot more pix next post.

Tongue Twister

Casey found her tongue on Saturday. She woke up and stuck her tongue out all day long. Needless to say, it was pretty funny taking her to get her picture taken at Sears on Monday. We got a couple of her smiling, but after a few good pix, she decided she'd rather stick her tongue out.

We were in VA all last week. Thursday we drove down to Blacksburg for the VT/MD football game. It was a 7:30 p.m. game, so Casey got to tailgate with us during the day. Stan made yummy pastalaya! The weather was beautiful and the Hokies did not "Fear the Turtle" and pulled out a nice, fat W. Casey had lots of fun at the tailgate, entertaining everyone with her cuteness...of course. She did not attend the game, instead, she and Ellie (Sweets and MA's girl) went back to the Bonadeo's to play with a babysitter.

The weekend was spent in Roanoke at Gramma Lois' house. Great Aunt's Linda and Donnie made a couple visits to play with their great niece...who showed off her army crawling and tongue tricks. She is also getting up on her knees, ready to crawl, but then drops back down and army crawls.

Sunday we drove back to NOVA. We went to Aunt Marcy and Uncle Stuart's house Sun afternoon to play with Lily and Jack. We all got in some great playground time. Casey loved the swing and slide. Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom joined us for dinner and playing.

Tuesday, Tracy and Casey boarded a plane back to CO for the week. Stan will join us Thursday night. It was exciting to get back to Dillon and see snow on the ground! Hoping to get lots of snowboarding in before we head back to VA for Thanksgiving!

Thanks to Geoff, Sarah, Kaelin and Otto and Aunt Kel who took care of Frisco while we were out of town.

on the plane

showing her tongue in crawling position

casey loves swinging

lily showing uncle stan her new bike

hanging with aunt marcy and jack

wrestling with gramps

cute

Halloween

Sorry for the delay! We're in VA. The whole fam flew to VA on Thursday. It was nice to have an extra pair of hands on the plane. Casey was great. She slept and ate and ate and ate!

Friday we dropped Casey off at Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's house for the weekend, while we headed to NYC for the NYC Marathon.

Casey had a great weekend hanging with Grams and Gramps. We were told she was a perfect little baby...and that she got more baths she's had in all her 6 months of life. She got to play with her cousins Lily and Jack on Saturday. Jack tried to get her from army crawl to hands and knees crawling, but she's not convinced just yet. She adjusted well to east coast time and daylight savings. She's eating cereal in the morning and vegetables at night. She had her first peas on Tuesday...went over good.

While Casey was busy keeping Grams and Gramps entertained, we took a bus up to NYC to visit our friend Tiff who ran the NYC marathon on Sunday. What an exciting day...we even got to run in the race...4 miles as "support" runners.

All in all, a weekend away from the kid went very well.
Congrats to Tiff for finishing 26.2 miles. Thank You to Grams and Gramps for watching Casey!

We're off to Blacksburg for the VT/MD Thursday night game...GO HOKIES! Then to Gramma Lois' for the weekend.

our little skeleton

the full look

chasing after Jack

Casey hanging with her cousins

Tiff and Tracy running in the NYC marathon

hanging with ms. liberty