Doctor Report

Violet had her 1-year doctor's appointment on Friday. Here's the breakdown:

Weight: 48th percentile
Height: 19th percentile
Head size: 97th (!) percentile

I'm consoling myself with the thought that for people this small, a couple of inches either direction probably has a huge effect in the percentile department.

Birthday news and other stuff coming soon!

Wilson and Violet (2/24/09)

Here are your pictures. So quit whinin' already.

Ba ba.

Not to be outdone, I would like to take this opportunity to share with y'all that little Stinky referred to me yesterday as "ba ba". This was after I pointed to daddy, said "Da da", and then she said "da da." So when I pointed to myself and said "ma ma,", and she said "ba ba," well, yes, I think that counts.

Between Wilson's relentless singing and now Violet's burgeoning chatter, we're going to have a very loud house indeed! Awesome.

"Da da"

She said it! And keeps saying it: About 85% in context, which is good enough for me. Good baby! And don't worry about Mommy, there is not too much doubt about who this baby prefers...

Take it to the Lemon... One More Time

Lately Wilson has a new favorite band--in addition to Buddy Holly, of course: The Eagles. He dances around the house, demanding "Eagles! Eagles! Eagles!" I don't think the Eagles even like the Eagles as much as he does. His favorite song right now is "Take it to the Limit", which, although some lines can be misinterpreted in the ears of a two-year-old (see post title), has a fun repetitive chorus. He also likes the Stray Cats well enough (mostly for dancing).

Violet is more of a Waterboys fan; I'm hoping this will translate someday into her being more into the Dropkicks than Baby Man is.

In any case, I'm looking forward to 20 years from now when Wilson is in some hipster Seattle band and I can remind him often of his early and deep love of the not-quite-so-hipster Eagles.

Hi, Dada!

I am happy to report that Violet is speaking. Yes, she's under 8 months old, but yesterday she clearly said "Hi, Dada". Well, actually, she said, "HahahahihihihihiHIDADAdadadadadadababababa", but given that she's a tiny baby, I don't think the context is really that important.

In any case, baby babbling is totally cute and fun to listen to. Sometimes Nicole and I lay in bed and listen to her have these conversations with herself over the baby monitor.

Christmas Childrens

For everyone who hasn't quite gotten their fill of Christmas, here are a few pictures of Violet and Wilson and some family (we kind of dropped the ball on present-opening pictures this year; you can thank me later).

Things Kids Do

We thought you might enjoy some miscellaneous pictures of these kids doing kid things, including:

• Jumping into someone else's picture at the last minute;
• Showing off their first backpack;
• Taking part in a Christmas show;
• Looking like a model from the 70s;
• Cleaning ears;
• Getting stuck under the couch;
• Constantly confounding efforts to keep a safe sleeping environment; and
• Tongues. Lots of tongues.
  

Snowmen

As you probably know, we're in the middle of one of the bigger snows that I've seen in Washington since I've been living here. We got about 8" at our house; of course that meant plenty of time for them childrens to be outside enjoying the stuff.

Wilson and I even got into our first snowball fight: He and I were making snowballs (OK, I was making them and handing them to him) and we got tired of throwing them up in the air and at poles so I threw one at him. He looked at the white spot on his jacket and said, "Snowball at Daddy?", so I handed another one over and he got me square in the chest (he's got a pretty good arm for a two year old). Then we went inside.

Here are some pictures of the crowd playing in the snow (and yes, Daddy is too cheap to buy a real sled. I'm thinking I have a few more years before this attitude starts to cause significant social problems for them).

CRAWLING!!!

I'm happy to report that today Baby Miss took several purposeful "steps" forward, so I think we can safely say that she's officially crawling (taking her out of the sleepsack turned out to be helpful). Look for her to be crawling your way soon!

PS: I know we've been bad bloggers lately (mostly we know this because 3 different people reminded us); look for some pictures and updates coming soon.

Buncha Violet News

It seems like the big Violet news happens in threes:

1. Violet is oh-so-very-close to crawling: She's at the point now where she can easily pivot in place, move backwards and get her knees under her. It's just a matter of putting all the pieces together now. I think she's get there sooner than later, if only because she keeps backing herself under the couch and getting ticked off.

2. On Thanksgiving, Violet also had her first solid food, bananas from a jar. She didn't mind them as much as Wilson did (although in his defense he got fresh mooshed bananas, which are a little less sweet), but she did quickly get to her limit. After that point, everything that went in, came out a couple of seconds later.

3. The biggest news: Yesterday, Baby Miss turned 1/2! That's right, six months ago our little girl was born (seems like forever, doesn't it?)! Wilson and I sang her Happy Birthday yesterday morning, after which he of course said, "More cake?"

Blondes Prefer Bottles

From the color coming in in her eyebrows and temples, it looks to me that Baby Miss is going to be as blonde as Wilson. Sorry, Mommy. Maybe she'll keep the blue eyes...

Happynoise

Violet has a funny sound she's been making lately when she's in a good mood. We call it the "happy noise" and it sounds like a cross between someone steadily clearing her throat and a cat's purr. Even better, it's almost exactly the Yiddish sound used in the name Chaim (or the toast LeChaim).

Posts I Keep Forgetting To Write, Pt I

The pronunciation of Wilit (from this post) is "Why-lit", not "Will-it". Sorry for any confusion.

Violet and Friends

How to get your picture in this edition of Violet and Friends? Simple: Just have had a cute picture of you and Baby Miss taken in the last three months.

Halloween I: Chick Pea!

Being the fashionable baby she is, Violet has a couple of Halloween costumes. Here's one of them (more pictures of both childrens here).

New Violet Nicknames, Part II

Like so many of the new words around our house, our other new Violet nickname comes from Wilson. When he sees Violet, he gets very excited and yells, "HI WILIT!". She seems to really enjoy this, even though it is usually immediately followed by a over-enthusiastic tickle, a wooden train car bouncing near her face or a size 7 foot stepping on her tiny hand. Love Wilit!

New Violet Nicknames, Part I

A couple of weeks ago we all visited with Katie, who had a new nickname for Violet that I really like: "Purple". It's fun to say and "Purple Demetrescu" has a nice balance to it if she ever gets into the entertainment industry, like Leather Tuscadero or Kinky Friedman (I also record it here in case she totally hates it, so she'll know that it wasn't me who made it up).

What Babies Are Thinking

Zzzzz...

(yawn)

"Man, I feel like I slept for hours..."

"Hey, where the hell is everybody? And why is it so dark?"

"Wait, they're in the kitchen! Typical. Over here! Hey, guys!"

"Guys?"

"OK, seriously, this is pissing me off."

"Waaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

(breathe) (breathe)

"Waaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

"Ouch! Hey! Don't put that damn rubber thing in my face!"

"Oh. Ah. Well, I guess it's OK for now..."

Zzzzz.

Violet Baptism Pics

Here they are, as promised (plus one of Rocco 'cause he's SO DARN CUTE). Thanks to Kate and Rick for taking them.