Happy 11 Months, Cyanne!

Happy 11 months, Cyanne!
It is hard to believe that you're almost a year old. We remember so well what we were doing 11 months ago... about to have you!

Ah, how she has grown.
She is such a joy - she laughs a lot, smiles a lot - and generally is a very, very happy baby. (Not to mention, in my biased opinion, very cute...)

Here are some photos from her day:



Pointing... at Daddy... =)
"Where's Daddy?"



Comparison shots in the rocking chair -
Note the wooden spoon - our future chef... =)




This look on the left is very funny - Tom has taught her to copy him - tilting their chins down and then looking up - it's very funny. We'll try & post a video...



Daddy and Cyanne - chewing her purple bath toy and her mowhawk =)... One of the best way to get her to leave the bath (which she loves) is to take a toy with her.
Ah... tactics...



Tom thought he was being very funny and created the hairstyle while I was emptying the tub... Cyanne does have more hair now, that's for sure!



Said mowhawk and purple toy...
And being tickled by the toothbrush.







Practicing standing... She loves using our dining room chairs to practice her standing skills.

As an aside - this sometimes leads to bad things.
I was sitting at the table working on the laptop when I heard this loud boom...
I turn around and there is poor, prostrate Cyanne lying under a chair which she had pulled over - she'd gone from standing to flat on her back - one part of it laying against her throat. Frankly, she was too stunned to cry at first... but oh... then... it started. But - we quickly (after a few kisses) went outside to see 'puppy' and the wind in the trees and all was well.
We even stopped to play with Whitney's wind chimes and all was even better yet.



One more month to go and then we hit the big 1 year! =)

Words

Cyanne is definitely starting to say some words. Whether they all actually go with what she is saying is another story.

However, this morning, we heard her say "kit-tee" when looking at Max & Sonsie. She is going to say this word very, very soon.
She sees them, starts crawling towards them, and says "kit" followed shortly by "tee."
Then squeals.
It is pretty darn cute. (The cats, however, do not find it so).

She says "ma ma" and at times, says "da da"though not when necessarily looking at us.

She has a whole range of sounds she makes but this was the first time we heard her say a word that meant what she was trying to say.

Pretty exciting -
And I'd like to note, I think it was Lara who said several months ago, "I bet kitty will be her first word." Good predicting, Lara!

While she said "mama" while we were back east in July, it may be that "kitty" is her first real word... =)

Hello...

More crawling practice...

Laundry "helper"

Cyanne decided to help me fold her clothes after we finished doing laundry...

She crawled over to her baskets of clothes, reached up, pulled out a few shirts and then decided that the entire basket would be much more satisfying.

Here is the aftermath:

"What, mama? I'm just helping...."





Mmmm... Drawstrings taste especially good.



She's got a good hold on the basket.



And a photo of Max.
Atop the storage boxes of C's clothes.

Cyanne & the swings

We took Cyanne to Tucker's Grove Park this afternoon to play in the swings.
We'd been searching for baby swings and finally found them there (thanks Lara!).

She really seemed to enjoy herself.

We also are trying to upload a video so you can see her swinging in action. Sorry for our loud voices - you can hear her, though! (Just learning how to work the video...)







Amazing how "old" something becomes... A very 'been here, done that' face =).
Actually - she was entranced by the other kids playing on the playground. She was mesmerized...





Video of Cyanne on the swing:

Crawling!!!

Yes, it is official... we have crawling.
As in both arms and legs working in tandem to move Cyanne from one place to another...
She's picking up speed, as well.

Her favorite destination is the cat's water fountain...



It is all very exciting.

However, we are beginning to realize, very quickly - that nothing is safe or far from eagerly reaching little hands - we won't be able to leave her unattended for any period much longer.

Yeah, Cyanne!
Such a big girl...

Cyanne meets her Aunt Nancy Clare & Eric

Cyanne was thrilled to meet her Aunt Clare and her boyfriend Eric.
The last time Cyanne "met" them was when about 2 weeks before she was born... so this time was much better!

We enjoyed a nice dinner out at the ranch last night.
Here are some photos from the evening:




The group - ready for dinner.
And as Tom wanted to note: the sunflowers are from the garden!



Someone still loves her sippy cup.
But - please note how dirty she is: pants, shirt, hands...
She was rolling around on the deck. It had been covered in ash which Tom had washed down earlier in the day but apparently, there was still a lot on there!
(I am not sure the clothes will ever be the same...)



Cyanne & the last rays of sunlight







Yeah... happy and dirty =)



Cyanne & her aunt Nancy Clare



Cyanne & grandpa



What did you say?

Us (pre-cyanne)

photobooth0826.JPG
Originally uploaded by jenredstar

A photo from the photobooth at Jenny & Ryan's wedding...
Definitely pre-blabey baby!

Tom & approaching fire

tom as we pack
Originally uploaded by jenredstar

Here's another shot from Jenny... as we were packing up. You can see the cars being filled up in the background.
Tom was out watering down all of the plants, yard, and house...

fire refugee cyanne

fire refuge cyanne
Originally uploaded by jenredstar

This photo was taken by Jenny on the night we evacuated... I ADORE this photo but even more so, I adore Jenny's title of the photo:

"Fire Refugee Cyanne"

She's such a happy little refugee, no?

Happy 10 Months, Cyanne!

And here we are.... 10 months later!

Here are a few shots of Cyanne enjoying her "10th month birthday."

Such a cutie... =)
(as an aside, I love this dress. It has nasturtiums on it or as I liked to say when I was little, "yuck-yucks." My Dad & I would pick them while sitting on the bluff, suck out the nectar, then bring my mom little bouquets of the flowers. Hopefully, Cyanne will like them too!)



Someone's excited...



A moment of seriousness...



After lunch at La Cumbre.





Practicing crawling...



What, me? Who?



Cyanne looking at a photo of me, sitting on the beach when I was about her age.






Rolling...



Crawling...
You watching me? I'm doing it...!



Cyanne discovered the joy of empty cardboard boxes...
She hung out, crawled around, and kicked back in the box.





Grandma got her some sunglasses... but, like all other glasses (including mine), glasses are most fun when pulled off the face rather than on. They were on her face for, oh, about 3 seconds.



Trying to give you all a kiss... =)



Happy 10 months... It'll be a year before we all even know it!

Visit with Dr. Brennan

Cyanne had her 9 month pediatrician appointment this afternoon.
(a wee late technically, as she turns 10 months on the 26th of July...)

Here are the stats:
Height: 28" (70%)
Weight: 20 lb, 4 oz (75%)
Head Circumference: 46 cm. (93%) - Our girl's got a big noggin'!

Dr. Brennan was very happy with how she looked and responded.
She's right on track - he supposed she'd walk/crawl/stand all at the same time - within the next month or so... we shall see!

She smiled and laughed right on cue - as he walked in the door...
Plus, this was a no-shots visit so that was a good thing (for all involved!)

We peppered him with our usual questions and learned much about eating... among other things.

Cyanne hits 10 months in just a few days -
We will post photos of the 'occasion' then.

Update

A brief update and a few comments:

• Our house, thankfully, did not burn down in the GAP Fire.
• We went on vacation to the Northeast as planned while the fire was in full swing, leaving our house in the hands of fate and firefighters.
• We visited Tom's family and a good group of our friends both at Thompson's Lake and Cooperstown, NY.
• It was an excellent time - Cyanne was thrilled to spend so much time with her family, namely her Nanna, Grandpa, and Aunts Mart & Anna.
• Cyanne did very well on all plane trips. There were a few segments of high-pitched crying and wailing but overall, she was a trooper. Even during the saga of our return trip...
• Which took a toll on all of us - let us just say that being awake for over 24 hours, changing airlines, canceled flights, traveling through 3 airports, waiting in Las Vegas for hours on end - until 3 AM - does not sit well with a 9 month old. But, given all of that, Cyanne did an excellent job. She napped as best as she could. Explored airport floors and chairs. Ate while watching a good sampling of humanity walk by. Our arms built additional muscle and endured fatigue due to holding her for hours on end both during flight and in airports.
• Las Vegas, it turns out, is not so bad for walking around and shushing an infant. While the buzz, whirl, and colors of the slot machines may be overstimulating, it turns out they can also provide good background noise to aid a baby in falling asleep. Though perhaps, anything would accomplish that at 2 AM (5 AM EST!)
• We were very glad to come home to an unburned house. We experienced such an intense range of emotions packing up and leaving our home. We were not sure if we would return to our house or to a pile of ashes. We are very happy that our task now is to move back into the house...

Thank you for all of your calls, texts, emails and notes expressing concern during the fire. It meant a lot to us.
It was a very scary, intense time. We remain very thankful for the outcome.

We will post photos soon - both of the fire, smoke and ash, and of our wonderful trip back East.

We are glad to be home but miss all of you who we were thrilled to see last week.

Evacuation

Late this afternoon, we evacuated our house due to the Gap Fire.

We were debating whether to stay or go.

The smoke became darker and darker and the winds started picking up a little so leaving seemed like the best thing to do.
I spent most of the afternoon packing up our documents, keepsakes, photographs etc., and then our wonderful friends, the Secords, arrived to help us pack up more belongings, load cars, and also, to take Cyanne out of the ash-filled air to their house.
We loaded up the cats and the dog.
Grabbed photo albums and photographs.
A few clothes. Some of Cyanne's possessions and food.
And left.

I did take some photos as we drove away but I'll have to post those on down the line.

The Gap Fire is being covered on all major news outlets. You can go to keyt.com or ksby.com for local versions of the story.

Will keep you updated.

Keep your fingers crossed that our house makes it through.