Daddy's been gone for most of the month on a business trip to Denmark. I had a good time and got some good pictures (which I'll share in the next blog post), but I think everyone's a little happier with Daddy home.
Kara's getting to be quite a handful. She likes to get into everything. She particularly likes to climb into her toy bin and then throw out all her toys. Kara's also becoming more mobile. She's becoming a very confident walker (see the videos) and toddles all around our townhouse. Kara is a very strong girl. Mommy swears she was doing chin-ups the other day.
Kara's starting to communicate a bit more. If you ask Kara where her ears are, she'll grab her ears. If you ask he where Mickey is, she'll grab her Mickey doll (she also knows a couple of her other dolls). She's still not really talking much, but she's working on it.
When we moved to Colorado, we were expecting crisp September weather and were prepared for snow. However, what we've had are record highs (it's topped 90 degrees a couple of times since we've been here). The weather has started to cool off the last couple of days, which has been nice. We made it out to a pumpkin patch this last Saturday. Kara seemed more interested in eating the dirt and leaves than the pumpkins, but we were able to pick an excellent pumpkin for carving.
Uncle Trey sent some pictures from his adventures in South Africa (see below Kara's pictures). It sounds like he's having a great time and getting to observe a ton of African wildlife.
The news of our big move has been overshadowed by Kara’s latest achievement. Kara is now a walker. On Friday, September 17th (while Daddy and Grandma S. were somewhere in Missouri on their drive across the country in a moving truck), Kara took five steps from a chair to Grandpa S. while Mommy watched. Kara’s been holding steady with taking about 5-6 steps at a time, but her confidence is growing every day. We haven't been able to get it on camera yet, but we'll keep trying.
We are now officially residents of Colorado. Grandma H. flew out from South Carolina with Mommy and Kara and helped us get settled in our little townhouse (and we do mean little!). Life will be interesting for the next six months until we can find a house. Daddy started his job at Vestas this past Monday. So far, work’s going pretty well. Lots of training, and they’re even sending him out to Denmark in October. Should be fun!
The move is on. With the grandparents coming and going, truck drives across the country, and airplane flights, it's going to be a busy couple of weeks! Whew! Hopefully life will settle down a bit once we get to Louisville.
This afternoon, our neighbors, Glenn and Shirley, had us over for an ice cream social. They were very kind and gave us some heavy winter clothes for Kara (including a fur coat!) and a picture of us from Christmas (when Kara was just 5 weeks old).
In Kara news, Kara has made several break-throughs. She's getting really, really close to walking. She'll take a couple of steps by herself and is getting pretty good at walking around the house holding onto someone's hands. She's also getting close to talking. She babbles quite a bit, and we think she's said a couple of words and meant it: "Da-da" and "hey". She also did her first sign a couple days of ago. She signed "milk" to Mommy when it was time for her bottle. In addition, Kara waved for the first time. She waved to Mommy and Grandma when they were leaving to go shopping one day. Kara also figured out how to open the "child-proof" cabinet locks in the kitchen. Guess we'll have to get something a little more complicated for next time. Sorry to sound like I'm bragging, but I think Kara's pretty cool.
Daddy got a job working for Vestas Technology R&D in Louisville, CO, so our little family is moving out West! Daddy starts work on Sept 20th, so we're working through the logistics of how to get us out there. We've rented a nice townhouse in Louisville to live in until we can sell our house. Grandma H. has come up to visit and hang out with Kara while Mommy gets the house cleaned up.
In Kara news, she is getting more and more comfortable standing everyday. She'll be standing up and will suddenly just let go and stand there. Grandma also says she's seen Kara take single steps a couple of times. She's also getting really close to talking. Kara greeted Daddy with a "Hey Daddy" when he walked in the door yesterday. It was pretty awesome, but she calls most everything Da-da. We might give her credit for the "Daddy", though.
