Henry Ford Museum trip

Kevin:

Several former students of mine are or have been employed by the Henry Ford Museum or Greenfield Village, which is unsurprising as HFCC is only a mile or two away. One of those students has visited my office quite often in the several semesters since he passed one of my writing courses. He has discussed his job with me on numerous occasions, and he was kind enough to bring me four Employee Guest passes last spring. Tiffany and I took Allison to Greenfield Village over the summer, and we decided to pay a visit to the Henry Ford Museum yesterday (after I discovered that the passes expire at the end of the year!).

The museum is currently featuring the Lego Castle Adventure exhibit, which Allison quite enjoyed. We saw only a fraction of the museum, but plan to get annual passes in the future as the girls grow up, so I'm not to worried about that!

I must let my former student know how much we appreciated his kindness. We had a great time!


Tiffany (22 weeks pregnant) and Allison by the Lego knight


Allison reading books in a comfy chair in a corner of the exhibit


An awesome red Lego dragon!


Allie and Daddy, smiling in apparent obliviousness of the ferocious beast behind them

Thanksgiving pictures

It's...

ANOTHER GIRL! We found out at the big ultrasound on December 2nd that Baby Trovini #2 is perfectly healthy and that we should be expecting another girl in May. Now we just have to figure out a name. This won't be easy!

Baby Sign Language

We've been pretty laid back (read: lazy) about teaching Allison baby sign language, but she's starting to learn a couple of signs. Here's a video of her doing the sign for "all done". She's taken it to extremes, though, and goes for a full "touchdown" kind of motion.

All Done Youtube video

Halloween

Allison dressed up as the Red Baron this year (get it?). We decided not to trick or treat this year and went out to dinner with Bah and Nana (Tiffany's parents) instead. Overall, it was a very mellow Halloween for Baby Trovini #1. Here are lots of pictures for you to enjoy!

A year!

I know it's been a while since we updated, but Kevin has been really busy this semester and I have been in the throes of morning sickness that lasts all day and all night. I am almost 15 weeks pregnant with Baby Trovini #2 and am hoping this stage of the pregnancy ends soon. We will be finding out (hopefully) on December 2 if we're having another girl or entering unchartered territory with a boy! Very exciting stuff!

Allison's first birthday party was on Saturday. It was an absolutely beautiful day and we had so many family members travel long distances to be here with us. Allison was a trooper and really seemed to enjoy herself despite being awake from 8am until 5pm with NO NAP! She didn't want to miss any fun.

Allie started walking about a week ago and is making great progress. She doesn't look so much like a drunken sailor anymore and is seeming to get the hang of the whole walking thing. We had her 1-year check up on Monday and she is healthy as can be. She weighed in at 18 pounds, 6 ounces (10th percentile - she's just little!) and is 29 inches tall (40th percentile). It's absolutely amazing how much she has learned and grown in the past year.

Here are some pictures from her party for you to enjoy!

Learning How To Walk

Allison is on her way to learning how to walk! She is pulling up on everything she can get her hands on (furniture, toys, and her parents just to name a few). Last weekend, we were lucky enough to borrow a wagon from Allie's cousin, E, to give her a new toy to pull up on and practice walking with. It is very sturdy and the wheels have some resistance (and click) so she doesn't slip forward when she's "walking". She absolutely loves it! It's great fun to sit in, fun to walk with, fun to load up with toys, and fun to push your cousin in. It shouldn't be long before Kevin has a running buddy!

Allison Walking With the Wagon Video

Here she is playing the game that we call "No, You!" Allie points at us and we point back and say, "No, you!" This is a lot more fun than it sounds! It is even more fun when played while sitting inside the wagon.


And here's a sweet picture of Allie pushing her 15 month old cousin around the living room in the wagon. They will be friends for life!

She's a Dancing Machine

Unfortunately, it looks like she may have inherited her parents' frantic dancing abilities.

Dancing Machine Video

Videos Galore!

No fancy intros, just some videos for you to enjoy!

Playing in the cat water bowl

Crawling like a pro

Momma

Feeding herself

Milestone Mayhem

We've been busy the past several weeks, either traveling out-of-town or becoming mired by home improvement and housework tasks. In that time, Allison has been quite busy, too! Following a period of relative quiet, she has blown through several milestones.

First, she went from only being able to crawl backwards to being able to limp forward like a wounded animal (Tiffany posted about this earlier). Suddenly, however, she figured out how to arch her back and pull up her legs, and now she crawls forward with purpose and speed!

At nearly the same time, she learned how to go from a crawling position to a sitting position.

After that, it wasn't too difficult for her to figure out how to pull herself up to a standing (!) position. Imagine our shock at coming into the nursery when Allison had awoken from a nap to see this:

Those three mobility skills were joined by feeding skills, too! Tiffany introduced Allison to puffs, little puffed-grain and fruit finger foods that melt in the mouth. Allie soon figured out the mechanics of picking them up and getting them to her mouth, although she doesn't always succeed the first time. We're also seeing a definite preference for the right hand, although Allie uses both hands and often swaps items between them.

Not only that, but we discovered that she's almost ready to use a sippy cup when she stole Elise's cup when we were all up north together. She grasps the cup by the handles and pulls it up to her mouth, although she hasn't yet discovered that she needs to tip it up in order to drink from it.

Finally, her movement and feeding achievements have been joined by an exciting growth milestone: her first tooth has finally begun poking through! She has several noticeable teeth in her upper gums, and one of her front two teeth broke to the surface two days ago. Exciting though this may be, it's made Allison into one cranky and irritable baby, especially at night. Momma and Daddy are finding that the usual tricks to put her to sleep are much less effective now...

What's all very exciting is that this has all taken place in the past two or three weeks. It also makes us a little sad -- our baby is growing up!

Camping Baby

We've taken Allison up north (to Oscoda) for 3 out of the last 4 weekends. She is such a good traveling baby and has really enjoyed her time in the great outdoors. We have a real camping baby on our hands!

ready for a boat ride in her life jacket


Dad wore her out!


sleeping in her PeaPod in the tent


playing in front of the tent in her fish shirt


the whole family hanging out on the hammock

Allison is crawling...kind of...

Our calm, quiet days are over. Let the movement begin!

video of Allison crawling

Don't Show Grandma!

When Allison was just a newborn, my Grandma Kelley was very nervous about our three cats smothering Allie. There's an urban legend about cats sucking the breath from babies, and she'd probably caught wind of that (pun intended!).

With that in mind, she should probably NOT watch this incredibly adorable video of Allie and Ollie in the crib (our black cat is named Oliver). Allison hasn't yet learned how to pet without grabbing a clump of fur, but Oliver is incredibly tolerant; watch how he snuggles up with her right at the end!



As a bonus to this update, I thought I'd include a photo of me, Allie, and the jogging stroller in action along with a picture of Allison investigating the new toy box we picked up at Ikea:

A talker! Mercy me!

LITTLE CHARLIE CHIPMUNK

Little Charlie Chipmunk was a talker. Mercy me!
He chattered after breakfast and he chattered after tea!
He chattered to his father and he chattered to his mother!
He chattered to his sister and he chattered to his brother!
He chattered till his family was almost driven wild
Oh, little Charlie Chipmunk was a very tiresome child!

Helen Cowles Lecron

6-month pictures

We had Allison's 6-month pictures taken on Sunday. Here's a link to all of them (only the good and the bad because there are no ugly ones). She is too friggin' cute for words!

6-month pictures on Flickr

Solid Foods

After doing a lot of reading about transitioning breastfed babies to solid food, we decided to skip the rice cereal/oatmeal phase and go right into food. So, this afternoon, Allie got her first taste of bananas and I think she liked it! She has been so interested in our food for a while now and she knew just what to do with that spoon.

It's a little bittersweet for me because she's never had anything else. My baby is growing up too fast for me!

First swim class with Allison

I originally posted this message in my own blog, but I thought it appropriate to post a copy here as well.
- Kevin

* * * * *

Allison and I went to our first swim class together this evening. We signed up for a 12-week class on Thursday evenings at Schoolcraft College, where Tiffany and I took dance lessons with both sets of (grand)parents before our wedding. Wow, it's hard to believe, but that was over two and a half years ago!

I'm excited about this swim class, not only because I think it's important to teach her water safety at an early age but also because it's a chance for some daddy-daughter bonding. Tiffany came with me for the first class -- she just had to, because she's curious like that -- and I think she now wants to come every time. I think she's a little jealous, so I may even let her swim with Allison one week (only one parent is allowed in the water per child)!

Allie has really been enjoying bath time lately, not only kicking and splashing but also playing with foam letters and numbers. Tiffany even gave her a bubble bath this past week as a treat, and she loved it! I think that has been good preparation for her. She didn't cry at all when we first got in, although she did have a five-minute cry session later into the class. The instructor, a kindly woman in her mid- to late-forties, offered a few colorful toys that eventually distracted and enthralled Allison enough to calm her down so we could rejoin the group.

As we were waiting on the pool deck before class time, I was surprised to see a face from the past -- Bill Serlin, a former coworker of mine back in my consulting days at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, is taking the class with his daughter, Julianna. It's probably been about eight years since we last worked together, and now we're both married with new children! His wife, Danielle, was also there, so we were able to say our hellos all around.

All in all, it was a pleasant time and a great way to start off swim lessons. Aside from her brief crying episode, Allie was adorable as ever and took to the water quite well. I'm looking forward to our Thursday evenings together.

Look who's sitting up (and drooling!)

I took this video of Allison last Saturday while she was just playing on her mat. She can't get herself to a sitting position yet, but she can sit and play with no problems for a long time once you put her there. She's growing up so fast!

Next Sunday will be her first foray into the world of solid foods. Wish us luck!

Babytalk and Good Morning America Cover Contest

I am entering Allison in the Babytalk and Good Morning America Cover Contest. I don't know if she has a chance, but I think she's pretty darn adorable and I would buy a magazine with her on the cover. Here's the picture I'll be submitting:

Bath Time Fun!

Allie got bath toys for the first time on Saturday and she went crazy with them!

Craft Projects

I got a sewing machine for Christmas and it has really inspired me. I have been a craftin' fool! Here are a couple of the projects that I've done lately. (Click pictures for larger images)

plain white IKEA garbage can turned into a decorated diaper pail that matches the name letters that are hanging on Allison's wall (used Sharpie markers and a projector to project the pattern):


fabric baby blocks (I just got a whole bunch more fabric and am making lots of different combinations):


a DRESS! for Allison (my mom came over and really, really guided me through this step by painful step):

The Most Beautiful Sound in the World

And I don't mean me snorting!

St. Patrick's Day baby

OK, so this post is eleven days overdue. Allison's cute enough to make this next picture worth the wait, right?

Forget the ABCs! This girl can read!

Here's Allison just hanging out with Daddy and reading a book while he grades papers.


And here she is helping Mama figure out how the water bill got so high. Oops! We forgot to pay the one that came right after she was born!

Now I Know My ABCs

It looks like we have quite a studious baby on our hands!

100 Days!

In the kindergarten world, 100 days is a big deal. We have a whole day of fun activities and counting to celebrate the occasion. While I was contemplating how we would celebrate this big day in our classroom, I started thinking about Allison.

After some calculating and calendar counting, I have figured out that Allison is 100 days old today. I can't believe it's been that long already. Sometimes feels like she was just born and other times it feels like she's been here forever. I can hardly remember what life was like before she was a part of it.

Allison has grown and changed so much in her 100 days. She is no longer a lump of a baby. She's so strong and spends most of her days laughing (kind of), cooing, jumping, and flirting with everyone she can make eye contact with whenever we go in public. She's such a happy baby and you can't help but smile at her. In 100 days, she has become the center of my world, my biggest joy, and the part of my life that I am most proud of.

These have been, without a doubt, the best 100 days of my life.

3-month pictures

We took Allison to Portrait Innovations today to get 3-month pictures taken. She was in a great mood and the pictures are absolutely beautiful. Here are a couple of our favorites!