Georgia Continues to Take Shape

Georgia continues her development through a self-motivated regiment of diet and exercise. We hadn't noticed until recently that Georgia has took it upon herself to get in shape by eating well and working out. To assist her in this crusade she has instituted a regular regiment of 'Five-Finger' sandwiches (in addition to her steady diet of free-range breast milk) and twice-a-day work-outs on her exercise mat. Pictured below you can see her knocking out some leg lifts which I can only imagine was a result of our leaving the Palates DVD playing during a restroom break. All kidding aside, the 'Five-Finger' sandwiches are actually Georgia's way of working out her gag reflexes and the exercise is real, but its what we've come to label as 'tummy time'. This is when we put her on her stomach and encourage her to work out those neck muscles. She's been quite successful from an early age - relatively speaking. Dad tried taking her on one of his bike rides, but she couldn't keep up on the hilly stretches so we'll stick to the 'tummy time' for now.

Georgia's Speaks!!!

This just in!!! Georgia has spoken her first word(s)... And, as I'm sure, much to the surprise of everyone the word was "GAAGAOIEOWAGAE". We're still not quite sure the language of origin, but we think it comes from an ancient Gaelic dialect. We've narrowed down the meaning to either "I'm hungry Mom...give me milk!" or "Dad, you need to shave 'cause you're scratching my face...". Its now just a matter of time before she starts speaking English or even Danish but, while we have the opportunity, the two of us have taken up this rare language in an attempt to communicate with Georgia more clearly. So far the results have varied... And if her speaking skills weren't enough, she's also showing signs of super human strength every time she kicks dad in the gut while he holds her upright on his lap...OUCH!!! Anyways, I thought everyone would be excited to hear the wonderful news of little Georgia's amazing talents.

Pumpkin Patch and Carving

In this blog entry I just wanted to show everyone how much Stronger I am than Katrin...Actually, we went on our first family pumpkin patch trip. Katrin went with us and was very excited to get into the spirit of Halloween like a true American as its not widely celebrated in Germany. We went to the aptly named, Mount Si nursery, as you can see in the background. We spent an hour or so comparing our Pumpkin treasures until we decided on 5 worthy candidates to take home. Once there We exposed Katrin to the art of cutting holes into a giant orange squash...or 'Pumpkin Carving' as its also know. Well, my tutelage became rapidly unnecessary as Katrin took to carving her first pumpkin like second nature as you can see by the results. She chose the more conventional 'Jack-O-Lantern' approach, while Julie and I tried our luck at some of the more sophisticated designs from a book. That's my Alien on the left, Julie's ghost is in the center and Katrin's is on the right. All in all, it was a valiant effort on everyone's part and we were all very proud. However, our timing was a little premature as this morning I finally had to scrape off the rotten remains of our beautiful creations before the trick-or-treaters got to see them. Oh well, it was still fun. Then we capped off the day with a nice dinner and Pumpkin Cheesecake for dessert...Mmmmmmmm!

Georgia in California

I'll have a glass of the '98 Chateau and she'll have 2 ounces of warmed breast milk... I should have known that Georgia would be fine dining with the Grandparents during her trip to Cally. I just hope the restaurant they chose was black tie optional. Well, some of the family got to meet Georgia for the first time last weekend as she and Julie flew to the Golden State for a quick visit. Everyone had a blast as expected and Georgia aced her flying exam extending her perfect track record for passing tests. Julie, on the other hand, had a bit of a snag when it took 3 flight attendants and a couple of other crew members to unstick the carseat from the plane seat causing them to be last off the plane.

Georgia Gets a Bath

Georgia is really enjoying her bath time. So much so, in fact, that we've had to stop using the kitchen counter on account of the liquid shrapnel that litters the vicinity. Her favorite antic is to vigorously kick in the deep end of her infant hot tub causing the need for me to change my shirt (coincidentally, I'm usually wearing the shirt I had just changed into due to the spit up). As you can see in the second picture its quite a fun time for all. We've since moved the operation to the bathroom tub in the hopes of salvaging our hardwood floors, but its only a matter of time before you'll see us wearing rain suits for future bath time pics. Once again Katrin is the photographer for these as she has quite a knack for capturing Georgia's infectious smile.

More 'Georgia Smiles' Pictures

Georgia has become quite the smiler as you can see here. Unfortunately, it mostly occurs in the morning after Dad's gone to work, but he gets a few grins in the evenings. Mom even admits to hearing the occasional giggle while Georgia's sleeping (she must be thinking of the way Dad looks and acts when trying to get her to smile). Its only a matter of time before she's starring in one of those "baby smiles" calenders...July of course. She's also become quite photogenic. So much so, in fact, that she was complimented by the passport agent at the post office as being one of the best ten week olds she's ever taken a passport photo of. She even gave us the extra five tries it took get a keeper, so that should explain the contents of this years Christmas cards.

Katrin Visits

Katrin arrived Sunday night for a little over a weeks stay and we immediately put her to work. She even went with us to the Post Office to babysit while Julie and I filled out the paperwork for Georgia's first passport. Not to brag, but the city of North Bend experienced unusually delayed mail delivery today due to the popularity of Georgia with the Post Office staff...we understand. Katrin's been to Northwest a couple times before so this trip will mostly be filled with Georgia time and shopping for her Abercrombie & Fitch hungry brother Thomas back in Wuerzberg, Germany. Although, all of the Grandparents will be happy to hear that she is taking lots of pictures and has a knack for capturing that georgious Georgia smile.