Ross, Rachel, Helen, and Arthur

Helen's first word was "Hi." It made its debut many months ago, and she hasn't used it since. Over the holidays, she started to say "Mama" and "Dada," at first indiscriminately, then correctly. I'll have to say it is quite gratifying to be called by name instead of just by screeching.

Her next word is more of an embarassment. It's "tv." Technically, it is "tee" and it is usually accompanied by pointing at the television. The girl loves her television. She nearly jumps for joy when we turn it on. Luckily, we have a TiVo, so all she watches is Sesame Street or the Wiggles. In fact, if we try to sneak in a Daily Show, she starts complaining loudly. I feel a little guilty about her infatuation with TV, but I guess she is just a modern girl.

I would like to apologize to the poor souls that shared an airplane with us on our trip to Puerto Rico and back. There were many should-haves involved. I should have brought drugs for Helen. I should have figured out a way to get her to sleep when I ran out of milk. I should have brought earplugs for the people around us (as my mother suggested). However, there is no excuse for being ill-prepared. I am very sorry to all of you that had to listen to my daughter's shrieking for several hours. I know you will probably never read this, but I hope you somehow know that your sacrifice will not be in vain. Future co-travelers will benefit from the lessons learned.

The rest of the trip was great (if you ignore the fact that we all had a cold & conjunctivitis). Helen was at first wary of the waves on the beach, but was soon enthralled by the sand.

We are now gearing up for Christmas, which means we are doing the minimum this year since Helen is too young to know what's what. A fake tree was purchased and decorated . Some presents will be opened, and perhaps some cookies baked. Ross assures me that pie will be consumed. I wish that you all enjoy your holidays as much as we plan to.

Ross, Helen, and I successfully hosted Thanksgiving this year. There were a few hiccups, including Helen running a fever of 102°F the day before. Sadly, this forced Nina, Fred, and Emma Ciesla to stay home. However, we invited Betsy, Scott, Nathan, and Paul Sandford, Devon Burr, Josh Emery, and Devon's friend Gwendolyn (sp?) and we were happy to have them all.

I took the lazy route and had everyone bring dishes. Ross took care of the pumpkin pies, and I roasted the turkey and made the dressing. I owe a debt of gratitude to Christian Schaller for his insightful and hilarious turkey roasting notes. I also borrowed a lovely roasting pan from Max Bernstein. I think the key to success in turkey roasting is to not get in the turkey's way on its path to glory.

The day went very well. The guests arrived around 1pm and we started the feasting around 2pm. Helen tried some turkey but preferred the dressing. Nathan and Paul enjoyed playing Mario Kart Double Dash. After eating, we headed to the park to work off the food and prepare for dessert (leaving Ross to clean up the dishes, bless him). Helen enjoyed watching Paul and Nathan run around the park. We then returned home for dessert and conversation. Poor Gwendolyn learned more about planetary science then I think she ever wanted to.

In short, a Thanksgiving to be thankful for. I look forward to hosting again next year.

You may notice that the look of the weblog has changed, and that is because I changed the program that runs the weblog, and I didn't feel like slavishly bringing the old styles and layouts forward. Not to fear, the new version contains all of the stories from the original blog and odds are good that we'll back-fill some stories as well as I also struggle to get our photos into the new photo-gallery software that I've brought on-line.

I am posting three video clips taken the day after Helen was born.

The first does not have Helen in it, but is a nice pan of the room where she was born. It begins and ends with the tub. The second and third are both of Helen. The squeaking noise you hear is her nose. She was keeping lots of boogers in there.

The other day I was asked for the nth time, "How are you liking parenthood?" Once again, I had an incoherent answer.

The problem is that trying to explain how I feel about parenthood is like asking me to review a movie while watching the previews. I do have the following thoughts listed in no particular order. Ask me again when she is in college.

I've finally gotten around to posting some movies, specifically from our off-roading trip in July.

We went off-roading near Lake Tahoe last month. It was a great trip, and it included some reasonably difficult driving. Here we have clips of Xander and Devon navigating a particularly challenging hill. Enjoy. Please excuse the giggling.

Our house now has its own fountain.

I got home today and there was almost no pressure in the kitchen sink. Entering the living room, I heard a sound that made me wonder if I'd left the shower running.

Nope. This was the reason:

The fun thing is that after the plumber showed up we had to wait until around 8:30pm for the city guy to show up and actually turn off the water. Our water meter was spinning, spinning, spinning. I got some video which we will post when we are cooler.

Of course, as one always is seized by the urge to vacuum during a power outage, all I could think to do the whole time was start a load of laundry. I did learn one thing: how often I wash my hands. I am a very good girl.

It's only the twentieth and so far we have: first airplane ride, first family reunion, and first tooth.

Pictured below are first balloon and first job (Steak & Shake, Indianapolis).

First Balloon

I got my hair cut.

I don't know what significance the fact that this hair cut got scheduled on April Fool's day has, but there you go.

Why?

• It was time for a change.
• I was spending time in the shower that I could be spending with my daughter.

Here are some before and after photos for your viewing enjoyment.