I have been a bad father and not kept up on the blog.  The only excuse I can claim is spending too much time working on other web stuff and a shameless addiction to Facebook.  I plan on rectifying this situation soon.

Amy just got off for break and we had a busy weekend.  Friday started with around 10 inches of snow and an unexpected snow day for Amy.  Saturday we took Jane to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum with Elaine and Gwen.  Sunday we finally took Jane out into the snow and she absolutely loved it, even though she could move in it at all.

You can see the pictures at the following link.

I have been very lax about keeping up with pictures.  For this newest update I have added 13 recent photos to a Google Album.  The address for the album is below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Prof.Ireland/Jane?authkey=NJrxLTU0lMo#

Jane just had her nine months appointment and here are the benchmarks.

• Head Circumference – 17.5 inches (50%)
• Height – 28.5 inches (75%)
• Weight – 15 lbs. 14 ozs. (10%)

She is right on track developmentally, still taking the tall and skinny route.  Her vocabulary has increased to about a dozen or so words, though ‘BaBa,’ ‘MaMa,’ and ‘DaDa’ are the favorite words.  She has become very independent and isn’t to keen on letting us feed her, taking her bottle away from us and wanting finger foods instead of baby food.  No walking yet, but crawling everywhere.

Yes I finally added a new set of pictures to the photo gallery.  Take a gander at them under “March Materials.”

Photos

Jane has cut her first tooth. She was a little fussy last week, but overall it was a not unpleasant experience.

Okay, I admit that I have been really bad about keeping up.  I have tons of photos and video to work on over my upcoming Spring Break (yes, it is one of the perks to teaching).  Right now Amy and I have been amazed at how fast Jane’s vocabulary has grown.  As I mentioned in a previous post, “mama” was the first word to come out and now Jane is really connecting that with Amy.  I did finally get “dada” the other day so I am a little more comforted that I am something other than the guy who changes diapers.  Other words that have come up: ”byebye” (with hand wave most of the time), “kiki” (I think kitty because she says it to Stanley the cat), “Daisy”(A little garbled but there), “papa” (hasn’t got a particular use for that one yet), and something close to “Heather” (her sitter, our good friend, and surrogate aunt).  Of course this means that our daughter must be a genius… but I may be a little biased.

Jane has ventured into the world of solid food (well as solid as baby food).  She has been enjoying all of the number one foods and found a wide variety of stuff she likes (sweet potatoes, peaches, apple sauce, and bananas) and a few she doesn’t (peas and squash).  The jury is still out on yogurt so we will have to wait on that.  Here is a link to a video of Janie’s first meal.

Sorry about the sound, it is a new computer so I’m still figuring out the new programs.

-Dad

Yippee, Jane is six months old.  We have gone through the six month shots (boo), and the six month sizing up.  Jane was 12 lbs. 9.5 oz. (10th percentile) and 25 inches (50th percentile).  While I wish she was a little bigger, she is staying on her own curve and doing well.  As everyone says, she is such a little person now with a personality and likes (sweet potatoes) and dislikes (peas).  I’ll try to be better about keeping up with the blog.

-Dad

I just had to post this picture.  Jane had spent the morning babbling, yelling, and playing.  We could tell she needed a nap, but she just wouldn’t sleep.  All of the sudden she quieted down and when we looked down I couldn’t believe she had fallen asleep in her toy.