Thanksgiving Photos

Thanks to Alison for some more Thanksgiving photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jin_aili/sets/72157622882796677/

11 months old

Iris just turned eleven months old. Hard to believe that she'll be one so soon!

She is cruising a lot these days - along the coffee table, pushing chairs and boxes around.

The big news, though, is that Matt defended his dissertation this week! This was the least bad of the photos I took:

Iris gets to know Douglas, a gift from her great-grandfather Jensen:

Iris Dancing

Iris Dances from Matt McKeon on Vimeo.

Video Update

Iris plays with a box of OJ:

November Update

Slow to update this month. A slew of photos below. So, what's new with Iris?
- She continues to crawl everywhere, and is only getting faster
- She has discovered the stairs and climbed up seven all on her own! (Daddy was spotting)
- She now claps with accuracy and enthusiasm (she started a while ago, but only recently managed to consistently bring her hands together)
- Has started saying Ma-Ma and Na-Na
- Loves brushing her teeth
- Loves dancing (especially to Madonna)

We hosted Thanksgiving with lots of family and friends. Iris's cousin Petra came and the two ladies had a lot of fun together.

Brushing:

Mama and Iris in her snowflake hat:

Hanging with Daddy:

She managed to crawl onto the dishwasher:

Playing with a box of OJ:

Since I failed to upload a video of Iris dancing at her activity table, here at least is a photo:

In her high-chair:

With Daddy at our local grocer's (daily destination of the mid-morning neighborhood walk):

Bundled up on a chilly day:

I have some fun videos I'll try to get up.

Naked Shenanigans / Drinks Water

Iris loves being naked. When I'm getting her dressed in the morning, I let her crawl around in her diaper. Which she loves. See the video from this morning, giggles are featured:

Iris has also started drinking water. She didn't really get the concept of the sippy cup, so we tried one with a straw, which she loves:

Some more videos

Below, some more videos of Iris. We got her an activity table from Craigslist, which has been a huge success! Best ten dollars ever spent. She absolutely loves it. She will stand at it and roll the piece that makes the alphabet song over and over again. It took her about two seconds to figure out what each button did.

First Signs

Iris made her first signs yesterday! We have been signing since she was about six months old - just a few (more, eat, all done), so were very excited when she clearly and intentionally signed "more" last night. It's funny to realize that she understands much more of the world around her than we give her credit for.

Iris has decided that she doesn't want to be fed anymore. She gets mad and protests loudly when we try to spoon-feed her. Instead, she happily feeds herself little bites of whatever we put on the table in front of her. Today, she had bits of rice cakes - yum.

Talking and Kissing

From a few weeks ago, when Iris first started saying "Da da da." She has since added "ra ra ra" and "ba ba" to her repertoire.

On Halloween, Iris tries to kiss her BFF Hannah (she subsequently succeeded, although it was not captured in the video):

My friend the apple / first burley ride

Halloween and more

Happy Halloween everyone. I'm posting some photos from Halloween and a bunch from the last couple of weeks, as I've been so behind.

Iris was Tigger for her first Halloween. She didn't notice there was a holiday going on, but Gwyneth and Matt had a fun time dressing her up. We went to a baby Halloween brunch, which resulted in this ridiculous photo:

We also just got a Bike Trailer for Iris! We've been wanting one, but were put off by the high price tag. However, we scored a used one on Craigslist for a fraction of the retail price - yay! We went for a ride in the neighborhood today and Iris enjoyed it, so that is exciting. Admittedly, it's the end of the season, but we look forward to a few family bike rides over the coming weekends. Here, Iris gets strapped in:

I have a video that I'll try to get up.

From two weekends ago, we took Iris apple picking - yum! We have made apple crumble three times since then.

Finally, photos from our weekend in Vermont, which I think was three weekends ago. We took Iris on her second hike. Since she had enjoyed her first hike, we had high hopes. The photo below pretty much sums up her opinions.

So, the hike did not go well. But the rest of the weekend was fabulous - hanging out with friends, eating good food, hiking to Queechee gorge - lovely.

Here's a semi-decent family portrait, taken by friend Seth in Burlington, where foliage was gorgeous:

And, lastly, a silly hair-do picture. When we pick Iris up at day-care, the ladies have put her hair back in various hair clips to match her outfits! Why we didn't think to pull her hair back in a barrette, I can not tell you. This new fashion has improved her visibility and style!

I have a bunch of fun videos I'll try to get up soon. More photos on flickr (see link to the right).

Nine Months Old Update

Well, we've been slow to get photos uploaded to the computer lately - I promise some more soon. In the meantime, all is well in New Haven. Iris is crawling all over the place. Her newest skills are saying "da, da, da, da, da." This pleases Matt, of course. It's pretty neat to hear her form these sounds intentionally. New today, she picked up a block in each hand and banged them together.

We had a lovely visit from our friend Jen this weekend and went apple picking despite the gloomy weather. Last weekend we had a great time with friends up in Vermont. We went for a hike (over the boarder in New Hampshire - bringing Iris to 11 states) to admire the beautiful foliage. Sadly, Iris's second hike did not go as well as her first - she basically hated it. She did enjoy everything else about Vermont though.

Iris continues to go to day-care in the afternoons, allowing both Matt and Gwyneth to get more work in. It seems to be going well, although the leaving sure is hard. When we come back to pick her up, she is always happily playing, until she sees us and bursts into tears. The care-givers report that she enjoys playing with tags - no surprise there!

Hannah and Iris

Hannah and Iris hanging out. Featuring Iris giggling and Hannah being serious.

Happy Swinging

Visit to Boston

All is well in Iris land. Iris is crawling all over the place. Sometimes she goes into a room to explore on her own; sometimes she follows us from room to room. She pulls herself up to standing constantly - she's still a bit wobbly, but getting stronger.

Iris starts part-time daycare this week - so that will be quite a change for the family! We found a small (10 kids) program that we're really excited about. We took Iris there today and stayed with her for a few hours. Tomorrow we'll leave her alone, and just hope it goes better than our adventures in baby-sitting from last week. This whole separation anxiety thing is pretty tough.

Last weekend we went up to Boston - staying with the Eckelmen-Brouhard's one night and with the Jones-McKeon's another. Lots of shenanigans with cousins Petra (now four months old) and Iris.

Photos below; still working on getting video up.

Iris in her tundra-ready track suit. It has gotten quite chilly here, so we are trying to dress her appropriately!


Petra and Iris.

Bath time!


Hanging out with Daddy: a toothy grin.


The Jones sisters, the Matts and babies.

And, finally, courtesy of Matt M, a link to a video of Iris crawling at Matt and Alison's

http://vimeo.com/6920262

Tickels and Giggles

Tickles = giggles:

Crawling and baby-gate installation:

Iris's first hike and more!

In honor of friend Josh's birthday, we went on a hike: Iris's first! Josh is the father of Hayden, Iris's birth buddy (born on the same day in the same hospital).


Mama and Iris:


Iris and Hayden clowning around:

Iris and Daddy:

Matt, Iris, Hayden, Josh:

In other news, Iris now pulls herself up to standing constantly. Which is all well and good, except when she does it half-asleep in the middle of the night and can't lie down again on her own. We have been having some tough nights with this recent development . . . Our most recent tactic is to put her the sleep sac that we recently got from our cousins to prevent her from standing up. This seems to be working the best. Standing at the cofee table:

We continue to give Iris new foods. She has recently tried carrots, sweet potato and green beans. Daddy decided to experiment with finger foods and gave Iris a bowl of tofu cubes. You can see the result here:

I've been trying to get video up, but am having trouble getting it to load all the way. Check back and hopefully I'll get some up.

Crawling

Evidence of crawling:


(this is a particular feat, given how slippery our kitchen floor is!)


This is what happens when you crawl in pyjamas. Iris got her left leg stuck in the body of her pyjamas, which pulled the neck down, and somehow she got her whole arm out. I hear togas are back, though, so . . .

Eight Months Tomorrow

On the cusp of Iris's eight month birthday, she is doing great. She has figured crawling out (I'll try to get a video up), but hasn't truly grasped the significance of her new skills yet. She will still only crawl a few paces and then sits down to play with her toys. She shuns many of her formerly beloved toys, which are apparently, boring, in favor of keys, measuring cups, tupper ware tops, pens (with caps on, of course) and anything electronic she can get at . . .

She can pull herself up to kneeling, which she enjoys doing a lot. Just this morning she pulled herself up on her knees at the coffee table in order to grab a piece of paper. Unfortunately, in the process of transferring the lovely paper from her right hand to her left hand, she let go with both hands, bonking her head on the table. A sign of times to come . . .

She is eating solids a few times a day now. Favorites are prunes and pears. Fresh local zucchini went over well as well. Yellow squash has been unpopular.

Some photos and videos below.

A few from our photo shoot in the yard this afternoon:

From this morning: Iris practising her yoga (in other words, pulling herself up on the dresser):

The Eckelmen Brouhards came for a visit over Labor Day weekend - yay! Here Karen and Iris read a book:

Lovely measuring cup, how I love you:

This one is from the BabyFest weekend. Iris pulled this Dutch wooden shoe off the shelf in Peter and Audrey's house to play with:

Another one from the BabyFest. Iris noms some Olive Garden bread, with celery as back-up in her other hand. Yum!

Denton Family Baby Fest 2009

Well, this weekend witnessed quite a gathering: all six members of the Denton Fmaily G4 gathered in NJ for the first time! All are great-grandchildren of GG (Gwyneth's maternal grandmother). The G4 consists of: Sophie (3 1/2), Oliver (1 1/2), Aida (10 months), Iris (7 1/2 months), Petra (3 months), and Quintus (2 months). Aunt Alison and cousin Petra came to visit us in New Haven prior to the great gathering. As you might imagine, an obscene number of photos and video were taken - here is a little taste of the shenanigans and vice-cousinry.