During the evening just before Halloween, the old willow tree in our backyard fell entirely on its own. We've been having a lot of rain lately and although I knew half the tree was dead, I figured it was a solid tree and would hold up for a few more years so I could one day slowly cut it down piece by piece. Although it was a sad dying tree, the ( Read more... )

In early August, Nicole and I took Scarlett to the annual county fair. It's here in town, which is greatly convenient. It's a somewhat small affair (Yamhill county isn't huge) but it's really nice to see what our neighbors are up to as well as get a sense of the kinds of responsibilities our local farms are up to. Scarlett had opportunities to get ( Read more... )

In July, we had Scarlett's 15-month checkup and all is well. She remains in the 90th percentile for height and is simply growing like a weed. Her lightish-curly hair has taken over her head and she's more vocal than ever. No real words just yet, but she can answer simple questions and point out certain things. It's absolutely mind-blowing to see ( Read more... )

Scarlett is one year old! It's been such a fast year; it's hard to believe. She's walking quite well now and just about running. She waves at people and has really turned into a toddler. I think the true infant/baby phase is over. We celebrated with a party and invited friends and family. We opened our home to a bunch of visitors all at once which ( Read more... )

Scarlett is eleven months old and is getting tantalizingly close to her first birthday. It's just weeks away at this point. In March, I'll be taking off the final couple weeks of Paternity Leave that I still have remaining and I'll be taking a bit more PTO after that too, so I'll be out the majority of March. That's something I've been looking ( Read more... )

It has happened! Scarlett is walking! It began a couple weeks ago but really got going when she was with us on our trip to be with Nicole's immediate family in California for Christmas. More on that later, but Scarlett continues to astound and achieve. With her walking, she's now more capable and squirrelly so it's become even more challenging to ( Read more... )

Ugh, I'm starting to slip when it comes to making these journal updates before the month ends. It's now six days into December but I'll cover November ( Read more... )

Let's kick out an October update ( Read more... )

Scarlett is five months old and continuing to thrive! We've reached a bit of a speed bump in that these days, she constantly needs attention. It's pretty much 24 hours a day that one of us has to be with her. She no longer naps throughout the day and night but now naps perhaps twenty minutes at a time only a few times a day with perhaps one or two ( Read more... )

We didn't see the pediatrician at the three-month-mark but we did a week ago for the four month mark. Scarlett is just thriving. She's now fifteen pounds and 26.5 inches long, putting her in the 99th percentile for height supposedly. They weren't concerned about anything and outside of the trauma of getting poked with needles for vaccines, all was ( Read more... )