The Keene Family

Merry, snowy Christmas to you! We have had snow of some kind for two weeks now, and it hasn't stopped snowing all day today. This morning we opened presents, talked to family on the phone, and had a nice breakfast before Jim went to work. JT loved the tissue paper that came with his present. It made a crinkly sound. He was especially adorable in his Christmas pajamas, which I brought for him a year ago! Here's a photo tour of our morning. Coming downstairs to see the tree and stockings JT and his stocking - also my favorite picture p.s. look who can sit by himself now! Talking to my brother on the phone JT plays with his new tool box toy (thanks, Skagens!) while Jim and I eat breakfast Opening presents... JT goes for his tissue paper! JT opening his first present All done... so tired! Flip Clip: JT opening his first present, of course!

It is so unusual in western Washington that we have enough cold weather to make snow that it is a very big deal when it happens. To have snow for days in a row is completely rare, and hasn't happened since 1990 (according to the news). Although we don't have a lot in Maple Valley, what we do have has been here since last Friday. More north, people are reporting 8 inches +. The power has gone out, too. Slider, JT, and I finally got out of the house and took a walk in the snow today. Earlier in the week we were fairly housebound, since the temperature outside was in the teens. I didn't think it was a good idea to expose my child to such elements. :) This week JT turned 5 months old. At his immunization appointment, he weighed 15 lbs 4 oz and was 27 inches long. He is working on sitting up by himself. It is tough work, but he manages to stay up for a moment or two before toppling over. The good news is that he doesn't seem to mind toppling over and then we try it again. He...

The most exciting this this week is pretty obvious (especially since it's my title). JT finally started swim lessons at KinderSwimmer ! They are Wednesday mornings, and Jim got permission to go into work one hour late so he could be there. He and JT had the best time! The instructor said "He's a natural!" and all the other parents were pretty impressed that JT didn't mind putting his face under water. We can't wait for next Wednesday to come so we can go again. Since I am a big nerd, I made a little video of the whole event. In other news, JT has figured out his feet. He plays with them and tries to get them in his mouth. He has been very vocal lately, and I love hearing him awake in his room after his nap, just talking away to himself. It is a pretty great way to start the day, too. This is what I found when I came in his room one morning this week. We have started using sign language with JT. I bought a book called Sign Babies and got some flashcards to hel...

Yes, that's right, JT's best dog friend. JT has been reaching for Slider lately and has been successful some of the time. For instance, last night Slider calmly sat by the exersaucer while JT tried to get her ear into his mouth... ew. (I think he would have succeeded had I not intervened, armed with baby wipes to clean the fur off his hands.) I was working on a project today while JT played on the floor. Honest, I didn't set this up. Slider came in and laid down near JT, as usual. So I grabbed the Flip and got this action on video. I'm not sure you'll agree with me on this, but I think they're buds. :)

After noticing that JT is consistently eating about 40 ounces per day, I started wondering when we should introduce some rice cereal. I had thought we would wait until six months, but our pediatrician reminded me that six months is usually the latest for breastfed babies. On Monday, I sat down with a bowl of organic brown rice cereal and breast milk and offered JT a little taste. Sure enough, he was ready. It took three times offering the spoon before he figured out there was food on the end of it, and the rest is history. By the fifth spoonful, he was opening wide as he saw the spoon approaching, and by the tenth spoonful he was reaching for the spoon with his hands. We've continued with rice cereal at dinner time all week long, and he loves it. We had a great weekend in Portland visiting some family. JT's Great Grandma Hall turned 80, and we were there for the party... along with the 12 other great-grandchildren she has! Check out the impromptu picture with 10 of them piled...

I had to post four separate blog entries today, since I missed last week (first time in over a year) due to our big trip. Read on for more exciting stories, but I had to include these last two. JT reaches for books now and helps "turn the pages," which I absolutely love. I'm determined to turn him into a reader like me. Jim has been working on JT's "Hit it!" for next summer's water skiing. If you don't think a one year old can ski, check this out . Meanwhile, JT pushes all by himself to standing and is working on his balance! :) He finally got into swim lessons (can you believe there's a waiting list?) and should start soon.

It was the moment we'd been waiting for... Two years ago, Jim said "Wouldn't it be fun to go to the Alabama-Auburn game in 2008? We could go for Thanksgiving and maybe we would have a son to take with us by then!" Sure enough, it all happened. Thanks to a great amount of effort from the Alabama Keenes, we were there for the big victory. It was awesome. We had so much fun yelling ROLL TIDE ROLL with the other 92,000 fans while the Crimson Tide stomped all over Auburn. We made sure to have all the Bama gear we needed before the big day. Family pictures pre-game Quite a few people voiced considerable concern over taking JT to the game. It was going to be loud, cold, and wet. Well, it was very loud, not too cold, and just a little wet. And JT continues to awe us with his flexible, happy personality. Not only did he sleep through the first quarter and conveniently get hungry right around half time, he sucked down a cold bottle and fell asleep right on schedule for the even...

Since we were so close to my brother's family for Thanksgiving this year, Jim's family graciously invited them to spend the holiday with us. Aunt Donna cooked up a storm and served dinner for 18 people! We got some nice family pictures while we were waiting for our tummies to make room for dessert. This one is of the whole Keene family. Earlier that day, we went for a walk on the River Walk in Tuscaloosa. The weather was lovely. JT fell asleep in the stroller while my two nieces took turns pushing. (Side note: Jim and I took my nephew and nieces to see "Madagascar 2" while they were visiting... it is one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while!)

We spent the last nine days in Tuscaloosa, Alabama with Jim's dad's family. It was so much fun! We ate ribs at Dreamland and breakfast at the Waysider, walked around the University of Alabama campus, and spent a lot of time watching football. JT's Great Grandma Keene was sure happy to finally meet him! JT's first plane ride Reading Roll Tide! with Great Grandma Keene JT was a dream baby: traveled well, didn't even notice the time change, slept on schedule, and let everyone hold him and smooch him without complaint. So happy to be in Alabama!

JT turned four months old this week. He is starting to blow raspberries, and once laughed so hard that he snorted. He can grab toys, burp cloths, and other things with his hands and put them in his mouth. His 4-month check up at the pediatrician's office is on Monday, so we'll have a height and weight update then. I took a couple of pictures on Saturday, partly because he was so handsome in his Harley attire, and partly to mark his age. This week JT got to spend a day with Grandpa and Grandma Keene, and a day with Grandma Cole, and a dinner with Grandpa and Grandma Cole. What a lucky guy. This next picture is of him and Grandpa Keene. Grandpa Keene taught him "race car" this week, which he apparently enjoyed very much. JT also enjoyed playing with the bath duck at Grandpa and Grandma Cole's house. He got the bill into his mouth all by himself and sucked on it like a binky. It was pretty funny. Of course, I didn't get the camera in time to capture that moment, ...

Grandma Keene found a shirt in a box of Jim's old clothes that was perfect for JT to wear this Saturday for watching football. He looks so handsome in crimson! We think it's a little odd that Jim had a shirt that has "team of 20??" when he was little, since he would have been 21 in the year 2000 and almost done with college. Anyway, I still can't believe JT slept right through the yelling in our house when the game went into overtime today. JT loves to look in the mirror. He's been spending time sitting in his BebePod checking out his reflection. Apparently it can take a long time until a child discovers that he is looking at himself. Meanwhile, it's great entertainment. Two more cute pictures... one of JT and his friend Asher, who both fell asleep in their car seats on the way home from their mommies' haircuts. The other is called "Got Milk?" JT sure loves to eat: about 8 ounces at a time now. Good thing his mommy "got milk" too. Y...

This Friday, JT got a hair cut. The top hair on his head was a few inches long and everything else was short, making him look a little funny. Jim had been saying we needed to cut it, so I finally conceded . JT was a good sport about it until the very end (below right). It looks much better. This weekend, we visited our friends Einar , Stephanie, and Liv in Naches (near Yakima). Jim and Einar went elk hunting, and Steph and I got to hang out with the kids. Liv is six weeks younger than JT . They looked at each other a little... but mostly weren't very impressed with each other. JT was more interested in looking at Einar's sister, Kjel . What a flirt! We took some family pictures at the Agledal's house since they live in a beautiful spot and the fall leaves were gorgeous colors. We got a couple of framers in the bunch. Flip Clip of the week: JT's haircut, of course!