Pictures are worth a thousand words...

Presents

Chelsea and Colman are wonderful presents that we will enjoy "unwrapping" for many years.

They are growing so quickly. We are constantly seeing them do new things. Parenting is so amazing to actually see a new skill develop right before your eyes.

As for what is going on in the present, Chelsea is learning to pull herself up. Carol was giving Chelsea a bath a week after Thanksgiving. (They take baths in the regular tub sitting in an inflatable duck tub.) While Carol was putting soap on the washcloth, Chelsea reached up and grabbed the frame of the shower door and started pulling herself up! Carol gently but quickly pushed her back down since she was sitting in water. Since then, Chelsea loves trying to pull herself up. We don't have a lot of things that she can pull herself up on, so she likes to grab your hands and try. She has even started showing signs of walking . She has started saying la la la la and ma ma ma. If we could only teach her to say fa la la la la, it would be just be as good as Merry Christmas. She it still army crawling, but looks close to getting the full crawl down. Look out!

Colman is always saying new sounds. His latest is an ng sound. He often sits and quietly talks to himself while playing with a toy. He has such a sweet spirit. He does get wound up and bursts out with a screech or a babble or sometimes just a grunt/growl. Colman LOVES to eat. He opens his mouth wide open and gets excited with each bite. They have a bottle 4 times a day and eat solids 3 times a day (with 2 of the bottle feedings). They are down to 2 naps a day - the solids have helped with that transition. We are slowly acclimating them to the harsh reality of a life without naps. As far as moving, just when we thought Colman was not at all interested in crawling, Carol walked in to get him up from a nap and found him on his hands and knees last Wednesday. Since then, he will occasionally get on his hands and knees for a brief moment and then goes back on his belly. He does like to walk when you hold his hands. But hopefully he will learn to crawl first, which at the current rate, might not be for a while.

By the way, for documentation purposes, they had their 6 mos checkup and all was well. Stats: Colman - 17 lbs even, 27.5 inches; Chelsea - 15lbs 15 ozs, 27inches. We think Colman's 4 mos length must be wrong, otherwise he only grew half an inch! Their method is not exactly scientific - while on paper, make a pencil mark at the head, straighten a leg and make another mark at the heal. Either way, they are growing and healthy and immunized.

We are looking forward to CnC's first Christmas!

Photo Shoot

We finally got dressed up and took the kids out for a photo shoot. We went to Sears. It was a little like a drive thru experience - snap a few shots, order the photo package with biggie size options, and away we go. The nice part was that we received the pictures on a CD so we have all rights. Chelsea was a little out of it and not so quick with a smile, though the photographer made all kinds of sounds and faces. Colman liked the noises and was quick with a smile. By the end, Chelsea was loosening up, as you can see.

Thanksgiving 2008

For thanksgiving, we took the kids on a long road trip - 11 hours! We visited Doug's brother in Texas. The kids did great in the car ride. They would fuss right before it was time to eat, which they sometimes do at home too. The only challenge came in warming their bottles. So we had to stop to get a cup of hot water to warm the bottles in. We would just change their diaper at that point. Although the first time we waited til after they ate and ended up pulling onto a dirt road to change their diapers. You do what you have to do!

It was a fun time spent with family. In attendance were Doug's parents, Joanne's mother, her 2 sisters and nephew along with a couple of Joanne's friends. It was a full house. We chowed down almost a complete 20 lbs turkey with all the fixins.

Chelsea was battling diarhhea and diaper rash before the trip. It worsened during the trip; she started getting open sores. Poor little girl! We desperately searched the internet for tips and came across Triple Paste diaper rash creme, which many people recommended. We were also going to try Maalox, which works well when mixed with another diaper rash creme. But the Triple Paste worked like a charm. It got better almost overnight. Now it is the treatment of choice in the Goodwin home. I highly recommend it to all moms and would be moms.

So Thanksgiving 2008 was a great success. We are thankful for CnC, family, friends, good road trips and coming home.


Hanging with Grandma

Playing Nintendo with cousin Richard

Chelsea working the remote control

Dressed up for the road trip