More pics

I have included a few more pictures from the day of Phoebe's visit with Santa and a couple others just because they are cute. In case you find Brett's recent post to read like gibberish (which I did until he explained it), I will attempt to make it clearer. I know some people already understand it completely, but if you are like me, computer lingo has to be related slowly and carefully. I get it once explained, but I need some step-by-step instruction and clear vocabulary. So, I think the comment part is pretty clear--if you ever want to respond to one of the posts, just click on the comment button below the entry and type your comment. You no longer need to provide a user name and password to do so. The RSS thing is a little more confusing. If you already know what RSS is, hooray for you--skip reading this part. If you are confused and would like to know what it means, keep reading. Apparently some e-mail companies offer free RSS readers which allow you to keep a list of websites that update sporadically (like our blog) in a folder in your e-mail account. Then any time that particular site is updated, it will automatically send you a message to let you know an update has been made. That way you don't have to check every day or week or whatever in hopes of seeing something new only to be disappointed by seeing the same exact thing that you saw the last time you were there. And if your e-mail doesn't have this capability, you can subscribe to a free RSS reader, but this is only if you care to do so. Really it is only convenient if the option exists in your e-mail account (like yahoo and mazilla) and you don't have to do much work to set it up. So Brett created an RSS feed so that if you subscribe to a reader and if I post correctly, you will be able to get the new posts from your e-mail account. So I hope that makes sense to those of you who are interested in using that function.
I am working on finding a way to post short video clips to the blog, so keep an eye out for those. I hope I will be able to do so. Most likely this will be the last post until after Christmas, so we wish everyone a happy holiday. Enjoy your families and your meals!

Here she is in eager anticipation of Santa's arrival 

Phoebe appears to be hovering over her grandmother. 

Wait, that's not Santa...or is it? 

Family photo minus Henry 

pthththththththth 

Mommy is so funny! 

Blog Updates

I have made some changes to the blog. First, anyone can leave a comment now. You do not have to be a blogger member. So go ahead and leave comments. I didn't know we could change the settings on that.

Second, I have created an RSS feed for this blog: http://feeds.feedburner.com/LettieresBlog
I am trying to change the look of the blog and when I accomplish that, there will be a link for the feed.

I recently switched my email software to Thunderbird: http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird/ , which has an RSS Reader in it. The new Yahoo mail interface also has an RSS reader. And of course there are a lot of free readers.

You can now subscribe to the feed and it will update automatically.

Santa Claus is coming to town

Phoebe had her first visit with Santa today. Evergreen Park High School hosts a Santa breakfast for all employees and their kids and grandkids--It was nice. She enjoyed her time, but she was sleepy. I will have more pictures when I get them from Grandma. More later. We also have a play group today with the daddies--so they will all meet the babies and the moms.

Phoebe (with a fist full of beard) and her grandmas with Santa. What a great hold she has on that beard! She didn't want to let go when she was done either.

Phoebe's first Santa visit  

Superficial

So I was rereading many of my old posts--mainly because I like to look back at Phoebe's development--and I realized that I have a very shallow obsession with clothing. I noticed that I talked about it quite a bit with my maternity clothes and I tend to focus on Phoebe's outfits when sending out her pictures. I realize that this seems like I am concerned with the superficial aspects of my child's life, but really, just to set the record straight for my own peace-of-mind, that is not what I think about most of the time. I do appreciate a well-put-together outfit and hope to instill Phoebe with good fashion sense (better than mine, because while I recognize it, I don't often put it into practice), and I look twice at someone who passes by in something that I find super-cute, but that is not all that I am about! :) When thinking about Phoebe on a daily basis the first thing that comes to mind is not "What do you want to wear today, Phoebe?" but "What do you want to do today, Phoebe?" So while I want her to be comfortable with herself physically and with her clothing, fostering her savvy for putting the perfect mule with just the right jacket is much less important than encouraging her curiosity. Actually lately, I have been wondering what I can add to her daily activities that will help her learn something. I keep looking up what to do with a four month old, and I seem to be doing the recommended activities (supplying toys to grab and things to look at, reading, making and imitating sounds, mirrors, etc.) But she seems to be so eager and curious to see new things that I have to imagine she could understand many different ideas if I knew how to present them to her or what to share with her that would be captivating. A spinning toy that makes noise is only interesting for so long. If anyone has suggestions, I'm open. I don't want to overstimulater her, of course, but I also don't want to waste precious opportunities to cultivate her mind. I don't want her to get bored or lose steam with her curiosity because she realizes that I am not presenting her with enough new material. It's really too bad that we have hit the cold weather, because it seems like right now--with how alert she is and how much she enjoys seeing new things--would be the perfect time to introduce her to all the interesting things outside in nature. There is so much more to see and do out there than in our little house. Unfortunately, I don't think it's humane to subject her to the elements. She is waking up from her nap--time to go.

Brett's Athletic Side

As the pictures indicate, Brett has gotten in touch with his inner athlete in the last several months. Many of you know that he has been running daily in order to get in shape for his role as an assistant track coach this spring at Argo, but he has also been a participant in some alternative sports of late. A few weeks ago he participated in a dodge ball tournament as a fund raiser for the AP students. His team actually fared very well--they weren't eliminated until the second to last round (there were at least 11 teams). The faculty team was one to be reckoned with--and according to them, in the past they were eliminated in the first or second round. This year, apparently they adopted strategy and used their players well. I don't have pictures of that because although I was there as a spectator, in order to protect Phoebe, I did not venture on the other side of the netting they had up to protect the viewers from errant dodge balls. I could see through the netting to know what was happening during the games, but it was a white net, so pictures would not have been clear at all. The balls were not dangerous in any way, however. They were not the red kick balls we used in elementary school that left red marks on your skin when they slammed into you--these were more nerf style--and apparently regulation dodge balls that are used in actual tournaments. I didn't know there was such a big dodge ball sporting movement. And dodge ball tournaments are much more civilized than what I remember of dodge ball in gym class. In gym, the whole class stood in a circle and a select few stood in the center. The center kids tried to get the outside kids out by hitting them and the outside kids tried to catch the center kids' balls so that they could get into the center and get the center kids out. That's how I remember it--but these teams stayed on opposite sides of a line and threw across at each other. And there were rules and strategy and everything. Fun to watch. Brett enjoyed it. Anyway, you can see in the pictures the basketball game he played in this past Friday. Obviously, he is in a wheelchair. Phoebe liked being at both events. She watched intently and was content throughout the games. She really liked the half-time show at the basketball game because the sparkly pom-pon girls did a dance and had lots of glittery things to look at as they performed. Next month, Brett revisits his musical roots--he'll be playing guitar in the faculty talent show. What a joiner he is these days! On the Phoebe front, she is doing so well. She spends much of her time happy and alert. She is beginning to develop a personality and laugh at things that she finds funny. She makes all kinds of sounds and blows bubbles and raspberries and flutters her lips often. She likes being imitated. It is so much fun to watch her develop. As of her last dr. visit she is 11.8 lbs (probably 12 or a little over now), 23.5 inches long, and her head is 16 inches around. Her head is the only average size portion of her body. The other measurements are slightly lower than most of her peers. But she is catching up!

She can't contain her excitement as the dragonfly comes into view.  

Phoebe loves her mobile above her changing table--Thanks Danielle and Geoff!

She's ready for her winter outing--Thanks to Sharon and Sydney and Terra, she will be warm when she ventures out this season.  

Brett catches a pass as the opposing team barrels down on him. 

Looks like things are about to get violent--but they don't. The game was played very maturely on both sides with great sportsmanship. Brett did get hit in the face once with the basketball--it looked like it stung--and several of the faculty members tumbled out of their chairs a few times. But no serious injuries. 

He's all smiles as he makes his way down the court. Unfortunately, many of the pictures are blurry like this or worse--the camera has a hard time with motion.  

Brett shoots again. He actually attempted many shots during the game--unfortunately unsuccessfully, but he did assist with the first points of the game and some thereafter. He didn't realize how much strength wheeling the chair took from his arms, and needed to compensate for it more when shooting--all things he'll iron out for next year's tournament :) He also spent a lot of time before the game wheeling around and shooting--too much time because he wore himself out practicing. He said it was so much fun--he felt like a little kid with a go kart or something.  

Here is the faculty team. They played against the Windy City Warriors--an actual wheelchair basketball team. The kids on the team were really good at handling the ball and passing to one another. The faculty team did all right with passing but they weren't as quick as the kids when chasing the loose ball. Can you tell which one is Brett (without reading the shirts :))? He wasn't very excited to see these pictures since he does not often see the top of his own head. (he shouldn't worry, though--he looks great with or without hair!) Next year he plans to be much more creative with his name--he will be the Duke of Definition and his number will be AZ--he thought of it too late this year.  

Brett is being double teamed, but he manages to get the ball up.  

Phoebe is the focus of this blog, but Brett recently participated in a wheelchair basketball tournament for a school fundraiser, and I have to include the pictures. Brett found his calling as a wheelchair athlete--who knew?!  

It is Phoebe's four month birthday today and her new trick is to grab things. She loves to grab and swat these hanging toys. She also likes to grab my hair and my clothes. So much fun! She goes for her shots tomorrow (uhoh!) and her check-up on Tuesday.  

Henry is giving Phoebe birthday kisses! He loves her.  

just hanging out with daddy (and Henry) 

when stuffed animals attack :) 

She enjoys her floor time and playing with her toys. 

We recently enjoyed a visit from Kathy. It was so nice to spend time with her, and while Phoebe looks a little frightened here, she really did enjoy the weekend and the visit as well.  

I finally got a picture with Phoebe. I realized I did most of the picture taking, but had very few with her and me together. So here we are--she looks thrilled.