Leila is 9 Months

Leila Kay Ziebarth is 9 months old!  My little baby is growing up so fast!  Here are her current growth stats: 17.5" head circumference (72.65 percentile), 17.77 lbs. (47.63 percentile), and 27.5" long (53.82 percentile).

She is definitely mobile now.  I guess it was about a month and a half ago when she officially started crawling on her hands and knees.  For a couple of weeks before that though she would do a kind of air swim.  She would get up on her hands and knees, bellyflop, and then start waving her arms and legs in the air.

Once she started crawling, it didn't take long for her to start pulling herself up on furniture (and just about everything else).  She's been at that for about a month now and is quite the pro.  The last couple days she has been letting go for brief periods of time, but doesn't seem too interested in trying to walk...yet!

Still no teeth, but that doesn't keep her from chewing on toys, cups, clothes tags, her fingers, my fingers, all kinds of straps, and, her absolute favorite, paper!  I swear she has a nose for paper, no matter the size.  She does love eating her pureed fruits and vegetables, but isn't so keen on the meat paste (who could blame her?).  Doctor ordered more iron in her diet though, so meat paste she gets!

A couple weeks ago we were all chilling in our family room when Jason asked, "why does she (Leila) keep spazzing?"  I looked over and realized she was clapping (silly Daddy).  Since then she has become a clapping pro, especially when someone else claps or says "Yay Leila!"  While we were in Yellowstone, my dad decided to start teaching her to give fives.  Basically he would hold his hand out, she would gently place her hand on his and then he would move his hand up and down to simulate a five.  I don't doubt she'll grasp this one quick too.

She doesn't say any specific words yet (everything is "da da da") but she has definitely become more vocal the last week or so.  She is always laughing, singing, or talking to herself.  She still enjoys blowing raspberries and has taken to doing so while I'm trying to feed her her meat paste.

I sure do love my little girl!

Yellowstone 2012

I made it back from our annual trip to Yellowstone last night.  During church at Yellowstone this year, I wrote the following sentiments down that sum up why I love this tradition so much:

Ready for Sacrament Meeting

"I am sitting at the Canyon amphitheater in Yellowstone attending sacrament meeting.  This is one of my favorite parts of our annual Yellowstone trip.  There is something about sitting in the midst of nature and worshipping Jesus Christ that always helps to renew/strengthen my testimony.

Likewise, the time I spend in Yellowstone recharges me.  Natural beauty, family, and memories surround me.  I get to leave my worries and stresses from home behind.  I turn off my cell phone and do my best to unplug.

As the years go by, our family trip to Yellowstone changes.  It is becoming harder and harder to get everyone here at the same time.  This year my family will only overlap with the majority of those coming for less than 24 hours and Sorensens and Perssons weren't able to come at all.  Even within my own little family, there is a pull to spend the Fourth with the Ziebarths in California.

I am grateful that I have this opportunity.  It didn't come without sacrifice--I just had to say goodbye to Jason so he could get back to work.  I'm sure the time is not far distant when it won't be possible for me to make it here every year.  I intend to enjoy it while I can."

Highlights:

* Seeing a bear with her two cubs--the mom was swimming in Rainy Lake (between Tower and Roosevelt) and her cubs were running along the shore and climbing in trees.

* Leila interacting with Genie--she would laugh and laugh every time she came near (unless she barked, then it was a completely different story).

Such a good puppy!

* Watching Leila feast on a pickle--she went after the thing for a good 30-45 minutes!

* Checking out the new Old Faithful Visitors Center--we somehow missed it last year.  I was very impressed and there was even a room where Leila got to crawl around for a while.

* Seeing Annie Get Your Gun at the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone--other than the theater being extremely hot and stuffy, we all had a really good time; even Leila!  She may have blown a few raspberries but eventually she just fell asleep in Grandma's arms (which pretty much NEVER happens anymore)

* Annie's 16th birthday bash--there was a red carpet, Hollywood sign, and a hand painted photo-op for decorations.  I also had a bunch of props (sunglasses, bow ties, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, "bling", hats, and jumbo sunglasses) for people to dress up in.  I had a bunch of disposable cameras for everyone to take pictures with.  I also made 2 posters with pictures of 48 celebrities for people to guess (Jori blew everyone out of the water by getting 45/48 right).  When the guessing was over and the cameras were spent, we gathered together to play a movie quote trivia game (which Jared won--I think my family watches too many movies).  There was a mini-awards ceremony (for the game winners as well as the Best Paparrazi (Dad), Most PROPerly dressed (Kyle), and Lifetime Achievement (Annie)) and a "cake" made of Annie's favorite candies.  Everyone was a good sport and made it a lot of fun.

* Being with family, of course!  It was different not being able to overlap with most of the extended family this year, but it was kind of nice just spending time with my family too.  I just wish Jason could have stuck around longer.  But at least he was gracious enough to let Leila and I stay while he was the responsible one and went back to work.

4th of July Punch (made by yours truly)

Flag Fruit Skewers (made by my mom, creativity runs in the family)

Cookie Monster

Farewell to Grandpa Noble

While we were on our trip last weekend we received word that Jason's grandfather had passed away.  He'd been in the hospital since he broke his hip in a fall in early March and had recently been placed on hospice.  We made the trip down to California this weekend for his funeral.

Noble Junior Waite

It was a very nice service filled with kind words and lots of music.  I didn't know him all that well, so it was neat for me to hear some of the stories about him as a young boy.  He certainly led a long, full life and left behind some wonderful memories in his friends and posterity. The feeling I got both at the viewing and the funeral was one of peace.  While those who he left behind will certainly miss him, they understood that he was no longer suffering and that he was finally able to be united with his first wife who died in a car accident almost 23 years ago.

Leila did remarkably well during the services (well, aside from treating me as her personal jungle gym) and she was definitely the hit of the party.  One lady who was sitting behind us even told me that Leila was her saving grace because every time she would be about to break down in tears, she would look at Leila and couldn't help but smile.  She certainly brings joy into the lives of those around her--even perfect strangers!  This is something I also admired about Noble.  He had quite the sense of humor and loved to make people laugh.

There was quite the funeral procession from the church in Huntington Beach all the way to Rose Hills Memorial Park (about 30 miles) where he was laid to rest next to his wife.  Jason had the opportunity to be one of the pallbearers.  I had been to the cemetery with Jason once before and don't blame them for choosing this resting place.  On a clear day, you can see the Los Angeles skyline and the cemetery is wonderfully maintained.

God be with you, Grandpa Noble, until we meet again!