Thanksgiving (and a few others)

So, we have been out of the blog business for a while. And I know there was at least one person who missed us (I love you, Mary), so here are some updates to look at!
By the way, we had her 18 month check up and she's a measly 19 lb 6 oz, so the doctor referred us to the nutritionist. C'mon, Scout, you're not going to grow big and strong if all you eat are blueberries. And we have to have someone take a look at her ears, because she may be a candidate for tubes--we'll keep you posted about our poor baby!

With her laptop and her dad and his laptop
Enjoying some festive egg nog
Wanting to act funny in her stroller at the lakefront in Sheboygan
She's a polka girl, watching the one-man-band with Grandma Karen
With Auntie Nicole. I even told her after I took this photo that it was completely "blog-worthy."
Wanting to sit in her baby's stroller.
Wearing dad's hat and prancing around the yard.
We also had a chance to visit down at the nursing home. Here with great-grandma Reichert.With great-grandpa Reichert.
With Uncle Jake. She refused to take the blanket out of her mouth. I have like 4 blanket-eating photos. Awesome.
With Auntie Nicole (who was making her crack up by smelling her feet and making stinky faces) and Uncle Jake.
A bit of time in the snow.Wanting to reach up to the sweets on the table.And, the most cliché photo--a baby bawling on Santa's lap. Love it.

The Grandmas totally rock.

Here are some more photos of Grandma R. and then, we got lucky, and had another special visitor--Grandma H.
She is sort of obsessed with shoes right now.
With Grandma Karen at the playground.
Observing the water birds.
Then, there were several photos of her attempts at eating spaghetti. Because she has to get disrobed for such a feat, this is the only appropriate one to post. (A post-pasta play, if I remember correctly.)
Playing outside with Grandma Karen.
Helping dad fill up the bird feeders. Shortly thereafter, we had a grandma switcheroo--Grandma Karen returned to Wisconsin, and Grandma Margie came down from Wyoming.
Playing on the swing with Auntie Lacey.
A sassy swinger.
Shaking hands with Grandma Margie. It's her new "thing."
A pumpkin and her Grandma Margie.Playing the piano at the CASA kids Halloween party.
A momentous occasion--she finally has her carseat facing forward. She still is only 19 lbs, though, so don't tell our pediatrician.
Hardcore tunnel-crawling at the park really wears a girl out!
Playing on the slide. She went down this big slide all by herself. She didn't scream. But I did. Very loudly.
Finishing up a nice day at the park in the sand, with a bucket that someone must have left behind (bonus!).

Grandpa H. and Grandma R. visit

We have been lucky to have a few visitors to the house. Grandparents. Wonderful grandparents. Grandpa Alan came last weekend, and left Monday, and then Grandma Karen came into town on Tuesday night.
Here she is with Grandpa Alan.
A wonderful companion for snuggling in the rocking chair.
Here with her fun spoon and assorted kitchen-ware.
And shopping basket.
One must bundle when going for a stroll.
Taking driving pointers from Grandma Karen.
With Grandma Karen's hair brush. Looking pretty serious, I might add.
Watching "Baby Signing Times." Oh, I can't get this song out of my head... "It's signing time with Alex and Leah, come and play..."
Rockin' her new brown pjs.
In her high chair, giggling away.
In her high chair, not giggling away.
Negotiating for more blueberries. "Me, me, me, MEEEEE!" If you think blueberries are worth negotiating for, raise your hand. Well, actually, she does it for M&Ms too. That one makes more sense to me.

Sweet bangles and M&Ms

This week Scout stayed home "sick" from daycare for two days. On Friday, after two days of temps above 100, the doctor said her ears were red and told us to fill the prescription of Amoxicillin only if we absolutely needed to. So, we held off at the doctor's advice. Long story short--I spent Saturday evening running around to three Walgreen's before I found a pharmacy that was open, and then waiting about an hour to have the prescription filled. Let's hope she's all better very soon.
But, intermittently, she has been herself. Full of energy, and keeping us busy.
Here she is zipping around the house with her new "bangles" (aka the rings from the Fisher-Price stacking tower that I think every child has).
Here she is enjoying what's left of the garden. She seems to always want to take a bite out of a tomato.

Also, we had to use all of the items in our bag of tricks to keep the poor baby happy and entertained. When she's sick, she becomes velcro baby. And there's one sure fire way to help calm the clinginess: chocolate.

Here is a pretty good depiction of how much she loves M&Ms.

Crazy Scout, at it again.

So, today we took in a beautiful ride into the mountains, lunch in Breckenridge and then stopped by the Grand Timber Lodge and went for a swim. I would go on and on about how much fun it is, but I think I'm ready for bed. It's 7:15 pm. This is why I wonder about people who have many kids... generous, giving, loving, or just plain loco??
Beautiful aspens, up near South Park (a real place, I swear, by Fairplay).
The whole fam. With Scout looking kinda moody, actually. I swear she's not.
The brown-eyed duo making their way to "downtown" Breckenridge. (She's getting better on the down-slope.)
Swimming with dad. It even involved some instruction--jumping from the edge of the pool onto dad. She did pretty good with the first lesson, I just hope all the chlorinated water she swallowed won't make her sick. (When she got out of the pool, her tummy was all full and bloated. I'd say she drank a quart, give or take.)