Ripping Up Paper!

One of Larkin's favorite activities of late is ripping up paper. She loves doing it and we think its so funny to watch! Here's a video of Larkin ripping up some paper from the last time she was at the doctor's office. Enjoy!

Grandma Cook Visits

Grandma Cook came for a visit and the week went by too fast, as usual! Grandma Cook stayed busy playing with Larkin, singing to her, and generously cooking up all sorts of great meals for us. She made enough for us to freeze several meals...thanks, Mom!

While we thoroughly enjoyed Grandma Cook's home cooking, we also went out several times, of course. Here are a few pictures of Larkin and Grandma at Cracker Barrel, one of our favorite breakfast spots. Larkin had fun entertaining the tables around us, by flashing them her cute gummy smile and kicking up her feet and rest them on the table!

A special memory for me from this visit was when Grandma Cook sang to Larkin each day. She'd sing Larkin her "Good Morning" song when Larkin awakened, and then would put Larkin to sleep by singing her "I Love You" lullaby that she wrote when Dana and I were kids. It was the last song she'd sing to us before putting us to bed, and if we weren't already asleep, that song would do the trick. I love that song and I really loved hearing Grandma Cook sing it to Larkin as they cuddled. Here they are cuddling together and getting as warm as a heater!

Larkin loves faces... and she really loves to grab at them! She'll grab at noses (like she's doing to Grandpa Hittle in the pic below), mouths, glasses, chins, you name it. With Grandma Cook, she even decided that it would be fun to teeth on her chin! She really bites down!

One morning, while we were preparing breakfast, Grandma Cook invented a fun, new game that Larkin loves... we called it the "Grandma Train"! We attached one of Sera's leashes to Larkin's walker and Grandma pulled her around and around our kitchen island while she said, "Toot, toot!" At first, Larkin wasn't sure what to expect, so she held on tight! Then, after about 20 trips around the island, she relaxed and enjoyed looking at everything around the kitchen. She especially loved being able to look inside the pantry at all of our food as they'd pass it by. They both had great fun doing this and they ended up doing it for 15-20 minutes non-stop!

Here's a pic of Larkin after breakfast and the Grandma Train. What a multi-tasker she is... she's doing gymnastics while eating a napkin!

These pictures below do a good job at summing up Grandma Cook's visit... Larkin and Grandma Cook really love each other!

Larkin's First Word "Hi"

Larkin was soaking up all of the attention. In addition to Mommy and Daddy, Larkin also had Grandma Cook (who's in town visiting), Grandma Hittle and Grandpa Hittle sitting around her and watching her rip up some paper (one of her current favorite activities). I had just gone around the room with the video camera introducing everyone and having them say hi, when Larkin decided that it was her turn. Larkin said "hi"!

Now, we know it was completely unintentional, but we still consider it her first semi-official word. :) Since she was really just exhaling, it sounds more like "hiiiiiii", but it's still so adorable. Make sure that your sound is turned up high because she has a soft voice. Hope you enjoy the video as much as we did.

Larkin's Famous "Monster Noises"

Here's a video we recently took of Larkin doing what we call her "monster noises". We call it this because the otherwise dainty-voiced Larkin started making this gutteral sound in October, a few weeks before Halloween. So, we joked that she was practicing to be a scary monster on Halloween. But, alas, Halloween came and went and she's still doing it. She only does it when she's happy, and no, she's not pooping! She even will do it on command sometimes. She's a growling smarty-pants!

Some people say it's like a growl, perhaps something she picked up from having a dog for a sister. Others lovingly say we gave birth to either a gremlin or a pirate. Whatever her inspiration, Larkin's endearing growl is her "shtick" and we love her for it. And, as feminist Mick so classically put it, "God knows we need more women that growl, than cry." Alas, Larkin does both upon occasion... Enjoy the video!

New Year's Eve 2008-2009

It's become somewhat of a tradition for us now... whenever we're in town for New Year's Eve, we celebrate it with Brian's good friend, Brandon, his new wife Elizabeth, and the rest of Brandon's wonderful family. Mick and Bill have generously been inviting us year after year, and it is where we want to be on New Year's Eve. This was Larkin's first indoctrination to a Prelogar New Year's Eve (although she experienced it in my belly last year), and she did great. After being passed around to different women who just missed holding a baby and wanted a turn, Brandon took Larkin for a spin on the living room "dance floor" while he serenaded her. So cute!

Then, Brandon (on the guitar and singing), Bart on the mandolin, and Barrett on the broken yukele got to jamming. Despite all of the distractions, I somehow was able to Larkin down to sleep (in Mick and Bill's bedroom in the lounger chair I brought for her to sleep in) at her normal time of ~9:30pm. She slept through it all until shortly after 12midnight. Here's a pic of the jamming and then Brian and me (and a classic Barrett move!) right after midnight. Happy New Year, baby!

It was like Larkin knew it was a special occasion, because she awakened only minutes after midnight, happy and ready to play! So, up she stayed for 1.5 hours, just giggling and making monster noises for everyone who held her. Then, we went home around 1:30am and as soon as we took her up to bed, she fell right asleep for the rest of the night. Good baby, Larkin!