small...big

Noel: 23 inches tall
Ray: 84 inches tall (7ft)

I want one

Spinning at the Capitol

Grace, like all children, loves to be spun around in circles. The problem for me is that typically (though not in this particular video) the instant her feet touch the ground she's demanding/whining, "Spih! Spih! Spih!" She can't even walk, she's so dizzy, and she immediately wants to spin again, while I'm just concentrating on regaining my vision and keeping my lunch down.

Noël Speaks

Here's another video of Noël. I'm trying out "Noël" for fun because people keep pronouncing her name like the word "knoll"...not people who know us, but people who read her name, not knowing she's a girl, and assume it's the boy name, like at the doctor's office.

Maybe if we put the dots over the 'e' then people will be more likely to pronounce it properly. Maybe the boy's name 'Noel' (knoll) is more common than the girl name, though we didn't think so when we decided to go with 'Noel' instead of 'Noelle'.

Next time someone calls her 'Knoll' I just might start singing aloud, "The first knoll, the angels did say, was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay.......Kno---ll, kno---ll, kno---ll, kno-----ll, born is the King of Isra-ohl."

Anyway, this wasn't supposed to be a post about the pronunciation of her name, but I thought I better explain the umlaut over the 'e'. So, the video...

our hyper daughter

A little of Noel

Finally!!

Yes, family and friends, after two months I've finally taken the time to post some pictures. You'll notice that the last time I posted was just about two weeks after Noel was born. When she was two weeks old, colic and acid reflux set in. We thank God that her colic pretty much disappeared after two months. The reflux is still an issue, though not nearly as severe as the combo of colic and relux.

So when people asked me why I hadn't posted or emailed any pictures of Noel, I thought to myself, "Well, let's see, Noel cries whenever she's awake (which is a lot), she can't be put down or she'll scream, she has to be carried upright and bounced, nights are miserable, and I could sleep naked on a bed of nails in the cold next to a dead skunk if given the opportunity, I'm that tired (to say nothing of Lindsay's exhaustion which is worse than mine). Then we've got a toddler that almost never stops moving. Almost never. I don't have the time or energy to post pictures."

But thankfully Noel is doing a lot better, and as a result, so is mom, and so am I. We've emerged from the colic cave--I'm alluding to the "darkness" of the struggle and isolation of having a baby with colic and acid reflux. It's so nice to see Noel's big blue eyes (we almost never did for 2 months because they were either shut while sleeping or scrunched shut in pain and crying when awake). It's so nice to see her lay there content. She smiles so much now and hardly ever cries.

Grace loves her little "see-see". She walks over to her all the time and gives her kisses on the head. As a man, I really don't like the word precious. It offends my male sensitivities to even use the word. But I must say, when Grace kisses Noel and wants to hold her, it is pre..pre...so cute!

I think the majority of the pictures we have of Noel are from her first two weeks and then after two months. Good thing family came to visit during the second month of Noel's life because it forced us to take some pictures. Anyhow, enjoy the slide show.