More cousins!

Colton


Emma (left) and Sebastian (right)


Welcome to Colton Quentin Thell and to twins Emma Leanne and Sebastian Joseph Bertsch!

Colton was born at 8:25am, November 20th to Emily Trudeau and Justin Thell. He weighed 8lbs 8oz and was 20 1/2 inches long

Bethany and Steven Bertsch received their twins the day after Christmas.
Emma was born at 12:12pm, December 26th, and weighed 5lbs 1oz.
Sebastian was born at 12:13pm, December 26th, and weighed 5lbs 4oz.

2008 has seen a bumper crop of babies!
Ivy Jane Tierney, born June 6
Nesiah Kiri Nelson, born July 25th
Aria Grace Walburn, born August 13th
Sula Marie Hines, born September 12th

Pickles & Bananas

Hannah loves pickles. Who knew? Not us... until yesterday. We wanted to see her make that funny sour face. About a minute later we could barely pry the pickle remains from her kung-fu grip.

In other headline news... I've tried to get Hannah to eat bananas for a couple of months. Mashed, mixed, or chunks of different sizes (to feed herself) didn't seem to be her thing. I tried again today - same reaction. Later on Dan gave it a try. It worked - she loved it! Here's his ingenious technique: peel banana, take a bite, then present it to the baby. He's like the Fonz for babies.

First kiss

Hannah's mama and I were treated to some noteworthy firsts these past few days. On Christmas day, during Hannah's evening meal she looked right at me and clearly and emphatically said "DUM!" She then returned to actively dodging spoonfuls of squash.

The next day, we were enjoying some family cuddle time when Hannah sweetened the deal by giving each of us a kiss. This was Hannah's first such act of love and appreciation. And it was also memorable for its uniqueness: she opened her mouth wide, planted it on a cheek or chin and licked the recipient a couple of times.

Reunions, New Friends

The holiday season is also remarkable for the reunions of friends and family under joyous circumstances. In my adult life, I have appreciated this very aspect of it. And now, it's afforded Hannah the opportunity to meet some of my long-time friends.

Corbin and Hsin-Lun paid a visit yesterday and gave Hannah some very generous gifts. Corbin was intent on making a positive first impression. I believe I would be quoting him correctly when he said "I want Hannah to associate me with fun."


Later he offered to feed Hannah again saying "I want her to associate me with nourishment."


When Hsin-Lun noted that this left her in the cold, Corbin noted that if she plays her cards right "Hannah would associate Hsin-Lun with Corbin," which would be a good thing, indeed.



In all, Hsin-Lun and Corbin made a great first impression. Hannah had a great time and got a fun new toy with which to remember it.

Merry Christmas

I have very fond memories of my childhood Christmas experiences. My parents always indulged in the holiday and, it seems, the weather always obliged to make a winter wonderland in St. Paul. So I was truly gratified that Hannah has experienced a white Christmas. She was able to see many members of her extended family and we've had a festive, fun-filled 24 hours.

Hannah's first attempt at unwrapping presents tastes great.

Hannah is surprised that there's fun stuff underneath all the pretty wrapping paper.

Shocking. Truly.

Hannah and Grandma Eidsmoe check out Hannah's pile of gifts.

Solstice

Hannah's nearly 10 months now and she's collected a few milestones in her life rather recently.

She has a new first cousin - Colton, who was born just before Thanksgiving.

She has been crawling for a while now - maybe 6-8 weeks, but it's a funny army crawl. Ada Tierney did the same thing, so says her dad, Chris. And he described Ada's crawl as a "wounded army soldier." I think that is a fitting description.

And now, Hannah is starting to pull herself up on furniture and shuffle her feet a bit. Here's some charming evidence from Ada's 3rd Birthday, which happened on the day this entry was posted.

Big girl

At Hannah's 9 month check up, she measured 2' 6" long, which ranks in the 99 percentile for all girls her age. Whoa! This is remarkable too because Hannah was such a peanut when she was born almost a month early. Way to grow Hannah!



This is a picture of Hannah at that time. Alas, I wish I had abetter object to mark the scale than the exersaucer. She's geared up in a harness for her bungee baby bouncer. She loved that contraption. And she became quite proficient at bouncing. We haven't been able to use it since Thanksgiving, when we decided she had become too big for it.

Tip Top

Back in mid-October, we took our first family vacation. We went away to "Tip Top Resort", which is in Pequot Lakes, MN. We has a lovely 3 day getaway and managed to witness the peak of the fall colors in the Pequot Lakes.



Hannah had a great time observing the vibrant colors and the Northwoods forested setting.