Long time no update!

Greetings, it's been a while for an update - about 1 month. If you'd like to know what we've been up to lately, why not give us a call or send an email? We'd love to hear from you!!

Hm, lets' see..

It's the first day of winter, and we're here at Kris and Molan's house with Noah getting to know his cousins Krissa and Katie.

Last week, Donna was out visiting with Dan and Maureen to meet Danny Jr. while daddy was in Greensboro NC for his conference. Talk went OK I'm told. The cost for preparing the talk was still too high in personal time and emotional energy and those factors will be considered before I volunteer to do any other talks in the near future. Very glad to be reunited with the boy afterward.

Noah continues to change with time. He's started using his hands more - lifting them up to suck his thumb, rubbing his eyes, and appearing to "hold on" when Daddy carries him around. Holds his head up for long stretches now, and stays awake, alert and interested in his surroundings for long periods of time. Fixing his gaze and tracking objects with his eyes - such an exciting and new thing just 6 weeks ago - is now totally common behavior. He still has all his (long) hair, so we're starting to think that he's going to be a brunette after all.

The best part are the smiles! Fleeting smiles first appeared over a month ago, but in the past 3 weeks he's become a more expressive person. His face lights up, with twinkling eyes and cute dimples, when he gives us broad happy smiles. So very fun to smile back at him! We also see a more complex worry/unhappy indication on his face than before - it's more than the pouty-face we've seen before. His worry lines remind me of his uncle Kris.

He lets us carry him in different ways now; he especially seems to like being held face-out to see what's going on in front of Daddy. He still does like to also have his head over Daddy's shoulder; especially when Dad lets Junior use his strong legs to push himself up higher. Looking outside the window continues to be a favorite pastime, and Christmas trees and ceiling fans are also interesting now.

Noah is a very good traveler so far.. he slept through his 3- and 4.5-hour flights like a champ, in his cozy car seat next to the window. Only fussed a little, once, just before takeoff - otherwise fine. Surrounding passengers are mostly nice so far. I was impressed that some people hold their children on laps for such long trips.. to me it just sounds tiring and, in case of turbulence, dangerous.

He was at 12 pounds 2 weeks ago.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of the family, and maybe some friends if they can swing it, over the next couple of weeks. Hooray for the holidays!