Hey---this is Kim. Under Kevin's account. My home laptop has died, and I cannot get into my blogger. I also cannot get into my Verizon account...so if you sent me any recent emails, please re-send to mcdermottkimberly@praintl.com. One last thing I cannot get into is my nice, neat, organized, state of the art Holiday Log. This is the log I use to log gifts that were received and thank you cards that were sent. Unfortunately, there were several thank yous I had not yet gotten to. I am hoping Kevin can fix things. He is the greatest computer guy ever (oops...not supposed to call him that!). So, if you did not receive a thank you from Harry, Kevin, Bailey or me, please do not be offended. We all had a wonderful holiday and are grateful for all of the wonderful presents we received! I no longer have teh memory I once did, so I can not even begin to pick up where I left off! (Those of you who received multiple holiday cards and thank yous will understand this!).

So, with the extra time I have had not checking email, I was able to catch up on my scrap booking. I have not yet finished my 2003 project, but I did file all of Harry's photos through early November (thanks to all of the great photo albums we received for Yule and my birthday!). As I was going through the albums with him, however, it would almost seem as though I am stalking him. Anyone see "One Hour Photo"? It's gotten a little bit out of hand, I admit. We've got about 10 big albums already. Kevin's biggest worry is that once we have another child, he or she will feel neglected if I do not maintain the same frenzy. Good advice from a middle child, but turns out I am the one who no longer has any photographs from my childhood. Perhaps this is the basis for my obsession. Although, I was class historian in high school, and for my DG pledge class, and did yearbook. And we do have at least three albums full of Bailey's puppy pictures...The picture taking obsession goes way back!

If you ask me, I think it has to do with my outlook on life. I will admit I have issues with death. We only have 100 or so years here (Five for Fighting has a great song about this topic, which also makes me think I shoudl take up sailing soon. The movie The Way We Were also makes me think I shoudl take up sailing), and we don't get to repeat them (at least not in the same body). I think it is important to capture as many moments as we can. And capture them for infinity. Let's put it this way, if the house caught on fire, once the family was out, the only thing I would go back for would be picttures! Especially the irreplaceable ones!

Speaking of things moving at the speed of life, Harry is still trudging ahead at high speed. You may have read that he started standing unassisted on Friday. He is still working on that. He is so motivated! Although, along with this motivation, and his new mobility and communication skills (he babbles and gestures pretty well), he is beginning to develop a bit of an attitude. I suspect it is a toddler thing. I know they tend to go through a phase where they just love themselves and think they are the greatest (probably doesn't help that that is all they hear!). Well, he is THERE! SO There! But at the same time, he is still a baby. He is still frustrated that there are things he cannot do. He seems to be experiencing some new separation anxiety. With all of the branching out, he seems to need even more reassurance that we are still here. Unfortunately, as you may have guessed, most of this reassurance is required at sleep time. He's not liking the crib so much lately. But to make it worse, once we finally get him, he seems rather smug about it. If you have any tips for this, please let us know. Also, if you happen to know, do their eyes get bigger and their eyelashes get longer when they are getting in trouble? Or is it my imagination?

The littel guy really is the cutest. And aside from nap issues, we had a pretty fun day. Harry crawled all over the house, up steps, into new rooms...giggled at his frog puppets (the big frog is Jeremiah, the little one is Uncle Jerry...they are good friends of mine)...went to Costco with his father and rode in the cart (first time was at MOMs, so this is still a big treat for him)...took his alphabet blocks out of his bucket and put them into his dump truck (being able to let go of objects is a new skill) and he had some new meals too: breakfast was Flax Seed cereal with banannas---AND milk (formula). He seems to like it better that way, plus it is mushy so less of a choking hazard. He also ate some dry pieces himself, which were in different shapes. Time to branch out from cheerios! Lunch was blueberry yogurt and some wagon wheels. Dinner was the very same as us! Vegan Boca Burgers (yes, even for Kevin) and sweet potatoes. Harry ate all of it. (He actually is not usually that great of an eater).

So, we have a little time to relax now. Harry is sleeping soundly in his crib. Keep your fingers crossed that he makes it through the night! Tomorrow is an early day. We have carpet layers, bathroom contractors and Value Village all coming by 8. Meanwhile, Kevin and Harry are usually out of here by 7...and I need to be as well. I finally switched to the Gold's near our house. It is huge, offers free personal training, and has a TON of Pilates and Yoga classes...even Pilates reformer! Bye bye last ten pounds!

---Kim