I love this time of year.  I love the festivities and gathering together with friends and family.  I love the trees changing, even though I really don’t love the cold.  This year it is even more special because Kennedy is so interactive and fun!  I think she will like all the gathering the most, she’s too little to be very excited about presents or Santa, but she knows when there are a lot of people around having a good time.

Kennedy is changing so much, it is amazing.  She is starting to gather more language.  When you offer her a phrase (Kennedy, say “up, please”), she repeats it back with surprising accuracy.  She meows when she sees our adopted kitties and is fond of going around the house to the fridge, the cupboards that she isn’t allowed in, and the ficus- pointing at them saying, “no, no, no, no”.  I wonder if that is how I sound to her?  Kennedy loves to climb, last night we looked over from the kitchen to find that in the minute that we weren’t watching her, she had climbed onto a kitchen chair.  She has also summited the couch and has been attempting the coffee table.

She also still loves to dance, she will start bee-bopping around to the most subtle beat.  When Chris is playing guitar and singing with her, she will sing along, or climb into his lap to play the guitar with him. If you can’t find her dancing in the living room, she has probably found a tiny nook to climb into, she loves to play in these little spaces.  I foresee a future filled with forts and iPods for this one!

It is, as always, so fun watching her grow and develop.  She continues to be such an affectionate little girl, always ready with a hug or a pat on the back to make her mom feel very loved and appreciated.  I’m very thankful this year for such an amazing family, immediate, extended and the friends who have become our family, I am so fortunate to have you all!

Today is the day that Lisa goes to Vegas for Katie’s bachelorette party! Kennedy wanted to show her some of her mad dancing skills before she took off. We queued up some J.T. on the iPod and got the whole thing on our hidden camera!

One of my favorite things about being a daddy is discovering new ways to make Kennedy laugh and giggle; from slapstick comedy routines to ticklespots… I love ‘em all!  I always have to call Lisa over when I’ve found a new one.

Her first season is underway and for all of you who can’t wait for her rookie card…here are her stats as of her 2 month check up.  Kennedy is 11lbs 13.8 oz, which is the 74th percentile, and 23.5 inches long, which is the 86th percentile.  So, in the words of her pediatrician she is tall and skinny (for those of you who have seen her adorable rolls recently, this is hard to believe!).  Her head circumference is 15 inches, which is the 30th percentile…maybe it’s just a mommies wishful thinking, but I don’t think she had a disproportionately small head.  Anyway, she also showed off for the doctor by propping on her elbows and lifting her- albiet small and therefore less weighty- head up past 45 degrees, holding it there, then looking right and left.  A healthy and happy baby, she continues to smile, coo and become more and more delightful each day!

We also had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to see nearly everyone on both sides of the family in the course of 10 days, so we will post pictures after we recoup a bit!

Our Halloween extravaganza began last weekend with a trip to the Pumpkin Patch. Matt and Katie were visiting from San Francisco, so we all piled into the Subaru and drove over to the patch by our old townhouse. It’s truly just a farm with pumpkins, decorations and a small corn tunnel (not really a maze); there were no bounce houses, candy apple stands or carnival rides. So Kennedy tolerated some photo opportunities, then decided she was hungry and ate for the rest of the outing, while Daddy, Katie and Matt selected some fine pumpkins. She had a diaper that desperately needed changing, so the very cute picture of her in the wheelbarrow is for an impromptu change.

On Halloween itself, we went to Day One in Walnut Creek to take pictures and check out the other little people in costume that aren’t old enough to trick or treat (or even know the humiliation that their parents are putting them through!). So our little sweet pea in the pod posed for a few shots from the pro and we snapped some pictures too. Halloween night was an eventful one in our neighborhood. The funny thing is that I got to see a whole side of Chris that I have not had the pleasure of experiencing in the four years we’ve known each other. “Halloween at home” Chris. He carved three amazing pumpkins, set up a giant spider that would drop in front of unsuspecting trick-or-treaters when he opened the door and had his microphone set up, attached to his amp, so that he could do an evil laugh prior to opening the door. It was particularly scary because the reverb was on, so his bru-ha-ha echoed and shook. He was dressed as the Phantom of the Opera (with his hair slicked back I thought he looked like Gavin Newsom dressing up like the phantom). Some kids were really scared, some of the high schoolers were unimpressed, but it was a very fun Halloween night. One very little girl, after the scary laugh, the dropping spider and finally, her candy reward was asked by her mom “Can you say thank you?” and promptly replied “NO!” before turning to quickly return to the safety of the sidewalk. By about 8:15, we had run out of our relatively substantial supply of candy, and had to shut the blinds and turn off the lights. It looked like the trick or treating traffic was tapering off by then anyway. It was a great Halloween, our first in this new world of “family friendly” holidays and events.

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11.04.08 Halloween