Meeting Family

We met family earlier this month in the City. We went to a ScreamFree Parenting seminar with Jessi and Bubba and Jeremy and Rocky. Mamaw and Papa kept 3 of the grandkids - they were busy! Then we stayed the night in Yukon with Jack, Sheri, and Tana. We had a good time: swimming in the indoor "heated" but cool pool, going out to eat, and just catching up. At one moment, Tana was intent on writing. Casen wanted Tana's attention. He finally just leaned down and looked up at her and said, "Hi." He only says hi every once in awhile. The other recent time was to the little girl at daycare (the only girl). Am I seeing a trend?

Casen and the Narcoleptic

Josh likes to take his naps on the couch. Casen thinks that Josh is messing with him - that he's playing with him. He tries to wake him up. Sometimes, I'm not quick enough, and he does.

Casen's Sonic Straw

So a couple nights ago, Josh gave Case his Sonic straw. Casen was cracking us up. He was crawling around with the straw in his mouth. It looked like a huge toothpick or cigarette hanging from his mouth. It got us laughing so I think we're all being a bit silly in the video. Casen never did crawl with it in his mouth again, but he's still pretty funny with it.

This morning I saw that news story about the 18-month-old who fell on keys and it went through his eye into his brain! He ended up being okay, but now we aren't giving him keys nor straws anymore. So don't worry ha!

Casen's First Steps

Casen took his first steps tonight!!!

I was on the computer, and Josh yelled, "Amanda, he's trying to walk!" Casen was standing really still and not holding onto anything. He didn't fall down like he usually does. I grabbed the camera.

He walks towards the end. He can take a couple steps and then falls into your arms. Casen practiced lots more after the video going back and forth between Josh and me.
Sniff, sniff...my little boy is growing up!

Our New House...Maybe

Some of you have asked what the house looks like in the inside. I took these videos on our Inspection Day. If everything continues going as planned, we should be moved into our new house pretty soon.

Halloween Pics

Here are some pics from our church's Fall Festival Trunk or Treat. Casen was a puppy, or as the kids at his daycare said, "He's a fat little puppy!" (His costume had a belly on it.) It ws pretty cold so we didn't stay long. Josh helped our small group with making a haybale maze. Funtimes.

We Got a Climber on Our Hands

Last night we looked over among our chaotic house (we are in the midst of packing), and Case was on top of a short box. He went right to it this morning when he woke up and came in the living room.

Casen Playing Ball

Casen has learned how to play ball! He will toss the ball to you (well, sometimes). Usually the ball goes behind him or to the side, but he likes to go get the ball typically. He gets excited when you toss it to him. Here's a video after we had played awhile. By this time, I think he was getting a little frustrated with the ball NOT going where he wanted it to go.

9 Months

Case turned 9 months last month. It's flown by! Can you tell I'm having more trouble getting him to look at the camera now?

My Family the Paparazzi

When it comes to taking pictures, my family has that down pat.
Check out this video from Pburg where we were trying to get Fall pictures of Casen.

Casen Laughing

This video might be my favorite one of Casen so far. It was taken early last month. He still can get going like this. I love to see and hear him laugh.

Our Son the Center of Attention

So lately its becoming more obvious that Casen is an extrovert. He's quite the social baby. We will be sitting in a restaurant, and he will start smiling and talking to strangers. Especially if they are NOT talking to him or looking at him - he thinks they need to be. So at the Homecoming parade last month, we three ended up riding on the float the last half. Casen was in Heaven. I think he thought the parade was for him. He liked all the people waving and cheering. Casen flashed his smile at people making them wave and cheer more. He waved back some too.

Lab Plans Go Awry

So my advanced inorganic chemistry class is finally able to do experiments in our new lab. I have all these great cobalt coordination complexes synthesis labs plans. Very fun stuff. Colorful crystals. Lots of chemicals. And we're going to connect it all to symmetry at the end! (See prior post for a symmetry entry : )
But we haven't had much luck so far. For the first experiment, sulfuric acid got added instead of hydrochloric acid. And let that be a lesson for all of you who aspire to be chemists: the acid type does make a difference.
The next experiment has had some problems, but we are slowly maybe figuring out what to do.
One group did make some lovely emerald green crystals.
We spent Wednesday in lab "housekeeping" - trying to "fix" all our reactions that went awry. I felt like I was back in grad school. You can plan, but science doesn't always do what you think it should. Part of the fun is trying to figure out why and how to fix it...or finding a use for what you did make.
I told my students that I'm training them for grad school. Haha.

Homecoming WalkAround

These are pictures from WalkAround at HOmecoming last month. We ran into our friends Seungeun, Youngho, and Aiden. They took pictures of us. We also got to see some friends who used to live in Stillwater. Since Angie and Brian have moved, they've had a son Silas. It was good to catch up with them and meet their little boy. It was a nice surprise to see all our friends.