Walking!

Despite the softball injury, Noelle won't let her dad stop her from walking! She now walks instead of crawls most places, and as long as she isn't going too fast and tripping over her feet, she can go a pretty unlimited distance. Here is another video of her showing off her new skill (until she gets distracted by her toys!)



Noelle, Bryan, and I also enjoyed the nice weather last night and enjoyed a drink out on the back deck. Noelle rocked in her chair (a great purchase as this is part of her baby swing that is meant for toddlers) with her sippy cup of water while mom and dad enjoyed a nice glass of Reisling. Too bad today we woke up to yucky hot and humid summer!



And here are just a few more recent pictures of our little angel!


Noelle recently enjoyed her first excursion in the baby pool. I think she is ready for the big pool in NC!


Maddie, how about you give me some love?


Dad, get me out of here!


I'm ready for my close-up!

Softball Injury

On Monday evening, Noelle and I hung out with Maddie before bedtime. After I put the little one to bed, Bryan calls me, and reports that he had an injury at his game and that he is in a bit of pain. Now, if you know Bryan, you know he is a bit accident prone. And his hands and fingers seem to take a beating all the time. So I am thinking, ok, he needs to come home and ice himself and he'll be fine. I'm a bit concerned when Bryan asks whether he should go to the hospital on his way home. Explaining that since I couldn't see his hand and didn't feel the pain, I wasn't the best judge of this, we decided Bryan would come home, ice his hand, and see what happens. And then he walked in the door and his right hand was 3x the size of his left, and I knew this was not going to be good.

After deciding that even if his hand was only dislocated he would need medical attention, Bryan left for the closest hospital, St. Agnes, while I tried to get some sleep since I had been sick and we didn't want to take Noelle in to an ER. Just 2.5 hours later, Bryan was back in a sling with directions to call a hand specialist in the morning.

Bryan actually had surgery on his hand on Thursday after learning his 3rd metacarpal was in several pieces. The doctor told me it was actually in 5 pieces (in case you are wondering, that isn't great), but they were able to align things pretty well with a plate and some screws. Bryan will begin therapy this week and we are hopeful he will make a full recovery. Thankfully, after Thursday, Bryan's pain level seems to be pretty good. He was pretty dizzy and out of it after he woke up from surgery, but since then has been managing with just some ibuprofen since his prescription doesn't make him feel well when he takes it. The real fun in our house is watching Bryan try to do the normal Saxton routine. Most entertaining is definitely diaper changing time. Bryan's pleas for Noelle to stay still seem to be falling on deaf 10-month old ears. B actually had to get his fingers immobilized that were most injured because Noelle really yanked at them Wednesday morning and caused more pain. We think B will get out of his current cast in a few weeks and will be much more mobile then. Until then, he is trying really hard to be productive, perhaps too hard, since he hates to sit idle!

We'll keep everyone updated on Bryan's recovery!

First Steps!

When I got home from a long week and weekend of 14 hour work days, it was to find out that B and Ellie had practiced standing and had even tried taking a step over the weekend. Of course I had to get in to the action, and Noelle was more than happy to cooperate. Here is a short recording we made of her taking a few steps from B to me this evening!



From what I hear we are in trouble now! Noelle is really proud of herself and claps every time she gets to mom or dad! We'll keep everyone updated on her new trick.

Learning to Walk

In the past few days, Noelle has learned a few new tricks. First, she stands up on her own! She is super cute as she crawls out to the middle of the floor, looks around to see if anyone is watching, and then sticks her arms in the air as she gets up. We haven't caught her on camera yet since each stand is short-lived and she prefers to do it when we aren't looking!

Additionally, Noelle is really close to walking and just started trotting around the house with her walker toy. Here is a video (not amazing quality) of her demonstrating her new trick!




I guess she isn't quite ready for the keys to the car since she seems to struggle with the whole straight line thing, but she is pretty much the most adorable thing we have ever seen. OK, we might be prejudiced, but you've got to love that grin!