Thanksgiving

Daddy doesn't quite remember why it was that we decided to put this cute little bow on Diana's head, but it was such a good idea. Isn't she just the cutest thing ever...of course she is...because this picture was taken before Diana had time to form her own opinion...scroll down...

After contemplating the situation for a few moments, Diana decided the bow did not make her look like the cutest thing ever. In fact, she thought it made her look absolutely ridiculous, and she decided to tell us exactly how she felt about the entire evolution.

After reassuring her that wearing this bow would not bring the world to an end, Diana calmed down. She quickly became bored with this latest rendition of the dress up game that Mommy and Daddy keep putting her through.

While some of you still living north of the Mason Dixon Line may find it hard to believe, it does get cool down here in Dixie around Thanksgiving. Highs some days only get into the 60s. Ugh. At least we now have reasons to add cute little jackets to Diana's dress up routines.

...and, of course, once you come in from the cool autumn air, it's ever so hard to keep your eyes open, no matter how old you are. Just think, three months ago, Dad would have never taken a nap on the couch. Now, afraid to move the sleeping beauty, he'll sleep anywhere.

Diana's getting so strong and coordinated now. These two pictures show her holding her own bottle. While Dad is clearly not supporting the bottle at all, he does realize that the placement of Diana's hands are purely coincidental. During her seemingly random arm flailings, Diana's hands just stumbled upon opposing sides of the bottle and stuck. When Dad snuck his hand away, she had it. It's a start...

For Thanksgiving this year, Auntie Sue, Cousin Katie, Auntie Liz, Uncle John, and Grandma and Grandpa Jimbo all came to visit Diana. Diana spent her first Thanksgiving watching everyone else eat Nana's delicious cooking. Diana's Thanksgiving dinner consisted of the same staple she's been enjoying since day one. You can almost hear her thinking, "Man, I can't wait to have teeth."

During the second half of the Packers-Lions game Thanksgiving Day...

Can you guess which one's NOT from Wisconsin?

On Friday, the family celebrated Becky's birthday a couple days early. Diana gave her Mommy her very first present. In this photo, Becky tells Diana that Daddy has already begun to train her well, and that she needs to remember that the best gifts often times come in really small boxes.

As we've mentioned in previous postings, Miss Diana has definitely discovered the TV. This Sunday afternoon, right in the middle of some tummy time with Mommy, Diana decided to take a break as she conveniently found the football game on TV.

Happy Halloween

Diana had so much fun in the two weeks surrounding Halloween. Not only did she get to dress up as her mom's favorite food, but she also got a lot of visitors all in a row. Below is our cute little pea pod on her first Halloween.

During the week before Halloween, Auntie Wendy spent her fall break in South Carolina with Miss Diana. In this picture, Diana takes a quick break from her evening meal to pose for a picture.

The week before Halloween also marked Nana and Papa's return to South Carolina. Papa took the honors of the after dinner snuggle with Diana this night.

During Halloween week, Dad had to make a trip up to UNC Chapel Hill to kick off his MBA program. While he was away, Grandma Russler came down to give Becky an extra set of hands and adult companionship for the week. Of course, that all came secondary to spending time with this adorable creature.
...and this one's just cute, so I had to post it.

SOOOO Big

Miss Diana is getting so big and so talented. As the following pictures show, our little girl is figuring out how to do a new assortment of baby talents. This first one shows that Miss Diana is becoming much more interested in interacting with things in her little world. Not only is she focussing on things like her rattle and her ducky, but she has also started reaching out to touch them and even hold them, if only for a couple seconds.



Much to everyone's delight, Miss Diana has also learned how to smile, and not just due to gas. She now routinely smiles at Mommy and Daddy when they come to rescue her from her crib in the morning or randomly thoughout the day when she's feeling happy. This one's going to have to find a way into my office. That little face would brighten anyone's day.

Not only has Diana found things around the room that fascinate and amaze her, she has also found things like her fist that she loves to play with and put in her mouth.

One constant throughout, though, is the fact that Diana loves her mommy. While Becky may say that I'm biased when I say that she's the best mommy on earth, I think Diana's vote is really the only one that counts. Diana agrees with me...best mommy ever.

As if anyone besides Becky and me had a doubt, Miss Diana has found the TV before the age of 2. Mom and Dad did their best to keep her from looking over there, but the temptation of watching Northwestern beat Auntie Wendy's Hoosiers on the Marine Corps birthday was just too much for a two month old to overcome.

Of course, watching the Packers shut out the Vikings isn't much easier to resist...

Besides watching football, one of Diana's favorite activities, really since before birth, has been going to church. While in the womb, Diana would always be very active during the hour we were at church. Now that she's actually able to be logged into the attendance book, Miss Diana feels the need to be more interactive in church than just squirming around inside Mommy. Today, Diana dressed up in a lovely dress given to her by the nice UPS lady that delivers to Grandma B's Cold Stone. She then proceeded to "read along" in the bulletin as the service progressed. While Dad is convinced she really is reading along, there is no doubt that she loved staring at the black and white letters on the page in the bulletin. We'll do our best to have her reading the scripture readings from the pulpit by Christmas. Only two small steps away...reading and talking.

It's November, so that means we've finally been able to turn the A/C off in South Carolina. In fact, some mornings, we actually get to put some of our new blankets to use. This picture of Diana and Daddy snuggling in his chair was taken before the Kittens gave away their game to Iowa last week.

Aren't pink tights on a two month old just the cutest?!?

"Daddy, while I appreciate you and Grandma Russler trying to broaden my football exposure, you both know full well that Mommy will never let me be a Colts fan. I'll tolerate this until I can start picking out my own clothes. Go Pack Go!!!"