The Stars At Night. . . .

Are big and bright!!!



Don't you just love that part of the Pee Wee's Playhouse?

I haven't tried that yet, but I have migrated west to the great state of Texas. Yes, the Jensen family is moving to Texas. After three fun filled years in Florida I have accepted a promotion with Alliance Seating and Mobility to Regional Sales Manager that requires that I move to the Lonestar State.

I have been in the New Braunfels, TX area for 3 weeks now and Stacy and the rest of the family will follow at the end of the year. I will be flying back to Orlando every other week or so until we complete the move.

I am staying in a vacation cottage in the little town of Gruene, TX right outside the thriving metropolis of New Braunfels. My little house has a large sitting room with a kitchennette including a full refrigerator and a dishwasher. I have a nice bedroom and bathroom and a walk in closet. The kitchen lets me cook my own meals so I don't have to eat road food all the time and I can maintain my healthy diet. As rustic as a cottage with a full cow hide mounted on the wall sounds, I still have high speed wireless internet available. I also have my very own BBQ available should I discover an urge to grill a meal.

Work has been exciting. Now that I am working at the headquarters I am able to hob nob with the leadership at the company instead of driving around the state of Florida spending more time listening to books on tape than actually talking to real people. Since the division I work for is only one year old within the company, there is a big focus on growth and organization. Since I am the first person to be hired as a Sales Manager for this division and the first person at headquarters with any field experience I have become the default person to get answers from. So I am invited to meetings all day every day and sit in and give my opinion on all kinds of topics regarding aspects of the business that are sometimes not even remotely related to the work that I am experienced in. The amazing thing is that not only do people listen to my answers, they actually come back and ask me more questions later.

While I am working on glamorous business projects, Stacy and the kids are back in Florida barely surviving. At least that is what Stacy claims. I flew home last weekend to watch the Primary program at church and take care of a few things on the to do list around the house. Despite Stacy claiming that the family is just barely surviving, they appear to be doing quite well. I didn't see a single fly buzzing around the distended bellies of my children while I was there.

The Primary program turned out as good as Primary Programs can be. Alayna had a number of shining moments. Alayna sat up on the stand with the rest of her class for the whole meeting. When the sacrament bread was passed to her, she refused to eat the wheat bread. Her teacher prompted her to take a piece but she refused. Her teacher kept telling her to take the bread but Alayna refused three times before the Deacon moved along. I have to admit, I didn't see this happening. The story was relayed to me by the Young Men's President. He was quite proud of how she stood her ground and was aware of how to keep herself healthy. He almost felt the need to step in and come to Alayna's aid, but she was able to get her point across on her own. While all of that was going on, I was wrestling with Cavell in the pews.

Alayna started the program off with a bang. She sang the first two lines of I Am A Child of God as a solo. She also had a couple of speaking parts through the rest of the program. It is easy to swell one's chest when you realize that your daughter is the only kid any where near her age group that can memorize and articulate her part so the entire congregation can understand her words. There are High Councilmen that I wish could articulate as well as Alayna.

While home, we also attended the Church Fall Fling. Alayna went dressed as Belle from Beauty and The Beast. Cavell went as a chicken. Stacy found some cute dress up clothes at the thrift shop and brought them home in time for Halloween. A Disney Princess is an easy thing for Alayna to pull off. Princesshood is more of a state of mind for Alayna than just putting on a dress. She pulled it off with style. Cavell didn't really like his chicken outfit, but he left it mostly on. The little costume was actually designed for a dog to wear. Despite a few extra holes, we made the costume work and it even looked kind of cute. Luckily, Cavell is very patient with his parents.

Despite an exciting weekend with my family, I have only heard woeful tales of survival again since my departure. The woeful tales describe trips to the park, play dates with friends, workouts at the gym, and continued good health. What a horrible environment I have left my family in. I am so glad that they will be joining me in Texas soon. Our small little family will certainly prosper in such a wonderful location.

Just remember, EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas.

I Love Florida . . .

How many other places does traffic stop on a busy thoroughfare for four Sandhill Cranes to cross the road? Sadly, I didn't have my camera in the van to take a picture thru my windshield. I would have had plenty of time, they were in no rush.

Here's a picture of an adolescent crane at our house. One most often sees them in pairs. We think this one recently left its parents but has yet to find a mate. Whenever we hear trumpeting, we stop to watch them fly over us. After three years, we still find it exciting to see and hear them.

Catch-up Time

Since our last posting was three months ago, it's probably time to try and catch up on what has been happening to the Jensen's in Florida. To be honest, we have been so busy that we either haven't had the time to write a post or we were too tired to be creative enough to maintain the high standards normally associated with this blog.

While we make no promises regarding completeness or creativity, there will at least be a series of updated pictures of the kids. And that's what you really want anyway, right?

The biggest new development has been Alayna's first day at school. She started voluntary pre-kindergarten this year and has really enjoyed her class.

Alayna goes to school at the Lutheran church a couple of miles away from the house. She gets to go to school with some of her friends from her play group but she is in a class with all new children. Since Alayna is a very shy little girl, it is hard for her to meet new friends. And if you believe that. . .

Alayna has her own hook on the wall where she hangs her lunch box on the wall. I'm sure that less hardy children, not born in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains also use the hook to hang things like coats and sweaters.


When we went to pick Alayna up from her first day, Stacy couldn't help behaving a little bit like a stalker and looking through the windows to see how Alayna was doing. Here's one of her the pictures that shows the other children sitting contentedly on the carpet while Alayna shows the teacher how to lead the class.

Alayna was lucky enough to have two first days of school this year. The day after school started, the state of Florida was paralyzed in shock by the gradual advance of hurricane/tropical storm Faye. Schools canceled classes while the storm slowly made it's way up the state dumping rain and blowing a little wind here and there. The storm didn't get to our area of the state until Thursday and Friday but the fear of Katrina-like damage prompted very aggressive response to the storm.

Our house stayed high and dry but the neighborhood across the street from ours was under flood waters for about 6 weeks. At one point the city hired large water tanker trucks to try and haul water down to the river but after a week of pumping with the water and the transportation costs rising, that effort was ended. We did lose our landline phone for a week and we lost the internet for 2 weeks.

Alayna didn't go back to school for a week and Stacy had to go through the whole first day of school thing again. Believe me it was harder on Stacy than on Alayna.

Cavell has spent the last few months growing and learning new tricks. He has always enjoyed opening kitchen cabinets and pulling things out onto the floor. But recently he discovered that he can clear a cabinet and then put himself inside the resulting space.

He definitely enjoys eating meals with the family and usually 'can't believe he ate the whole thing.' One of these days he will develop some level of patience that will help him not throw a tantrum from the moment he hears or smells food cooking until he gets to stuff his face with food. He's also learning to use utensils but I don't think he's trying very hard.

Cavell gets to explore his daredevil personality on a weekly basis when the play group goes to one of the local parks for a picnic. He is able to climb up the steps, run across the 'rope bridge' to the castle and slide down the slide. Apparently this activity will keep him occupied for most of the afternoon with short breaks to take in sustenance.


In addition to school and playdates, Alayna and Cavell are in constant motion around the house and neighborhood. Cavell follows Alayna around everywhere and just loves to be near her. Stacy does her best to keep up with them but looks forward to bed time every night when she can take a moment to breathe and relax.


We don't stay up much later than the kids these days. Stacy and I have purchased a membership at the YMCA and have gone to the gym 6 days a week religiously for the past two months. We are 6 weeks in to the 12 week Body for Life program. I wake up at 5:30am every morning to get my exercise done before work in the morning and Stacy takes Cavell with her while Alayna is in school in the morning. In addition to cardio and weight lifting we have changed our diet again and now eat 6 small meals each day.

I don't think we are ready to share pictures yet, we want to keep the dramatic results a secret for now, but I will leak a few interim statistics. I have lost 14lbs since starting this program for a total of almost 70lbs since I started steadily losing weight about 4 years ago. I have just barely started to change the hole I use in my belt. I weigh less now than when I returned home from my mission.

Stacy hasn't lost weight using this program, but she has lost 40lbs since she had Cavell and from using the elliptical trainer in the garage. She's lost quite a bit of fat and grown a lot of muscle. Stacy has gone from a size 10/12 to a size 4. Clothes are literally falling off of her even at size 4. But have no fear, she doesn't look like a scarecrow or a runway model, she is even more beautiful than ever. She needs a completely new wardrobe from head to toe at this point but we don't know where she will be in six more weeks. If anybody has any clothes they have grown out of, Stacy might be interested in taking them off your hands. She had a few lucky finds at the Goodwill store yesterday that will help her stay clothed for the next little while but I don't know how much longer she can get away with a knotted rope for a belt.

We have both had losses in our body fat percentage and we are finally within the 'healthy' range of the Body Mass Index. I have to be very conscious of my wedding band and Stacy has just stopped wearing hers. She chooses from a few different pinky rings and wears one of those on her ring finger for now but even those are starting to fall off. Stacy realized yesterday that she has become that girl in the gym that the other women get intimidated by. I on the other hand, don't come any where near having that problem.

The best part is that we are feeling good and healthy. The only negative is that we can't stay up late and watch movies after the kids go to bed. Way too sleepy.

Teeter-Totter

One of Grandpa Steve Onines' favourite things to do with his grandchildren is play "teeter-totter." Oh the tales of children, upon hearing his return home, running to the front room, throwing themselves on the ground in front of him as they offer their hands and feet. All so Grandpa could teeter and totter them. How joyous the cries of, "Again!" that followed, until Grandpa's back could take no more for the day. And sadly, each child would soon become too big for even one turn.

Last month I was able to take a new grandchild to Grandpa's house to participate in this rite. Grandpa loved Cavell's open mouthed wonder and giggles at this entertaining game. I think he enjoyed the encouraging claps Cavell gave to "ask" for another go even more.

Teeter-totter, bread and waterWash your face in Cavell water.

That is a little different than the way I recite it. "Teeter-totter, bread and butter / Wash it down with a glass of water." We are not the only ones that remember it our own ways. I found this article that seems to support my dad's version. Of course, he does replace "dirty" with the grandchild's name. Does that mean something?

Art by Alayna

Alayna drew this picture for her friend Mara. It is even more beautiful in person. Especially when we compare it to the pages of "writing" she has been doing for the past while.


This is only a small example. Imagine a full sized sheet of paper like this. No margins, the whole page. Now imagine a full notebook of this, and every other surface she can find to write on. She is making a few more pseudo letters, especially O, M, and N, but the page is so overwhelmingly full that it's hard to look at and see any of these. I would provide a better example, but she put her "homework" away in her desk, in her room, before going to bed.

I am going to see if I can convince her to give this picture to me and let her draw another for her friend.

1 YEAR

The little Gunner is 1 today!

A year ago he slept. Now it's amazing to watch him run after his sister to play and climb all over her.

A year ago I was worried about correct positioning to nurse him. Now he likes to nurse upside-down or on his tummy just as much as the cradle hold.

A year ago he could only cry. Now he makes all sorts of noises that have their own meaning (especially when he tells his sister to stop) and even sings.

A year ago he would startle. Now he can clap and give five.

A year ago he would look around him. Now he is exploring.

A year ago I loved him with all my heart. Now, I love him more.

The Morning Walk.

In getting things caught up, I found this post that had been started but never published. So here it is in all of it's unedited, unfinished glory:



The morning walks have begun again. Sadly so has the hot weather. But, I no longer have to push two kids in the stroller. Alayna is riding her bike around the neighborhood! She is very excited and does such a great job staying by the side of the road, stopping to look for cars, and saying hello to our neighbors.


Have we also shared that Alayna has begun to read?! Today we read "The Letter" from our "Frog and Toad" book that Grandma Onines gave Alayna.

Cavell's Turn

We seem to share a lot about Alayna. I think it is because the older she gets the more she does. Today, we thought we would share a couple of things about Cavell.


For finger food at dinner we give Cavell a veggie mix of peas, carrots, corn and green beans. When he has finished what he wants to eat, he begins to very purposefully drop a green bean on the floor, watching it fall before he gets another and drops it. If he has placed a green bean in his mouth while trying to get the other vegetable in, he will spit just the green bean out and drop that on the floor. Cavell does not like Green Beans.

Paul was watching Cavell the other day while Stacy got some much needed alone time for shopping. Allowing the children to play together with autonomy, he notices that it is very quiet. All parents know this is not a good sign. Then he hears Cavell YELLING. He rushes to Alayna's room where she is quietly working at her desk. Cavell is still YELLING. He follows the yells to our bathroom where Cavell has climbed in the tub and is mad at the faucet because there is no water coming out. Cavell likes Baths.

Southern Girl

Well, Alayna is a true Southern Girl. Yesterday at dinner she declared, "Biscuits and gravy are even better than taquitos!" And anyone that has asked her what she wants for dinner knows how much she enjoys taquitos.

We should probably share that Cavell has been walking for at least a week. Not much more than six steps at a time, but when he goes down he can stand himself back up without having to pull up on anything and starts walking again. He also enjoys climbing up onto the Thinking Chair to watch TV with Alayna.


Another tooth has come in. I guess the 6th just isn't as exciting as the first though it does give the bottom an even 4.

"A" You're Adorable

Monday Alayna asked me to read a book that Cavell had found on our shelf. "A" You're Adorable. I read it to her and mentioned that it was a song, but didn't know the tune. Instead, I went to YouTube and found a feed. Two BYU gals, Sandi Griffths and Sally Flynn, on the Lawrence Welk Show in 1971!!



Alayna listened to it over, and over, and over. Tuesday afternoon she asked to listen to the song again. This time I found her a Sesame Street version with a puppet named Jack from 1969! Cookie Monster even made an appearance for the second half.



She enjoyed the puppets, but asked for Sandi and Sally by name.
This morning Alayna asked to listen AGAIN. She happily watched both feeds again, and again, and again.

As you can imagine, Alayna now knows the song and we present it here for your listening pleasure.

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Talent Show!!

We have been teasing some of the Grandparents for a few weeks now about Alayna's first appearance at the ward talent show. Alayna has been excited about the talent show from the first time it was announced. She decided right away that she would sing Castle on A Cloud from Les Miserables. The talent show is also the night of the ward desert competition and pig roast.

Last year's entry to the desert competition was completely ignored by the judges (missionaries with no palate). I think the Bishop heard rumor that there may have been some hard feelings over the way the judging took place last year, because this year the desert competition was only open to the Primary children. Alayna decided that we would be submitting our recently found and modified to be gluten-free brownie recipe. Alayna did all of the measuring and pouring into the bowl and Stacy assisted by operating the heavy machinery.

So, we have the perfect set-up for the perfect evening. The ward talent show, made up of any person willing to stand on the stage in front of the crowd. The ward, more interested in talking to the people two or three tables away from them than pay attention to the talent. And desert provided by the Primary children. But the pig was smoked to perfection. There is nothing that a little bit (OK, a whole lot) of perfectly bbq'd pork can't solve.

Stacy started off the evening with her rendition of the song Popular from the award winning musical, Wicked. (Pardon the audio, I don't have a sound engineer willing to work for what I'm willing to pay)



As soon as Stacy finished receiving her well deserved applause, Alayna took the stage.



What I like is that there is a definite difference between the background noise when Stacy and Alayna sings. The free-range children that escaped the attention of their parents and stood in front of the stage making too much noise during the show paid more attention to Alayna than Stacy, but returned to their noisy diversions as soon as Alayna was done.

Immediately following the talent show and later at church on Sunday, Stacy received four requests wondering where she can be seen performing plays/shows/musicals in the area. Apparently Stacy is perceived to be good enough that normally cheap thrifty Mormons are willing to pay money to hear her sing. Alayna received her share of positive comments as well. She is the current darling of the ward and milks it for all it's worth. Everybody was very impressed at her ability to memorize the whole song and willingness to perform in front of the crowd.

And to quote my Deacon's reporting on the events of a campout, "We had a lot of fun."

Practicing

Our ward has an Annual Pig Roast and Talent Show. Alayna has seen Stacy perform a song for the past couple of years. This year when they announced it in Primary, Alayna pronounced that SHE was going to sing a song on the stage. In order for her to take this seriously we have been having her practice. We don't want her to be the one to get up there and then do nothing no matter how much it seems everyone in the ward would still love her for that.

Following is picture and audio of our practice session, part of our activity for Family Home Evening.



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Don't forget to turn up the volume.

When they announced that the dessert competition would be for the children, Alayna also proclaimed that she would be making brownies.

I Know That My Redeemer Liveth

Stacy sang a beautiful rendition of I Know That My Redeemer Liveth from Handel's Messiah at church this morning. This is not Stacy's favorite song from the Messiah. Stacy does not really like to sing about worms, but she did a great job. I apologize for the amateur recording. I was not able to balance the voice and the piano, but you can still hear Stacy pretty well. Turn up your volumes and click on the play button to hear:

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Since Stacy is also the primary chorister and leaves sacrament to make a beeline to the primary room for the remaining two hours, she did not receive as many compliments on her performance as I did. Some of the excerpts:

"Stacy has a beautiful voice, where did she perform opera before she moved here?"

"If I was lying in a hammock with a cool breeze, I could have drifted off to sleep." (really, that was a compliment, I promise)

"Amazing, where does she take lessons?"

"I hope she sings at the ward talent show again this year."

"How much training did Stacy have?"

"I could listen to her all day. Alayna and Cavell are lucky that they get to hear Stacy all the time."

"Does she sing like that at home all the time?"

Needless to say, Stacy did a great job as usual and really made a positive spiritual impact on the meeting. Even if she was singing about worms.

Cavell Walks!!! . . . with a walker

Cavell has been standing, leaning, pulling himself up, and generally getting ready to walk for nearly four months now. He has been cruising around the sofa and coffee table and gaining speed for a while as well. Last Sunday, he started standing for a few seconds without leaning against something. So we put the walker in front of him to see what he could do. He seems to have mastered it today.

Budding Artist

We have really noticed a change in Alayna's ability to draw. For a long time all she did was make little circles that were usually raisins. Then she graduated to hurricane style shape of concentric , eccentric, circles. Then we noticed that when she colored with pencils or crayons, she was actually coloring in the lines more than outside the lines.

The other day she had a notebook and was pretending to write a list. One of her favorite games is to take a small notepad and 'take your order' while she plays waitress. This time, she was working very hard on her scribbles. When she was done she proudly wanted to show us her giant. We thought you would like to see it as well.


Stacy found a great web page detailing the stages of art/drawing at each age of maturity. It looks like Alayna is right on track.

Please Repeat

After church our Bishop lets the children line up for a piece of candy, and if they recite a scripture or Article of Faith they can have a second. He often has to prompt the children, but was rather impressed when Alayna recited hers with no help.

Alayna reciting the 1st Article of Faith
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For the last week of February it was Alayna's turn to lead the scripture and Article of Faith during Primary closing exercises. Again she needed no prompting and impressed the Primary Presidency, teachers and the Bishop.

Alayna reciting the 2nd Article of Faith
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Alayna reciting her scripture, 2 Nephi 4:15
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Alayna's Audio

Recently you listened to Cavell. We thought it would be nice to also highlight Alayna.

In this clip Alayna has taken one of our paperback books and is "reading" the story to me. At first I was going to grab paper and pencil to write it down, but grabbed the recorder instead. Here is her tale.

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There are words we don't recognize either. Yes, every time she started another story she found a new page to read in the book. She was also trying to show me the pictures in the book.

Following is a recording of Alayna singing I Am a Child of God. I am the Primary Chorister and we started learning this song at the beginning of the year. When we would try to sing it at home for family home evening she would tell us she didn't know it. Last night she decided that she knew it, and didn't even need help!

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Alayna knows that there are more verses to the song, but has only learned the first.

It's Been A Big Week

Cavell's 6 Month Checkup

Cavell went in to the Dr. for his 6 month check up. It was nice for Stacy to take a child in to the Dr. with no concern whatsoever about child development. Alayna was always on the slippery slope of 'failure to thrive'. Cavell is on the slippery slope of getting too big for his britches.

Cavell is now 15-1/2 lbs and 27 inches long. He is getting big and at the ripe old age of 6 months has actually grown into his 6 months clothing.

Cavell has also progressed quite a bit physically. Stacy checked in on what types of physical development a 6 month old should have to compare Cavell to the standard. Apparently the average 6 month old is just starting to try sitting up which helps gain the strength and skills needed to start scooting around before crawling. Cavell started scooting at 4 months and can get around the whole house leaving snail trails of drool behind him. He has learned the joy of climbing everything. He pulls himself up to a standing position on the floor pillows, on the couch, on his sister, and most recently on his mother's calves while she was washing the dishes. And just to put himself in compliance with the regulations, he decided to sit himself up as well. But Cavell has no time or desire to sit. He got moving again as soon as Mom took notice of his accomplishment.

Alayna 'Miss-Demeanor' Jensen

Alayna has a pretty cute, even innocent countenance. People always comment on how angelic she is. Little do they know the cold, hard, criminal mind that lurks beneath the pampered princess exterior. Noticing that Cavell had received considerable attention from the Dr. and nurses, Alayna instinctively sought out a source of attention getting behavior.

While Stacy stood at the front desk setting appointments and paying co-pays, Alayna decided to go to the waiting room and sit, innocently enough, on a chair. Stacy could see Alayna sitting calmly on the chair. Since all appeared well, Stacy returned her attention to the receptionist and setting the next Dr. appointment. Noticing the tiniest breach in Mom's attention capacity, Alayna sprung into action.

Turning around in her chair, Alayna noticed a bright red and white wall fixture hanging right at eye level with a handle that was just built to be pulled by little hands. So she did.
It's amazing how fast you can gain the attention of an entire building, not just a single office suite, when the fire alarm is pulled. Alayna deteriorated into shock in response to the wall of noise that came from the little handle. Stacy deteriorated into embarrassment, Cavell just watched everything. The office staff calmly shepherded everybody out of the office while the receptionist remained to call the fire department to let them know that there was no emergency. All the rest of the building occupants calmly exited to the parking lot to take a break from contributing to the nations economy. If we have a recession, now you know who to blame.

Apparently this is a common drill for this building. The fire alarm in the pediatrician's office was placed in a location perfect for tempting small children despite the protests of the building occupants. New building codes require that the fire alarms be accessible to people in wheelchairs and the occasional three year old.

Stacy was the picture of calm in the storm. Immediately after the alarm was activated, she asked for her co-pay receipt, confirmed she had an appointment scheduled and gathered her children to exit the building. The receptionist was the real hero. She risked life, limb and hearing to stay at her post to finish making Cavell's 9 month checkup appointment card and tidied up the paperwork before fleeing the danger zone. Stacy and her pint sized partners beat a hasty escape before the cops arrived. So far there has not been a knock at the door looking for a delinquent evading arrest, but I'm a little concerned that there may be a warrant waiting for Alayna at the next Dr. appointment. What is the punishment for harboring a fugitive? Is there a toddler's court?

New Developments

Cavell has had a break through. His first tooth!

Can you see it? Look really closely.

Alayna joined the United Auto Workers Union!
She attended her first clinic at Lowes on Saturday morning and completed construction of a 2008 GMC Sierra truck. Paul learned a whole new dimension of fear when Alayna took hold of her hammer. Alayna does pretty well with a hammer until she is distracted by anything else going on around her. Watching the hammer as it slowly pounds it's way away from the nail, across the project, and directly into her loving father's patient fingers held multiple inches away from the actual nail zone soon became a source of enjoyment for all the other parents at the work bench. "Isn't that cute," they laughed.

Alayna had her first experience with all aspects of a construction project

1. A certain sense of danger
2. At least one trip to the hardware store
3. Frustration about not having enough space to work in
4. Use of inadequate tools because they were there and close enough
5. Cleaning up the mess

She was lucky enough to avoid building most of the project, realizing that step 2 had been skipped or assembled incorrectly, tearing it apart, putting it back together the exact same way, tearing it back apart, fixing step 2 but using parts meant for step 8, thus requiring another trip to the hardware store. . .

Well the truck looks like a truck, and Alayna looks pretty happy.

More Alayna cuteness:
Stacy was asked to say the closing prayer in sacrament meeting today. You know that moment of complete dead silence that comes between the person saying the prayer saying amen and the congregation saying amen? Right in that moment of silence, Alayna said, "Thank you Mom!" just loud enough that about 2/3 of the congregation could hear her. Alayna is already the cutest thing the state of Florida has ever seen, but now the tiara has been permanently affixed to her head.

The Sounds of Cavell

We thought we would share a few sound bites of Cavell as he is finding his voice and learning to communicate with the world.

13 December 2007. As Paul and I are working on our computers after the children have gone to bed, we hear a sound we have never heard before. Turning on the baby monitor we hear Cavell vocalizing for the first time! We are excited and amazed. After discussing how sweet it is and how much the grandmothers would LOVE to hear such sounds, we remember our mp3 players can record. This is what we recorded from the monitor.
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Even after recording and listening (and listening again) Cavell is still "talking." I can't resist making another recording.
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random picture inserted, just for fun

3 January 2008. Cavell was fussy and I am taking him to his crib for a nap. As always, we stopped in front of our hall mirrors. This calms him down and he likes to smile at himself. Alayna joins us and blows Cavell a zerbit.

Side Note: I had always called the "rasberries" but when Paul started blowing on Alayna's belly, he called it a "zerbit." I looked it up online today.

[I]t is actually ZRBTS. It came from the Cosby Show episode where Rudy asked Heathcliff what ZRBTS spelled. He said "Zerbets." She said "What's a 'zerbet'?" and he responded by giving her a raspberry.
Sorry, I couldn't find the specific episode.
see also:
a short, quick puff of air blown through tightly puckered lips that are applied directly to the skin of another person such as a spouse or infant child, making a farting sound. much like a raspberry but short and quick. usually done in affection.

Alayna blows Cavell a zerbit. Cavell laughs. Alayna blows another and Cavell laughs again. While he has laughed a little before, he had never laughed this much and it had always been to a tickle or a toss. This is the first time he is laughing because he finds something funny. As this continues I once again remember I can make a recording. I get the player, even though I am certain the game will stop after the interruption. I explain to Alayna that I want her to zerbit again so that I can record Cavell laughing. He found it just as funny as before.
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The next day Alayna asked me to get the recorder so that Cavell would laugh at her zerbits again.

Disclosure. The clips were longer (1:15, 58 and 1:27 respectively). Fortunately for you, the free version of the .wav to mp3 program only converted 60% of the clip.