Annikka Crosses State Lines and Eats a Cheerio

We went to Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago for Rachel's wedding shower.

It was Annikka's first trip out of state and her first ever trip in an aero-plane. So we packed up Annikka and everything else, and headed for the airport:



Annikka did very, very well on the plane. It helps to fly first class (read: it helps to have a grandma who has racked up tons of frequent flier miles):



Once in Minnesota, Annikka got to see her cousins, Emilie and Rachel, and her Aunt Kirsten, again:







... and she met her uncle Mike for the first time:



Annikka had a good time at the shower (which was in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, my hometown):





That night she met our friends, Marc and Mia Hoyer:



It was a great trip: it sounds like the shower was fun; Annikka got to meet all kinds of people that are important to the Howe's; and I got to catch the Cleveland Indians in person.

Finally, here is a cute picture of Annikka wearing a dress that our friend Sonja made:



... along with a video of Annikka eating one of her first Cheerios. It's a bit long (she doesn't eat it until near the end of the video), but you should at least fast forward to that part ... I think it's hilarious.

Lots to get to today.

This past Friday our birthing class had a reunion of sorts. It was kind of chaotic, but we got to hear everyone's birthing story (*yawn*), and I nabbed some hilarious pictures:









The idea here was to seat the babies in their birth order from oldest to youngest, left to right. It turned into a big cry-fest, except for Annikka who just kind of sat there and took it all in.



That's our friend Kirsi and her son, Mika. (Remember them?)

He's pretty cute, huh?

Annikka enrolled herself in some swimming lessons, so we've spent the past two Saturdays at the Corvallis community pool.











Not much instruction going on, just a lot of songs and pretending to kick and swim. It's great stuff.

After swimming this Saturday we went to the Oregon State v. Stanford baseball game. The Beavs lost, but Annikka broke out her sun hat in honor of the 70 degree weather.





On Sunday, we got to see Patti Benton. She is the wife of my first cousin once removed (Bruce Benton). She was in Eugene to visit her son, Darren Benton (my second cousin). (Thanks, Geni, for helping me out with the family tree.)


Darren is going to school at the University of Oregon, and he is, literally, a world class rock climber. To wit:



That's him. He came out to Oregon from the DC area so he would have access to Smith Rock (pictured above), a unique rock formation in Central Oregon. Apparently Darren's really something.

But I think we can all agree that's actually kind of boring compared to the fact that Patti got to meet Annikka:





... and we got some good family photos in:





... one last cute photo: this one's of Annikka and Anani hangin':

I hope everyone is well out there.

Annikka had her six month doctor's visit on Friday. Everything is going well.

As you know, she started eating solid foods a couple of weeks ago; right now she's eating rice cereal and sweet potatoes. She loves it.

She is also drinking from a cup:



It's pretty funny: if she sees me or Dana with a cup, she wants in on it. Right now, however, she only gets water from a plastic cup.

If you're keeping track of Annikka's physical development at home, you'll be interested to know that she started sitting up this week:







We only started sitting her up this week, but she's so good it, Dana and I wonder whether she's been able to do it for some time now.

We've had a number of visitors in Corvallis in the past couple of weeks.

Two Fridays ago, our friends Garrett and Lynette (from PDX), and our friends Tia and Zac Gonsior (from Oklahoma -- Zac is in the natural gas business) came to town. Our plan was to meet downtown for some chinese food at China Delight, but before we got together, this dude crashed the party:



That's right, Barak Obama made an unannounced visit to our little town. Tia muscled her way to front of the sizable (and emotional) crowd to get these pics:







She also took this pic of Zac (left) and Garrett (right) peeking over a black SUV.



Tia loves celebrities, and she's a stalkarazzi in training, so it's no wonder her pics were so awesome. She should have tried selling them to TMZ or perezhilton. Thanks, Tia!

Here are my pics:





I know, they're pretty weak.

Once downtown calmed down, we made it over to China Delight:





Lynette went home Saturday morning (she's in the middle of a demanding PA program), but Garrett, Tia, and Zac stayed for the weekend, and we had a great time going to a Beavers baseball game, watching movies, and playing Phase 10.





And Annikka had a great time with Tia:







And Oliver loves Garrett:



And Anani peed on Tia's pants ... and she wiped her butt on our carpet.

Anyone want a playful, raspy voiced tabby with terrible hygiene? Let me know. We'll pay shipping.

Long Overdue Update

It's been too long since the last post.

In non-Annikka news, Dana had her first paper published as lead author. Very, very cool. It has something to do with tiny worms that are missing some of their genes ... you know, you should really just read the paper yourself. (Good luck.)

In Annikka news:

Yesterday we felt Annikka's first teeth coming in -- looks like she'll have two bottom teeth in no time. We'll post pics when they're in! (Keep Dana in your thoughts ... I can only imagine what this means for breastfeeding.)

Annikka starting eating solid foods last weekend. She's eating rice cereal right now, and she LOVES it.









Annikka has taken notice of Anani and Oliver (our cats). She smiles and screams (in a happy way) when she sees them, and she loves to grab their fur! Oliver is her favorite, but at this point her affection is unrequited.





Annikka has a new teletubby (sp?) suit.





It's not really a teletubby suit, but sure looks like it, huh?

Our friends Willy and Kelle brought their son Zane over to visit recently. We babysat Zane while they went to Juno (the Movie). (As an aside, I am so glad we dropped the name Juno. Aside from the fact that Juno does not work with the last name Howe, who knew that there was going to be a major motion picture about teenage pregnancy with the same name?)









Annikka really enjoyed it.

Finally, Annikka has a new exersaucer. She thinks it's great.





We're having a great time. Every day Annikka is interacting more and more. Hopefully you'll get to see her in-person soon.