We Survived the Ides of March

Happy Palm Sunday! And Happy BIRTHday to a certain special little girl who couldn't wait for her due date to get closer, and a huge congrats to Bob, Julie, and their families.

Wanted to check in with a few pictures and a short video clip. Since a high school classmate of mine checked in with a comment, I wanted to remind you that if you want to drop us a line, that’s great. If we don’t have your e-mail address, it is probably a good idea to write us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com so that we can write back.



Keelie continues to gain mobility, much to the dismay of Shelby. We’ll all be on the king sized bed Kori and I have, and Keelie will crawl around, trying to get to the poor dog. Fortunately, Kendra has been over a few times helping Kori to babyproof while I’m out fishing. Uh… I mean… working. Keelie doesn’t know about Daylight Savings Time, as it turns out, which means she was staying up and hour later than usual, at least by the clock. She now makes a clapping motion, and has figured out how to make clicking noises with her tongue, since her teeth aren't poking through yet.

Check out Elmo in the background. This Elmo is the one who talks, laughs, falls over, doubles over, stands back up, asks to be tickled, begs you to stop tickling, ice skates, solves quadratic equations on the walls with permanent marker, and tries to set the house on fire. He’s probably spying for the Children’s Television Workshop and siphoning funds from our accounts to PBS.

Keelie is so active, and if she is fussing and climbing up the back of the sofa, we alternate between sitting on the floor with her, putting her in the playpen, putting her in her Winnie the Pooh plaything where she can stand up and be ringed by toys, or in the doorframe jumper. She enjoys jumping more on the Pooh plaything than the actual jumper.

Here she is jumpin' a bit.

Recently, we went to a little fruit and vegetable market we have nearby where Kori picks up fresh fruit and vegetables, many of which she turns into food for Keelie. I don't think we've bought any jarred baby food. Kori is very dedicated to making fresh baby food. We then went across the street to Stater Brothers to pick up some stuff, parking near this camper/RV. The people in the RV, by their stares, seemed a little too interested in us, making me wonder if our van would have something stolen out of it. There was liquid on the ground... and after we stepped in it, went shopping in the supermarket, and came back to the minivan and stepped in it some more, I realized what was going on. The people in the camper were dumping their sewage into the parking lot... and we were walking through it.

I pulled our minivan up to a security guard in the parking lot and told him what was going on, but he didn't care. Apparently, even though he usually faces out towards the parking lot, he was there to work for Stater Brothers, presumably to keep someone from running of the store with some shoplifted cheese. He told me to talk to the parking lot security... which drives around in a little cart. It would have been easier for HIM to contact them. We didn't see them as we drove out. It is rare to catch illegal dumpers red-handed... and very frustrating that this guard didn't do anything about it.

Dave & Jenn were sweet enough to have us over for dinner recently. They even sent us home with some lemons after I drank up a lot of homemade lemonade. Mmmm.

We’ve been over to Puma & Granddaddy’s for a couple of family dinners since the last update, the most recent one being last night. We went over early to hang out and enjoy some time in the hot tub. Keelie currently hates taking baths, but doesn’t mind a dip in the hot tub. Go figure.

Work wise, I recently talked on-location with a reporter from KFWB AM 980 about some work state crews were doing that my coworkers were monitoring, and so clips of me were being played on the radio throughout that day.



Thanks for stopping by. You can leave a comment here or e-mail us. Let us know how you are doing! -Ken

Bonus: Keelie's 8-Month Pics

Because you have been so good (not because we can't stop bragging about our little girl... no), here are Keelie's official 8-month photos. The portrait studio asked Kori to sign a waiver allowing them to use the images for promotion, because they came out so well.

Remember - you can click on a picture to get the largest image.

Time Marches On...Into March

That was Keelie at seven months. Yes, she keeps getting more and more adorable.

These updates are getting less frequent, but time is short as a parent… as you other parents know… but will never tell your kids until they’ve already made grandparents out of you.

We all battled some bug that was going around, the strongest symptom of which was a lingering cough. I dealt with it the longest. It finally seems to be almost completely gone. Long after getting over it herself, Keelie decided to go on a weeklong strike against solid food. Kori prepares such great stuff, and Shelby is always eager to have some hit the floor. But for some reason, Keelie took about a week off from her normally enthusiastic eating sessions. Still, the doctor said she is really good at putting on weight. Those would be my genes at work. But it is a mystery to me how a creature who will readily stick anything she finds anywhere into her mouth, will be so determined to not allow a spoonful of food in.

Here's the little darling somehow finding this a comfortable napping position.

Keelie likes to say “ma ma ma ma ma” and “da da da da da”, which is exiciting, until she goes on to say “bah bah bah bah bah”. She does seem to have picked up the ASL sign for “milk”.

She has this preference for non-toy toys, such as a round, red lid to a jelly bean jar, plastic bottles, phones, eyeglasses, and remote controllers. Junk mail and paper napkins are especially entertaining.

Keelie still avoids taking long naps, but she has taken one or two now over 90 minutes.

Thanks to modern communications, Kori continues to be able to stay in contact with (mostly) first-time mothers across the country with children about Keelie’s age. It started when they were pregnant, and it was organized around the month their babies were due. Some of them, of course, are pregnant again. It is helpful to be able to compare notes and I’m glad Kori has that interaction.

Since Keelie sailed past the 8-month mark, we have finally arrived at the point of returning some of the baby stuff we borrowed. Thanks again, Carla & Steve! One of the things we returned to them was the swing Keelie is using in this shot to help her stand up.

It’s at the point where we need to strap Keelie down now to change her diaper, since she has become so good at turning over, sitting up, crawling, and standing up by grabbing something. I’ll get her diaper off, and then off she goes, reluctant to be clad in a fresh one. We finally got her a playpen, so we wouldn’t have to hover over her like penguins sitting on eggs when she is on the floor. She’ll stand up using the edge of the playpen, then “ring” the playpen over and over by walking sideways while holding on to the top of the playpen.

I think she's looking for weaknesses... just like a velociraptor.

As usual, we have enjoyed visits to Nanny’s and to Puma & Granddaddy’s during the time since our last update. During one trip to Nanny’s, we finally went back to Burger Continental. I don’t think we’d been back there since we took Nanny there to tell her Keelie was on the way.

Due to how retirement pay is calculated, February is always retirement season for the County of Los Angeles. This past Thursday, we joined Grampa Pellman and True and Marina at Don’s retirement party. Don was the Director of Public Works, where True, Marina, and I used to work. The party took place where Kori and I had our wedding reception, and it was packed! We took Keelie along so she could meet some people with whom I used to work. It was all a bit overwhelming for her, I think, but clearly good that her Grampa was there.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments are welcome, either here or via e-mail at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com. Please let us know how you are doing, especially if you don’t have your own blog for us to read to keep track of ya.