Valentine's Day

A quick update for those who need their fix! Autumn is picking up some new words. She will now try to say a word after you say it. It's very cute. She's got the body parts down pretty well as well as animal sounds. I love her crocodile sound....she snaps her hands together...also as equally enjoyable is the pig, cat, and monkey imitations. Some friends came over last night for pizza and conversation. We reached the conclusion that are conversations from now on will probably be filled with baby/kid news...(evidenced by the prior "big news" animal sounds)...Today she figured out how to open the fridge door, which isn't so convenient for us!

It's been a bit chilly here in the Burgh lately...around the 30's. Miles and my Dad were busy putting in the screen door for the back entrance this afternoon. It looks a lot better, hopefully it will help keep out all of that cold weather. Home improvements little by little.

We've kind of bunkered down for the rest of February waiting for March to come, and we can't wait. The days are getting longer...spring will be here soon.

Just a cute picture of Autumn. I must have taken it after a meal.

Here's the new back door. I'll paint it white when the weather breaks and gets a little warmer. When the screen door is in I'll put up a new picture. We put in a lock with a keypad so you can just enter a number to unlock the door, a personal favorite.
Here's our Valentine's Day pictures...all kisses! I worked on Thursday so we went out Wednesday night to the neighborhood diner for a beer. It was nice to catch up and spend some alone time together. Dad and his baby girl...
Flowers!!
Kisses!!

Autumn's Name

This one's for Miles

Miles has been in Korea now for a couple of days, and we're really missing him!! I can't wait for you to come home babe, so keep on working hard and we'll be here when you get back. It's awfully quiet without you around, and not as entertaining! Autumn and I have been keeping busy running about and meeting up with friends and family.
We went out to eat with Grandma Dowiak and Hank this evening. Hank's showing Autumn the ropes on how to get a stuffed animal. No luck this time, but Autumn did have fun pushing the button. We've been really busy and I had been meaning to stop by Grandma Dowiak's, so it was nice to spend some time together so she could see what Autumn has been up to.
I was cooking in the kitchen and when I turned the corner Autumn was reading her book on top of the table. We grabbed the camera and took a picture (It was before Miles left so he took the picture and that's how I got in the picture below). The book she's looking at is called First 1000 Words...she loves it, and will study it all day long (I think they should re-title it Reading to Baby 1000 Times A Day :))

Winter in Pittsburgh

We finally have some signs of winter here in Pittsburgh...about an inch of snowfall this afternoon. We've had relatively warm weather so far this season. This afternoon I bundled Autumn up and she was able to play in the snow while I shoveled the walkways. She apparently didn't think my work was adequate enough, she would brush snow I missed off the steps with her hands. What a help! Autumn is certainly giving us a run for our money...she's testing the boundaries and hamming it up at the same time. She's quite a character, and makes us laugh everyday.

Miles and I had another weekend getaway without Autumn this past Friday night to Sunday morning. We took a short drive to Wash DC to visit Lucas. We were able to relive our younger years and go to an open bar (an experience I don't know if I'll repeat...). His roommate (he works for the New Jersey house representative) also gave us a tour on Saturday afternoon of the Capital building, very interesting. We met up with Cate on Saturday night for dinner, some darts, and a little dancing. It was nice to spend some time away...and it was nice to come back home...

Miles found out today that he'll be going to Korea all next week for work. It'll be an experience, but we'll miss him!

This is Autumn and Miles at El Grande for lunch. We ate after dress shopping for Andrea's wedding.
This was funny because I told her to smile for the picture. After I take her picture she'll reach for the camera to see what it looks like and then laugh at herself. She also likes to watch those mini videoclips you can take on the camera after I download them onto the computer.
Here's the new table set and chairs...it's been a long time coming. Now she has a nice place for her coloring instead of standing on the big chairs in the dining room. It's working out well. We did have to move the tent out of the family room for more space.
This is Autumn and Miles at The Center for Creative Play. It's a big open room where they have different areas for the kids to play. It was a nice way to spend a rainy day.

Uncle John, Aunt Amois, and Paloma

John, Amois, and Paloma flew all the way in from Oregon after Christmas for a couple of days to visit. It was wonderful seeing Paloma again, she grew so much in such a short time. She's an adorable, sweet baby...she smiles a lot and is very content. The cutest was when Autumn would give Paloma a hug and kiss, I think she'll make an excellent big sister (don't get any ideas...no plans soon for a second baby, although Paloma was very inspiring). Here are the cousins playing together...It's really hard to get a good shot of Autumn and Paloma these days. There's a delay on the camera, so I feel like I'm always 2 seconds behind the really cute picture that I wanted. Here's my best try...
Amois and Paloma (Jason calls her Palumpa, which I think is really cute) There's no denying this baby has a round rear end...

A busy December...

The holidays felt like they came and went in a whirlwind this year, I can't believe they're over! It's time to start normal life again. For Christmas Eve we spent the day at Uncle Joe's and Aunt Patty's home. The whole Dowiak clan in Pittsburgh showed up making it an enjoyable evening catching up with everyone. Congrats to Megan and Anthony on your engagement!! Christmas we headed over the Grandpa and Grandma Williams. Uncle Jason made a turdunken (I don't know if that's quite right)...but its a turkey, duck, and hen stacked into each other with a sausage stuffing between each layer, delicious. Let's just say I may have gained a little weight over the holidays. (Uncle Bill and Aunt Suanne's fudge may also have had something to do with that). Uncle Lucus was able to come in for a couple of days, and as always we enjoyed his company.
Autumn was more into Christmas this year, but she still didn't get the whole point. Below are two of her favorite presents...a car she can ride on and a baby stroller. She's a huge fan of the horn and says "beep beep" when she presses it, very cute. It's fun to watch Autumn take care of her doll. She puts it in her stroller and walks her around, and then will put the doll in her highchair and pretend to feed her, and will generally just walk around with her giving her hugs...It's very cute.

Spoon+Cate visit+ Grandpa Dowiak visit

Here Autumn is learning to eat with a spoon. She's a little messy, but it's fun to watch. I think she's starting to get the hang of it...
After a couple of minutes with the spoon Autumn thought of another technique to get her yogurt...
Aunt Cate came in for a weekend visit to catch up with the growing Autumn. We had a wonderful time. We were able to sneak out Friday night for a girls night out. Saturday we saw the Bodies exhibit and made our way to the South Side later that night. Autumn got some awesome books that she hasn't been able to put down...here they are...
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break with Grandpa Dowiak and Lucus. Here is Grandpa Dowiak putting together the machine to watch some old home videos. I got to see him getting ready for his high school prom, very fun...(a personal opinion but I think Matt and Miles look similar to a younger Grandpa)...As always we had a nice visit with Lucus and look forward to seeing him soon.
Here she is...all smiles!!
Just a quick update...Miles is not going to Japan this week, we get to keep him around here, very exciting!! Poor Autumn has the sniffles. She's upstairs taking a nap, hopefully a long one, right now. My semester is almost over, I have one more class Tuesday and then I'm done. Classes start again the first week of January. The weather here has been pretty mild so far this year, but we're getting ready to bunker down for the holidays!! Hope everyone out there is staying warm!