She apparently figured out how to open the canister of puffs that I gave her to use as a makeshift rattle. Let's just say I'm glad it wasn't more full than it was. My favorite part is the ones that stuck to the snot and drool on her face. Oh well, the dogs got a nice apple strawberry treat!

So tomorrow we are planning to take Noelle to a casting call for American Baby Magazine to be held at a local Babies R Us. They will take a picture of her there, which will be entered into the competition. The top prizes are trips to NYC, free stuff, and, of course, your baby in the magazine. Yes, we think she's the most adorable baby on the planet, and she is very photogenic, but we obviously don't have any high expectations other than a fun time out of the house on a Friday morning. She's also never had a professional picture taken, so I'm curious to see how she does.

This past weekend, Andy joked that we should put a safety helmet on Noelle in preparation for this event, especially since she is pulling up now (read: falling down all the time). Looking back, that would have been a GREAT idea.

The child has a bruise on her forehead from a bad tumble onto the wood floor, a scrape next to her right eye, a big scratch under her left eye, and this morning, she had her first blood drawn by accident. It was just the tiniest bit of blood from the corner of her mouth, but still. All of this makes me laugh, because although she is quite obviously still adorable, she's also a little busted up. Lessons in vanity and that beauty is fleeting already at 9 months. Or is this lesson for mama and daddy?

Noelle has now officially been alive for longer than the time she spent growing inside me. She hit the 9 month mark this Saturday, and her check up was today. Here are her stats:

Weight: 21 lbs, 8 oz
Height: 29 inches
Percentile: 90th for both

They took some blood from her heel for a few tests, and everything came back looking great. She is a picture of health, and we are grateful for that!

Just in time for her check up, Noelle has learned a few new tricks. She always waits until we start to get the feeling that she will NEVER accomplish a certain task before she finally succeeds. She apparently already enjoys proving her parents wrong. So in the past few weeks, she learned how to get to a sitting position by herself, and how to pull up to standing on any available surface (which she takes the opportunity to practice during her nap time). She has also taken some great strides in crawling on her knees. This past Sunday she got promoted from the "crib" room to the "crawlers" room in the nursery at church! What a big girl.

Here's a video of Noelle and her new tricks


We also have a video we made of Noelle in the swing we bought for her that is hanging on our front porch.

I give you the "littlest superstar".

So it's really funny to give a lemon wedge to a baby to see the faces they make when they eat it. It's not quite as funny when that baby starts to get sleepy and uses her lemon juice drenched hands to rub her eyes. Lots of crying.

Noelle is officially baptized. For those of you who don't know what infant baptism is, here's what the Presbyterian church believes about the topic along with a brief synopsis.

Both believers and their children are included in God's covenant love. Children of believers are to be baptized without undue delay, but without undue haste. Baptism, whether administered to those who profess their faith or to those presented for Baptism as children, is one and the same Sacrament. The Baptism of children witnesses to the truth that God's love claims people before they are able to respond in faith. (Book of Order W-2.3008)

Baptism, therefore, usually occurs during infancy, though a person may be baptized at any age. Parents bring their baby to church, where they publicly declare their desire that he or she be baptized. When an infant or child is baptized the church commits itself to nurture the child in faith. When adults are baptized they make a public profession of faith.

Baptism distinguishes children of those who believe in God's redemptive power from children of nonbelievers. The water that is used symbolizes three accounts from the Bible's Old Testament: the waters of creation, the flood described in the story of Noah, and the Hebrews' escape from slavery in Egypt by crossing the Red Sea. All three stories link humanity to God's goodness through water.

So we baptized Noelle, not so that she's "saved", but so that we declare before God that we want her to be set apart.

Anyway, it went really well, one of the people involved in the ceremony said that she was one of the best babies they'd had on stage in months. Yay Noelle. She was absolutely adorable and even reach out for the Carter Crenshaw (our pastor) several times.

We had a great time with family and friends this past weekend, but we're glad to be back to our normal routine. Thanks to everyone who came to Nashville this weekend and made this such a special occasion for us, and for Noelle.

Greetings! We wanted to let you know about two things happening this coming weekend that you are invited to be a part of.

First, the annual Greek Festival is this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox church, 4905 Franklin Pike. We plan on going Saturday night (Sept. 9) around 5 PM. We hope to see you there! Let us know if you plan on going and we'll look for you in the crowd. http://www.holytrinitynashville.org/GreekFestival2006.dsp

Second, Noelle will be baptized this Sunday (Sept. 10) during the second service at West End Community Church. We'd love to have you come sit stage left in the sanctuary during the service.

Hope to see you this weekend!

Jaime, Andy and Noelle