ions in the blogosphere

Well, today was my birthday (and to you would-be identity thieves who are reading this blog collecting personal data, my mother's maiden name is Melville and my first pet was named Twig). I woke up this morning to Arianna rubbing my face so she could sing Happy Birthday to me. Then I got the greatest birthday present ever: my wife and family all pooled together to buy me an afternoon flying a helicoptor! A real one, not a radio-controlled one. Complete with pilot/trainer and slim chance of crashing to my death. It's gonna be awesome! Do I have a fantastic wife or what?

Immediately upon returning from Christmas break, Melina was recruited for a great research position at a certain international biotechnology company based here in St Louis. It was a contract position for three months, during which time we were pretty busy juggling both of our schedules. But now Melina is back with Arianna at home and I have a lighter school schedule. So we can afford to spend more time updating our blog for the rest if you.

November has been an exciting month for us. First off, Ben's sister, Rachel, got married on the 7th, and we got to be there for the wedding in Virginia. Arianna was the flower girl at the wedding, and was so cute! She was doing really well before she face planted into the grass; but, she's always good for a quick recovery, and was happy to make her way up the rest of the aisle in mom's arms. Here are a few pictures from that happy day.

Arianna turned one year old today. Along with this landmark, here are a few more.

A couple of weeks ago she took her first step, then yesterday she was getting more adventuresome in walking around without holding onto the furniture. Today, she amazed us by walking all the way across our living room all by herself. She is truly growing by leaps and bounds, and it is so amazing to watch it all happening!

As far as talking, she says "Mama," "Dada," and "Ball" all the time. We've heard her say "Doggy" and "Kitty" a few times, too. She also likes to dance and bob along to music. She is getting really good at waving hello and goodbye to people, and she claps whenever we say "Yay!" Oh, and the latest is that whenever she gets a minor bonk on the head, she then slaps herself on the the side of her head with her hand and says "Boh" for bonk... she made up that sign all by herself!

This afternoon Arianna and I went birthday shopping, and we got her a lot of the winter clothes she needed. We captured these movies this evening. The first is her walking, and the second is her playing with her new birthday toys. She is such a joy!