Upward Mobility

Things have really changed around the Winn house in the last few weeks, and I’m not just talking about Alixa’s continued weight loss. Jenna has gone from being a sedentary, easy-to-take-care-of, pleasant baby to a mobile, curious, get-into-things-and-cause-problems nightmare. Her transformation began slowly, as she learned to crawl but would only utilize that talent in short bursts to get things that she wanted, like a wallet or a binky or a cellphone. But last weekend we got some more visitors. This time it was Jason and Annie and their three smallfries. The youngest of those three is Luke, Jenna’s older cousin by five days. Luke has been crawling since the age of 2 weeks, give or take a few days, so he is pretty much a pro. And he thought it would just be heee-larious to show Jenna how to capitalize on her movement by getting into everything. In return she taught him how to sit up, a skill he now uses to watch his favorite shows.

Jenna, getting into stuff and not taking her nap

Jarom has been working a lot of odd hours the past few weeks, including the occasional overnight shift. It has been a good experience and he is learning a ton on the job, but it has caused some marital strife to seep into the home. You see, Alixa is under the impression that if Jarom isn’t at work, he is at her disposal. Ordinarily this is not a problem, but sometimes he gets sleepy and wants to take a nap if he was up all night working. She either doesn’t understand this or simply doesn’t care. But the end is in sight and soon enough he will be back to a regular 8-5 workday.

Lix has been quite a workhorse of late, finishing up her crown molding project in both the living room and dining room, and it looks great. Jarom has imposed a 30-day hiatus from other projects, so that the house can catch its breath. Next on the list is a paint job for the dining room and new vanities for the upstairs bathrooms.

Lix gave Jenna a ponytail. Jenna took it out, and then looked a little like Ace Ventura

Other than that it is a lot of silly baby stories around here. Alixa is becoming more and more of a mom, and has even started using the diaper bag as her “purse.” She was walking out the door the other day, leaving Jarom and Jenna behind and she had it draped over her shoulder. Jarom figured it was just habit, so he reminded her that she wasn’t taking the kidlet. After she told him it was her purse, he laughed and laughed, and made her feel very self-conscious about it.



Jenna amazes her parents every day with how smart she is, and seems to absorb everything around her. She is great at doing tricks, and can clap on command, give hugs and kisses, and Jarom’s personal favorite, play her “belly drum” anytime her bare midriff is exposed. Yesterday she surprised us with a new trick. Jarom has a putter and a golf ball that he often plays around with while watching TV. Jenna has apparently observed this and figured out that the two things go together, because whenever you give her the ball she will crawl to get the putter and then hit the ball with it. It amazed Jarom that she had made that connection and it is also pretty cute. He was lucky enough to get a decent video of it. Hope you like it.