Georgia Christmas and 9 months

The day after Christmas we flew to Atlanta to visit with my Dad's side of the family for the annual family Christmas party.  My Dad and Susie were generous and sponsored our tickets up to see them and we were so grateful they helped us do that.  We weren't wild about flying during flu season with Clementine, but the other option of driving was pretty unrealistic given C's hatred of long car trips and the small number of vacation days Wade has.

We had a late morning flight out of Tampa so we grabbed food at Rollin' Oats, our local organic market, so that we could have a healthy lunch on the plane.  We arrived with plenty of time to park and head to the gate (with C in the pack), and with the benefit of priority boarding we breezed through security.  We got to the gate with just enough time for a bathroom break, some time for C to crawl around, and for us to change her diaper before boarding.  Once we were on, I practiced paranoid mom behavior by wiping down all nearby surfaces in my campaign to prevent us getting the flu (we also were taking some herbal remedies too).  We got everything settled, C proceeded to touch every surface on the plane within her reach (thank heavens for the precautions), and just as we were getting ready to lift off I latched her on to nurse and she immediately conked out for her morning nap.  It was almost too good to be true and we both tried hard not to laugh.  During the flight Wade fed me food while C nap/nursed and she woke up just before we landed so she was able to enjoy looking out the window a bit.  Her first time on a plane was a success!

Once we landed in Atlanta we had to change her diaper in the terminal because apparently there was a rush on changing stations.  Since we couldn't find an open one, we just crouched in a corner at a nearby empty gate and tidied her up which she seemed to think was novel and took in stride.  I strapped her into the carrier and we headed to baggage claim to meet up with Grandpa.  We got our suitcase in short order and headed to the car then were off to Whole Foods to get some supplies.  We were thankful my Dad was able to pick us up and had a carseat already so that really simplified things.  C did great for the 45min ride to Whole Foods with Wade on entertainment duty, but by the time we were done shopping and still had another 45 min drive to my Dad's she had had enough for the day and wouldn't nap in the car.  We stopped to nurse which helped some, but she was just at her limit and did a fair bit of crying.  Thankfully, once we got to the house we were able to get her settled in for a nap before dinner and she took her new surroundings in stride, however she was a bit more clingy than normal around folks.  We had a nice dinner, then took C upstairs for a bath and bedtime which she thoroughly enjoyed.  She loves splashing in water, but due to the way her baby tub is constructed she can only kick splash a bit but generally just enjoys the time with Wade.  At my dad's we had her in a full size normal tub sitting up on a towel (Wade spotted her while I washed her) and she was absolutely thrilled to be able to splash to her heart's content.  It was pretty funny.  We just had to be careful since we don't use tear-free shampoo/bodywash on her.  She went to bed fairly easily and we were able to have a nice time visiting with Dad and Susie before we finally headed to bed.

The next morning everyone was prepping for the party that night.  After lunch, my Grandma and Aunt Barb came over to see Clementine so it was nice to visit with them before the festivities.  Mercifully, we were able to get C down for an afternoon nap before heading to the party and when she woke up we walked down to the meeting hall.  It was so nice for everyone to finally get to meet Clementine and to see family we hadn't seen in too long.  At one point, I was watching my cousins' kids run around the room having fun and had a sense of deja vu to when we were those kids running around getting into trouble at the big family get-togethers.  C was the youngest of all the kids, but at one point she did crawl over to check out the toys the other kids had gotten, so it was pretty cute to watch her take off on her own to explore.  It was a really fun night catching up with family, singing Christmas carols, and doing a gift exchange.  This was also C's 9 month birthday, and I was having a hard time remembering to take pictures while trying to keep her happy.  Thankfully, we were able to get a few with my phone.  See pictures from our trip and C's 9 month picture file here.

The next morning we enjoyed a slow morning in our jammies with Grandpa and Grandmama/Susie before we had to get our stuff packed up and in the car.  Fortunately, I did manage to get a few nice pictures of C with her grandparents before we left for the airport.

C with her Grandpa and Grandmama.

The flight home was also pretty easy despite a little bit of fussing from C (she didn't get much time to crawl around before boarding) once we were seated. Fortunately, she slept through most of the flight though which made everyone happy.  The ride home was pretty good too so by the time we pulled into the driveway we were feeling pretty good about everything.  We had a really great time seeing my dad's side of the family, C traveled like a pro, and we were so happy C got to see so much of her family.  Thank you Grandpa and Grandmama!

Baby's 1st Christmas

This year we hosted Christmas at our house for the first time.  We usually spend Christmas Day at my Aunt and Uncle's, but since we were leaving the day after Christmas, and traveling anytime in the evening is pretty difficult with Clementine, everyone was sweet about accommodating a change in plans.  And since we were hosting this year, we had a last minute blast of motivation to finish putting up Christmas decorations.  lol  So the night before everyone came over Wade put up and decorated our old fake tree and hung the rest of the decorations in the living room while I finished off the kitchen and dining room.  We were really glad we did it since it looked so much more festive and helped us get in the spirit.

We ended up making a simpler Christmas dinner (Thank you Aunt Titi!) and had everyone over on Christmas Eve to eat then open presents.  We had a great time eating and visiting, then we were all entertained by watching C thrash around in the wrapping paper and tissue.  It was such a wonderful evening spending time with family and laughing and were were thankful C could experience it for her first Christmas.  Clementine was a champ and did really well during the festivities then peacefully went down for bed while everyone else stayed up to chat.  For C's first Christmas I made her a Christmas t-shirt to sleep in (front had snowflakes and said "Think Snow" while the back said "Dreaming of the White Christmas" and was decorated with snowflakes).  I also made her Christmas Day jammies which was a long sleeved onesie with a cardinal on the front and "My 1st Christmas" on the back.

She was a fan of the paper and bows - and her special Christmas Eve outfit that we found at the consignment store. :)

Granzie and Poppi spent the night so we could all get up and enjoy Christmas morning together.  We opened presents early as soon as Clementine woke up so I made a smoothie for everyone to tide us over until breakfast.  We just managed to get through our presents before it was clear C was overwhelmed and ready for her morning nap.  While she was down we tidied up, got cleaned up, then made breakfast so when she woke up she was able to have breakfast with us.  It was a really nice morning.  Thankfully Poppi and Granzie were able to entertain C while Wade and I finished prepping and packing for our trip to Georgia, so it was a huge help to have them there and we were glad C got to enjoy some more playtime with her grandparents.  During her afternoon nap, we made an early Christmas dinner that we enjoyed before Poppi and Granzie headed home and we settled in for some last minute packing and rearranging.  To see our Christmas pictures, go here.

Bebe on fire

Ever since Thanksgiving, C has been on the move, with everyday bringing her a new sense of confidence in her ability to get around.  She is noticeably less frustrated now, despite the teething (one top front tooth is in and the other isn't far behind which is causing her to grind her teeth).  We generally give her free run of the house and have tried to baby proof only the really dangerous stuff (light sockets, heavy tall objects, etc).  So far that's working out and she's enjoying the freedom (the other day she followed me around the house like a puppy while I vacuumed).  So she's motoring along happily and although she enjoys crawling, she is already thinking about moving on to pulling up (yikes).  I was able to catch this on camera just a few days ago:

We have also changed how we feed her.  She's still nursing, but instead of spoon feeding her solids we've switched to something called Baby-Led Feeding (or Baby-Led Weaning as the Brits say).  After a week of her refusing to eat anything from a spoon I decided we needed a new tactic and had read a lot of positive things about Baby-Led Feeding, particularly if you have a strong-willed kid (essentially you provide cooked food cut into pieces a baby can grasp and feed themselves, rather than using purees for veggies and fruits).  So, what used to be a battle at mealtime to get her to take one bite of say, green beans or avocado, now is a peaceful and fun experience.  She sits at the table with us and eats her own selection of food that's put in front of her, making it a nice social event (like it should be) since she gets to be part of the family meal and we actually get to eat our dinner rather than cajole her with a spoon.  She also now happily eats just about anything - her former nemesis (greenbeans) are now one of her favorites!  She's pretty funny to watch as she concentrates on picking things up and is getting pretty good about getting them in her mouth.  She's still working on knowing how much is too much food in her mouth so we do have to watch her carefully when she's eating.  It does create a mess to clean up afterwards, but that's par for the course regardless at this age and we've worked out a system to deal with it. 

And last weekend we lit a fire in the garden and made s'mores - a first for C and she was completely enthralled with the experience, it was pretty sweet.

It's hard to believe Christmas is next week already... we decided not to put up the tree, mostly because we wanted to make one, but ran out of time this year... so we have to start early next year.  We do have some decorations up, some lights out front, and a small fiber optic Christmas tree in C's room that she LOVES, so we're sort of feeling the spirit.  It also means we didn't get around to Christmas cards this year either, which is a bummer, but since we're on a lean Christmas budget anyway it made sense to take a pass this year.  And since we didn't have a decent family photo, we weren't too motivated to get cards out yet.  Maybe we can finally get a good family shot during the holidays, which would be really nice since we have so few.

November and 8 months

November went by in a flash - as I sat down to write this I couldn't recall what we actually did, short of having Thanksgiving!  A quick look back at the calendar and I remembered - the month was actually a good one and passed joyfully in lots of lunches and visits with friends, some paid work (hooray!), some writing (edible TampaBay), and a visit from friends over Thanksgiving.  Oh, and we watched Little C inch closer and closer to crawling, which she accomplished just before the holiday!  When she's in a hurry she drags herself across the slick wood floors in an army crawl fashion, but if we take off her pants and socks she gets up for regular crawls so her skin doesn't stick to the floor.  It's pretty funny and we're sure she's going to have killer chest and shoulder muscles from it (there's a video on our Picasa site).

She was also starting to find a rhythm for nap and bedtime which was nice and made life a lot simpler.  She has also been making progress with the cats, particularly Hilo who has taken to demanding to snuggle her (remember right after she was born, he would literally flee the room in terror?!).  I got this shot while C was nurse-napping in my lap:

Dogpile in the rocking chair - Hilo asleep on C asleep on me!

C and I headed down to Anna Maria a few days before Thanksgiving to spend time with Poppi and Granzie, prep for Thanksgiving, and get to see Kellyn and Conrad (and Baby Garrison - due in April!) who came into town for the holiday weekend.  The weather was perfect, but eventually turned chilly, so it was a lovely holiday weekend for quality time with friends and family.  We did get in a nice beach walk, but it ended with lots of tears because C wasn't able to get herself down for a nap in the bright sun so I had to nurse while walking with her to get her home.  It was pretty sad.  We felt bad she was so out of sorts since we let her try banana that weekend... she loved it so we just let her eat as much as she wanted (like all the books say) until we realized it was stopping her up (what some warn of).  After a really tough night and 3 painful poopy diapers we learned our banana lesson but we were all pretty behind on sleep and it's taken her a week to recover.  

C in her special Thanksgiving outfit - playing coy with us while trying to get her 8 mo photo.

It was definitely a new experience trying to do so much cooking and entertain a mobile baby, but it was so nice for C to be surrounded by so many loved ones.  However, we took shockingly few pictures since she kept us on our toes!  We tried to stage her 8 month photo, but since it was on Thanksgiving, we didn't get much time to really perfect a shot.  Something is better than nothing though and she was more into trying to stand than actually sit for a photo.  Check out her 8 month photo and video file here.