Lily's First Christmas

Santa decided to give Lily the gift of crawling for Christmas and my wish for a childproofed home hasn't come true...yet. Laziness can be so powerful. Lily's 1st Christmas was as sentimental as I thought it would be. She enjoyed the tissue paper in her stocking made for her by g'ma, blocks and a book from her Daddy, and a Laugh&Learn musical table from her aunt and uncle that she really enjoys and we wish had quieter volume settings (thanks again Eric and Jill!). Eric, get ready for a voicemail (or 2) of just a few of the songs we get to hear on repeat over and over again. :)

We are still figuring out what the Nate and Nicole Christmas tradition will look like. We have the food situation all set but we're working on what else we'd like to include...Christmas concert, readings maybe, a particular movie...not sure yet, fun to think about. We spent much of the evening watching the 1st season of Friday Night Lights....good show but not Christmas tradition good. The plan is to incorporate traditions from each of our families and then add something Nate and Nicole-ish to the mix.

I wouldn't be surprised if one of Lily's first words will be "skype." Video-chatting with family is a highlight. Here are a few random snapshots from a Christmas skype session with my family, makes me smile seeing how happy they look.

Here's our first family Christmas photo. It was a simple Christmas with lots of time to just be with those you love and be grateful...happiness can really be that easy.

Christmas is a-Comin'

We haven't had a lot to write about lately, thus the two weeks between entries. We've been going along with the routine and all is good. We've been getting ready for the holidays, sending and receiving lots of cards and trying to get our act together for gifts.

We did cut a real Christmas tree this year for the first time ever. It's a great tree, measuring in at about three and a half feet tall. It took about 10 seconds to cut down, but about 10 minutes to select. Here we are with it (thanks Jeanne & Jeff!).

Probably the biggest change with Lily is that she's starting to crawl just a bit. Here's one of her first attempts, managing about a foot of progress. She gets distracted pretty easily, so she hasn't yet gone very far. We're still waiting for that day everyone warns about where she suddenly takes off and never stops.


One of her favorite things to do these days is to bounce around in her doorway jumper thing. She figured out that the rocking motion she does all the time (while being held, sitting, hands and knees, really all the time) makes her bounce really high. Our favorite part is the way her feet come together on the ground and then fly apart when she jumps. Looks like she's clicking her heels or something. She also likes to babble/yell while she's in there, "ba ba ba ba" or "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH". She doesn't do it in this video, but it's pretty entertaining when she does.

It will be a pretty laid back Christmas for us, since we finished our big trip for Thanksgiving. We'll just relax at home and visit friends around town. No midnight mass for us this year either, we'll hit an earlier service instead. But we'll definitely miss the candlelight rendition of Silent Night. I guess we'll just have to start our own tradition of singing it at home with a candle before Lily goes to bed Christmas Eve.

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, taking a week long trip with carry-on luggage actually happened. Once upon a time, driving 3 hours without stopping was considered normal. Once upon a time, I thought about all the books, magazines, music and movies I'd bring to keep myself occupied for the long flight...that makes me chuckle now. There are times when I miss being the quick and savvy traveler, not missing a beat as I made my way easily and swiftly through the airport, keeping an eye out for time savers like it was a game. Now, all I keep my eye on is Lily, my boobs so they aren't accidentally saying hi to everyone, and all of Lily's stuff we now travel with.
Smooth travel now no longer means just arriving safely and on time, it also means not having to change a poopy blow-out diaper or an outfit in flight, not losing anything like a shoe or that one toy she'll stop crying for in a second, and getting blessed with a quiet baby on the plane. I am grateful that I can say that we did have smooth travels to Chicago and Michigan over Thanksgiving (our neighbors on the flight might disagree but crying for 15 minutes or so on a 4 hour flight is being an angel).

Our trip was full of visits. Family was the priority and we were able to see everyone from cousins to siblings to great grandparents. We hoped to see more friends but it gets so tough when it's a holiday trip...next time. Here is a list of 10 great memories from the trip in no particular order

1) Watching Lily and her cousins play together...maybe it's not playing as much as just curiously looking but it sure is cute.
2) Introducing Lily to her great-grandparents...such a rare and special treat.
3) Keeping Lily on west coast time actually worked..as long as she slept in a room with no windows.
4) Date night with Nate, eating dinner at a restaurant bar....something about sitting at the bar helped shed the mom role for a little while
5) Seeing my dearest friend Manju and meeting her gorgeous daughter Shivan for the first time...Manju, I didn't want our visit to end. Eating Sri Lankan food was awesome too. :)
6) Playing with my nieces and nephews. They are all older now and so much fun to talk to. I had a long conversation about candy with my 6 year old niece.
7) Having people around who wanted to play with Lily non-stop.
8) Lily hanging out with her Godfather and watching the Hinsdale crew decorate their Christmas tree
9) Watching Nate teach our niece how to run like an airplane in a field and watching a huge flock of birds fly away from a nearby tree.
10) Having Nate around for a full week without that pesky job getting in the way.

Lily is 6 1/2 months now. She eats fruits or vegetables once a day in the early evening and I still breastfeed her 5x a day. She takes 2 naps and goes to bed around 7. It is nice to have a bit more of a routine that I can rely on, helps in making plans. She's been rocking in the sitting position and on all 4's for a few weeks now but hasn't officially crawled yet. She discovered her wrists (something only parents would notice probably) and moves toys from one hand to the other now. She likes to bang any toy that makes noise and crinkle paper. Separation anxiety has also shown itself a little bit within the last few weeks.

Life is darn good right now because it's all around easier. Life is simple, slower paced, and chill and I'm very content with that. I take a lot of walks and talk to my family more, which probably has a lot to do with why life feels good. I don't have to worry about time zone differences and my work schedule which is nice. I wish it was easier to see friends in the evening hours but brunch is replacing dinner these days for catching up with friends. I also haven't been bored, which I thought might happen. My list of projects only continues to grow as well as the list of books I want to read. I know it's a phase and the next one is right around the corner but I'm living in the moment and it's easy to...and that's a sure sign that life is good.





Check out our November pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/nicoleandnate/2009NovemberLily6Mths?feat=directlink