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
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