Real Snow!

At last, winter! Eamon's had a few flurries in his tenure, including some right around Halloween, but this was his first time seeing real snow cover. He didn't get down in it and play - maybe next year - but he seemed especially alert and interested when we took him out to walk around in the glistening, white neighborhood.

Here he is patiently waiting for us to get ready. It's amazing how big he is! This snowsuit used to be enormous, now it fits pretty well.

The cats also had a blast with this new experience. The snow has already melted, as we enjoy weather in the 40s and 50s (bizarre!), but they took full advantage of our deck to run and wrestle and play.

Here's a video (hopefully) of Eamon's morning mat time. Very cute... There's a big smile about 10 seconds in.

Happy Winter!

Holidays (at last!)

Well, I've been home on break for almost a week and a half now. It''s enough to make a person not want to work. :-) On top of spending a lot of time with Eamon and Erica and helping Erica find time to get her work done, there's also some time to write a couple posts!

We had a great trip to Madison over the holidays, joined by Dani, Audrey, Drew and a slew of Madison friends. The trip there was not bad. Eamon took to flying just fine and only got upset for the usual reasons, which are generally solvable. We were happy he didn't seem to have problems with his ears, and hope that this will continue when we eventually make trips to see other family! (Lest anyone think from the blog that he is all smiles, see below...)

Despite how well it went, the trip was pretty tiring, though, on top of getting up way too early to catch the plane. Still, I think it was worth it, as it gave us a rare chance to take a nap together once we arrived. Audrey and Drew were so good, waiting patiently for us to wait up to say hi.

There wasn't really much snow in Madison, although there was a sprinkling for Santa - Audrey was worried about the integrity of Santa's sleigh otherwise; Grandad was worried about his roof. ;-) So there was no sledding, as usual. We did have plenty of fun, though.

There were gingerbread houses...

An introduction to Hannukah for Audrey and Drew...

And lots of family time! This was the first time Dani, Audrey and Drew got to meet Eamon. Audrey was particularly excited, I think. She continues to love playing with her baby doll and was beside herself at times to get to hold a real baby. Dani was a most excellent babysitter as well, which let Erica and I get out for some adult fun with grandad.

Of course, everybody loves seeing the grandparents too...

And we also made it to Milwaukee to see my grandparents and Erica's large contingent of cousins, including their many babies. The Milwaukee clans are all well, and we enjoyed the visit very much. There wasn't time to see everyone, unfortunately (it seems like there never is), but hopefully on future trips.

Happy New Year to all! Hope to see everyone again soon.

Growing!

So we missed a few weeks. Maybe this will make it up to you!

Every morning, after he eats, Eamon likes to play on his back on the mat thing that our friends Matt and April, and their daughter, Lily, loaned to us. He seems especially attached to a frog and gives it lots of smiles and coos. Finally caught a great smile this morning!

As of December 20th Eamon was 13.05 lbs and 24 inches so we're thinking he must be at least 14 lbs by now. He also got shots that day, and I'll just say he wasn't the only one who cried.

Eamon continues to astound with the new things he can do! Among them: fly on airplanes, agreeably have his diaper changed in the middle of a row while descending into Detroit, meet lots of new family and friends, accept a bottle from his almost 5 year old cousin, Audrey, play with great grand parents, watch Hannukah and Christmas presents be opened for him, be overstimulated and cry like crazy, go to bed a 9 pm, sleep in his crib at night for hours on end, sleep in his crib during the day for minutes on end, smile at you (sometimes) and frogs and doggie rattles (all the time), stare at toys, hold on to toys, and shake toys (evidence of this one below).

We look forward to posting a bit more about the holidays, but for now, this is the latest.



As for the rest of us, we're doing well. Rory's been an attorney for almost a whole year! I'm gearing up for an internship starting next week that will keep me moving towards my certificate in Parenting Education. The cats are mischivious and have figured out how to drink from the toilet, jump up on top of our cabinets, and pull apart my knitting basket - all conveniently done the moment I sit down to nurse Eamon. Sigh. Poor kitties, though. Now that Eamon enjoys/tolerates sitting in his chair (again on loan from Matt, April and Lily) they no longer have their prefered resting spot....