Amelia and the banana

I think she likes it.

Who wants bananas?

On New Years Eve we were actually awake at midnight for the New Year. We were not drinking champagne. Or watching fireworks. We hadn't actually planned it. You are probably not surprised, new parents up at all hours. But Amelia had been sleeping really well. Until she got her first tooth. Even though she was suddenly more needy, she was still really good-natured about it- as long as we were holding her. As it turns out she got two teeth, right next to eachother. So now she has two bottom-front teeth.

Once we realized she had teeth, it occured to us that she might want to use them for something besides just smiling pretty. She has been fairly intent on watching us eat during meals- very interested in the disappearance of all that stuff into our mouths. She puts stuff in her mouth all the time, but it always comes out dripping with drool.

First we took her shopping for a high chair. We found a nice, small chair with a little footprint without increasing the plastic factor in our house. The Svan. Amelia took it for a test ride at the store and seemed pretty happy. And the bib is from her Aunt Catherine and Uncle Simon (thank you!)- easy to clean and super cute pink with a pocket (for catching dropped food?).


I bought her a little cherry wood spoon that can double as a teether. She loves to put it in her mouth. We have used it a bit to placate her during mealtime since she seems so interested in eating.

Next, we picked bananas for her first food since it has a flavor, consistency close to breast milk. She just loves it. Grabbing the spoon and forcing it into her own mouth. Then if I resist her grabbing fingers- she bypasses the spoon and grabs the bowl! Amelia wants banana.
The fun begins... Our adventures in eating start now.

New Years Day Brunch

Our all-night-party days are over (unless you count singing lullabies at 3 am a party!). So we opted for the more subdued brunch celebration for New Years. I love brunch. There is something great about a meal that encompasses breakfast and lunch served with mimosas, MMMmmmm. And strata is our new favorite brunch food- just after crepes.

We also took this as another chance for Amelia to wear her pretty holiday dress and get some pictures in front of the Christmas tree.

Amelia
Amelia enjoyed playing with the big girls Kara and Zoe.

Amity and John even brought their brand-new baby Thea over. She is soo cute and tiny- it is hard to remember Amelia being that small! I love this picture- Amanda is happy to bounce little Thea and you can compare two new dads. Ben has a 6 mo baby and John has a 3 wo. Both of them are a wee bit tired, but so happy!

It still amazes me that we have friends from grad school that live so close. It is really wonderful to spend time with Bonnie, Peter, sleepy little Sol, Andrey and Jessica.
Did I mention that little baby Thea came over? So cute! And Amity looks great despite our out-of-focus picture.

Amelia likes to cook

We really like to cook and eat. We used to spend quite a lot of time in the kitchen cooking. But things have changed a little bit. We are no longer lounging around with a glass of wine in one hand and contemplating the best approach to get the perfect meal. Amelia has changed our kitchen routine. Although we have tried to incorporate her into our lives in a meaningful way. We have been wearing her in the sling during cooking.


She even gets her own spoon. And seems to have the right idea about what to do with the spoon!

Although it seems that she is getting a bit too active for this hold to work anymore. I think we will have to try the hip hold to get her further away from all the action. She loves to watch everything and be part of something that we love.

Luc made the mainstream news!

Luc's latest scientific publication was highlighted by the science community and picked up by the news.
http://news.discovery.com/earth/arctic-ocean-ice-loss.html

And the story was even run at MSNBC-

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34706785/ns/us_news-environment/

Nice work Luc!

Golden Gardens on Christmas Day

On Christmas Day we went for a walk at the beach at Golden Gardens. It was a beautiful sunny day- but pretty cold. Amelia is all bundled up in her cute heart fleece suit (Thanks April and Jason!).
The Olympic mountains were pretty clear. And someone was even out sailing.

When we drove over to the beach, most of the parking lots to restaurants and stores were empty. But the beach was packed. Everyone had the idea to get out of the house!
Mostly Amelia was bundled in her dad's jacket. We looked for little baby mittens at REI. It was one of the only times that I made Amelia cry. When I slipped the little mitten over her fingers that she had been staring intently at- she was so distraught. It was only for a moment. When I took the glove off her hand, she was fine again. Here she doesn't mind wearing her dads gloves. She seems to be having a rather zen moment with the ocean and the mountains.

Christmas Presents

Here is a cute little clip of Amelia with her presents on Christmas. And she loved all of her wonderful gifts, too!

Did we mention Amelia met Santa?

December Rouge PEPS group

We had another great dinner with Susie, Jaeger, Maeve, Ali, Ben and Stu. All of our babies are getting so much bigger and it is really fun to get them all together to see how everyone is growing. There is just something about collective thought- when one baby starts nursing it seems that they all join in...

Amelia practicing her signature move- "can i get a hug" which in pictures looks a lot more like "i'm coming to get you". maybe that is why the babies cry a little at first.

But not Stu! He seems to be unmoved by her pleas. Go ahead and grab me- all the babies want to.

Next time we will have to do it AT Dena's house- just to be sure that she is there! How about January? Let's pick a date.