Some Squeals!

Saturday we went to a little Christmas gathering at Melissa and Brian's house. They had a fireplace and lots of lights that Wee Goblin found fascinating. She also chatted with Liam and Kasper, although they weren't too responsive. Possibly six weeks old is a little young to carry on a conversation. Sunday we watched football most of the day and also took trips to Publix, Home Depot, and Mommy and Daddy's favorite store, Borders.

Yesterday was busy, busy, busy. Little Monster and Mommy went into work with Daddy to pick up Mommy's car and to make a trip to Target for travel necessities. After a trip home and a morning nap, Eva and Liam came over. We all traveled to the farmer's market together, which Madeleine enjoyed from her perch on Mommy's hip. For some reason she wanted nothing to do with the shopping cart. After the trip home, Miss Fuss was very worn out so she took a long afternoon nap. Meanwhile, Mommy prepared for dinner with Aunt Joddie, who brought the oh-so-appropriate placemat for our Little Monster.

Today will be spent cleaning house and tying up last minute loose ends before our Texas trip on Thursday. Mommy will be running around like a chicken with her head cut off, but MJ will take it all in stride, and just be the happy baby that she's been.

In the last several days, Miss Fuss has discovered her voice. Or, shall we say, the range of her voice, from deep belly grunts to high pitched squeals. She's also doing a lot of babbling, which usually culminates in a quizzical look at Mommy or Daddy as if to say, "Right, guys? You get what I'm saying."

Christmas Presents!

Look at our new placemat:

It's a Little Monster!

Christmas Partytime!

Little Monster visited Daddy's office today, and she was a big hit at the Christmas party. She had a chance to talk to Santa Claus, as you can see, and she was fascinated with the jolly old elf's beard. Santa had a gift for all the kids, but Little Monster was too young for the types of toys that he was giving away, so she gave him a bye on this visit in the knowledge that he'd be visiting her again later in the month. Then she hung around a little bit for the adults' secret Santa gift giving, but she got a tiny bit fussy and Mama took her back to the cafeteria where it wasn't so loud.

Wee Goblin was a very sweet girl throughout the whole party and stayed out way past her bedtime! It was very cold outside, so the ride home was spent in tears. Just when she managed to get to sleep, a brownie plate fell off the pile and made a bunch of racket, scaring her and waking her up. It was a tragic tale, to be sure.

This morning, Mama slept in a little bit while Daddy and Wee Goblin played in the bouncer and fixed some grits for breakfast. Then Little Monster had some rice cereal and bananas, and headed for the nap after a brief time tormenting Zoe the Cat. On the agenda for today are lots more naps, because there's another holiday party tonight, where Miss Madeleine hopes to see six week old Liam again and continue her conversation with him from last night.

More Rainy Days

So, this week has been a bit of a bummer so far. The vast majority has been spent with Mommy and Madeleine stuck in the house - in the sense that it's too much of a pain to take a six month old out in the rain. Oh, well. Miss Fuss still enjoys her time with Mommy, whether it's at home or out and about.

We finally had a bit of a break in the rain today, just in time for a doctor's appointment. Don't worry - it was for Mommy. No shots for Little Goblin, at least not until she's due for her second flu shot next week. Mommy can't decide whether we should go ahead and get it taken care of on Wednesday, and deal with the consequences of flying with a recently vaccinated baby, or just wait until we get home. We shall consult with the all-knowing Daddy on this.

Madeleine has received two Christmas presents in the mail already. One was from Aunt Brenda and Uncle John in Kingsville and the other was from one of Mommy's online pregnancy buddies, who she did a Secret Santa exchange with. MJ was given permission to open her presents as we will be in Texas for Christmas. She was more interested in the wrapping at first (as was the cat) but definitely came around to her musical table and stacking rattle bugs. We're sure this is only the beginning of a holiday haul for the ever-so-spoiled (and deserving!) Baby Girl.

Also, here's a little video taken from Mommy's phone, since the camera and sound issue has yet to be solved. It's a bit grainy, but we hope you enjoy!

The Best Weekends Are Lazy Ones

One of the benefits of having a daughter is knowing that the daughter, in all likelihood, won't throw a game-losing interception in the final two minutes of a game that has a huge impact on a team's playoff picture. Am I right?

Anyway, it's been a busy week but a good weekend. Mama and Daddy dug up a few leads on some houses, and we went to look at one, which was a really nice place in a neighborhood that wasn't where anyone wanted to be. So we took a pass. We also went to visit Joddie and pick up some Christmas decorations for Wee Goblin's first Christmas. While at Joddie's, we learned to pet Lucky Dog. Mama spent the rest of the evening putting the decorations together while Daddy went to work at the bar.

Mama and Daddy took Little Monster to Waffle House for late breakfast on Sunday, where she was, as always, beloved by the various patrons and staff of that fine establishment. One woman said Wee Goblin looked just like her daddy. Another said Tickle Bug was a fat little baby -- as a compliment, of course! Then we went shopping until Little Monster had decided enough was enough, so we went home for a nap and to watch the early game (bird team). After she got up, Miss Madeleine was sort of a crab for some of the afternoon, but she did spend a whole hour playing happily in her bouncer. After that came a few failed attempts at naps, followed by an early bath and bed before a Big Pick happened and the Steelers stole the game.

This coming weekend we have the holiday party at Daddy's office. Mama is preparing a dessert and Daddy is competing in the chili cook-off, in hopes of avenging himself over a dubious second-place showing last year. Mama dreads Daddy's office parties because Daddy always gets "too tired" at them, and Mama ends up taking Wee Goblin home alone.

Little Contortionist!

Remember how Mommy talked about the blanket woolies? Well, Miss Fuss also has another bedtime quirk. She no longer sleeps on her back with arms up in the "VICTORY" pose. (See August 10th post for reference.) Now she arches her back and tilts her head back as far as it can go, while rolling to her side. Little Monster still woolies her blanket, and keeps that in a death grip between her arms. As she develops her little idiosyncrasies that come out of nowhere, it's more and more evident that she is growing into a little person. Crazy.

Miss Fuss is also sitting pretty reliably without support for thirty seconds at a time. She is still highly distracted by, well, anything, and usually lunges for whatever that is and faceplants into the blanket. It's pretty amusing to watch.

This week has flown by. Daddy worked at Georgia Tech on Monday and Tuesday, so he barely got to see Wee Goblin at all until Wednesday. Afternoons have been quite rough for some reason. Mommy believes it is teething, but who knows. With the cold temperatures and ever present rain, the house confinement is starting to make Miss Madeleine and Mommy both a little stir crazy. Hopefully clear skies are on the way, so we can resume our afternoon walks. Plus, Tiny Bouncer has been jumping so vigorously in her jumperoo that socks have been left behind. Now that's jumping!