Finally, Some Proof

Mommy has done the impossible! She has actually caught a good, smiling picture of the Goblin that shows her fanglets! (Click the picture for enlargement.)

Last night we had family dinner at Doc Chey's and even though it was past Madeleine's bedtime, she was sweet as pie. She sat in a highchair next to Mommy the whole time and ate some Puffs and charmed the waiter. We arrived home and Miss Flirt went straight to bed without a peep.

Lately Little Monster has been sleeping in until 9 a.m.! Mommy doesn't know what she's done to deserve such awesomeness, but she's not looking a gift horse in the mouth. Maybe it means that the three meals a day in addition to nursing Little Tanklet are letting her sleep longer, but whatever the cause, we'll take it!

Tomorrow Mommy and Madeleine are taking Daddy into work to have breakfast with him and then run errands all day. Tomorrow night is an office barbeque, where Monster is always a favorite, Saturday is Aunt Nicole and Uncle Eric's baby shower, and Sunday is SuperBowl out at Mike and Eva's. We'll be sure to take lots of pictures of MJ beating up, er, playing with, all the other babies.

Playtime

Today Little Monster is the happiest baby, playing on the floor with a basket of toys. She loves to pull each toy out, play with it for a little while, then move on to the next one. She's so happy, she wants you all to clap with her!

We Have Teeth!

They're here! Tickle Bug's teeth are finally here! It was a difficult week for Miss Fuss as those pernicious little toothlets climbed up from the bottoms of her gums, but they made it just fine and Baby Girl has been as happy as a clam since then.

Thursday Little Monster came to Daddy's office, where she always enjoys meeting her admirers, for both breakfast and dinner. Then she went into town to have a shot, but the doctor's office didn't have any left! It was okay, though. They said flu season was past, and Wee Goblin wouldn't have enjoyed the shot anyway.

Friday, Eva came over with Liam, and Madeleine had lots of fun with him. But Friday night, Ma a and Daddy dragged the poor Little Monster out for dinner and Daddy got crabby and gave up, so the whole trip was for nothing. Stupid full restaurant and their lies about how long it'll take to get a table. But Baby Girl did have chance to take in the night air and watch all the cars and lights in downtown Decatur. She saw a big dog and made a few new friends.

Saturday was full of excitement, too. So much was going on! Mama went to Michael's for party supplies for Oliver's upcoming party (Oliver hasn't been born yet) and Little Monster went with her. Then they came back to pick up Daddy to go to the grocery store, which is always fun because it's so colorful. Then Daddy took Miss Fuss on a walk down Clairemont and to the church, where we enjoyed a talk about classical history and agrarian economies.

There's no rest anytime soon. Tomorrow we go to pick up Baby Girl's changing table, and from there we're off to play Whirlyball with some of the chowderheads from Daddy's office. And coming up this Friday is another cookout, and then the Super Bowl. Miss Madeleine favors the Steelers by 10, but in her heart she wants toe Cardinals to win because she loves and underdog. And squealing -- she really loves squealing.

At Long Last

We finally bought the changing table! Note that we didn't say we finally have the changing table. If all goes well, we'll actually have it at the end of the week, when it arrives at the store. Getting the changing table has been a bit of an epic bugaboo. We bought it once, but the store gave us the wrong piece. So we brought it back and they gave us another one, but it had been opened and was damaged. So we brought it back and they didn't have any more and weren't ever getting anymore because of a redesign that... hasn't yet happened. Five-plus trips to the Babies R Us up in Roswell and we're still hoping that we'll get what we paid for. We've spent more in gas getting the thing than we have on the piece of furniture itself.

It has been a big weekend for Baby Girl. Saturday she went with Mama and Daddy to go look at changing tables, then she went to Target, and then to the grocery store. She was tuckered out! Then Aunt Nicole and Uncle Eric came over for dinner, and Little Monster was a charming hostess for them. Then it was bath time and to bed, while all the grownups stayed up late drinking coffee and playing card games.

Miss Fuss started the day early today, and had some rice cereal while Daddy made breakfast and Mama did laundry. When she got dressed, she put on her new boots that Mama found at Babies R Us yesterday. She scared herself briefly when she tumbled over sideways while playing with her Leap Frog activity table, but then she calmed down when she realized everything was okay. Daddy's old book of nursery rhymes helped everything get back to normal.

This afternoon, Wee Goblin is going to visit her friend Vincent's birthday party at Fellini's Pizza. Right now she's taking a nap to prepare for the festivities while Mama plays Civilization Revolution and Daddy listens to some weird Romanian black metal band.

The Busiest Girl Ever

Recently we spoke of the bootie dance. We caught video of said dance in the Exersaucer, which Mommy and Daddy think is the most hilarious thing ever.

Also, here's another video of Miss Fuss and her favorite new toy, Uncle Reade and Aunt Jamie's concert hall.

Photo Overload!

Not much has been going on around here, other than the emergence of new teeth, so we thought we'd share some of the favorite photos from the holiday trip and since. Captions are below each photo.

Little Monster discovers tree ornaments.

Grandma B.J. and Katie help with gift opening.
Opening her first dolly.
Smiles on the patio. Practicing her Miss America wave.
Visiting Great-Grandma Peggy. A true South Texas Christmas.
Playing with Uncle Reade and Aunt Jamie's present.
Playing peek-a-boo behind her toy.
The way she fell asleep tonight. When Mommy put her down, her head was facing the opposite direction. Don't worry, we uncovered Wiggle Worm's head.

Tickle Toes' Tiny Toothlets

Baby Girl has been a bit cranky of late. Mama said she was "hell on wheels" today. She's been having short naps, bouts of crab juice, and dinnertime fidgets. We originally thought she was just having a hard time recovering from all of the holiday travel, but it turns out that Little Monster's fangs are coming in! Mama felt the little bumpy protrusions on Madeleine's gums that herald the appearance of her savage fangs. We're certain that she'll be slaking her thirst on the blood of innocents and howling at the moon by the next calendar month.

We also tried letting Wee Goblin feed herself over the weekend. The results were... well, there was... um... yeah. Somehow we ended up with food on the TV and a little monster covered in sweet potatoes. We figured at first she must have had some justified Cowboys-fan rage at the Eagles staggering their way into the playoffs, but it turns out she was just enthusiastic about cramming food into her maw (and nose, and hair, and eyebrows).

Also, when Baby Girl gets excited she performs "the bootie dance." It's been elusive, but we'll hopefully have some bootie dance footage for you next time we put up a post.

After the Visit

We made it back to Atlanta in our respective pieces: Mama tired, Daddy cranky, and Baby Girl crabby from the plane ride, shuttle ride, and car ride. But that was okay. We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's in Texas and we had the chance to see all the families and spend great times with each of them. In fact, Little Monster had a chance to meet people she hadn't before, like Uncle Reade and Uncle Lincoln. It was definitely tiring meeting new people and catching up with others Wee Goblin hadn't seen in a while, but that's the whole point of the holidays!

This holiday trip was also a trip of important firsts. We learned how to make our first quick-setting concrete on the trip -- that is, we started eating zwieback toast, which, with the application of a little goblin slobber, becomes cement in Baby Girl's hair, nose, ears, fingers, clothes, passersby, etc.

We also opened presents for the first time, which was very exciting. The old chestnut proved true at least at first, in that tearing open the presents and playing with the boxes is as thrilling as playing with the toys themselves. Little Monster made out like a bandit, of course, in terms of both gifts and present-opening opportunities. In fact, she often found herself "helping" other people open their gifts.

Wee Goblin also learned the rudiments of forward motion. She's still reluctant to crawl, but once she's in her walker, she's a four-wheeled terror, scooting all over the place so long as it's a flat surface. She first learned how to use the walker out on the patio in Corpus Christi, but from there, she took to it like a natural, and was a veritable all-terrain vehicle for the rest of the trip.

All in all, the whole family had a wonderful time visiting everyone in Texas. We don't have too many opportunities to see the grandparents, uncles, and other extended family, but we really enjoy it when we do. Little Monster is growing up so quickly that every visit holds a host of amazing new experiences. For instance, this was Madeleine's first Christmas, and she was advanced enough to be able to stay up, open gifts, play with toys, remember familiar faces, and slobber on a few new ones.

Sweet Goblin also had a wonderful time with all of the Christmas decoration and lighting. She loved to grab the (more durable) ornaments and watch the twinkling lights. We had plenty of opportunities in both Dallas and Corpus Christi to experiment with all of these new and shiny things that it's made putting even the little tree at the apartment away just a little bittersweet. But that's okay -- we realized that we're actually closer to Madeleine's first birthday than we are away from it, and that's the next "scheduled" big experience. No doubt she'll surprise us with so many things she learns on her own before then.

Happy New Year and much love from this branch of the Achillis to everyone back home, whichever home you may be in!