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!