Catch up

Since I last blogged, we've been very busy.  We headed up to Old Mission for Thanksgiving.  We left on Thursday morning, and had great traveling weather and traffic.  Lydia was a trooper, as always, and didn't fuss or cry too much.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with my family.  Papa had prepared a great turkey, and we had all the familiar fixings--stuffing, my mom's cranberries, oysters, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin bisque.  Lydia ate a lot--she had mashed potatoes with gravy.  She loved the stuffing, and she loved the pumpkin bisque.  She amazed everyone with her big appetite and her new skills.  She has continued to try out 2-3 steps at a time.  It usually happens when she's not concentrating, but she's become pretty good at walking longer distances, as long as she's hanging on to someone's hand.  

I think the funniest thing about having a child is how it's completely changed the conversations at dinner.  We used to spend a lot of time talking about politics, our lives, and other adult topics.  Now everyone just stares at Lydia and comments on her appetite, her personality, or other such fun.  I still think it would be funny to hear what aliens would say if they looked down upon us--surely they would conclude that she was our leader, as she dominates every gathering.

We kids all got Mom and Papa a great espresso maker as a Christmas present.  They're huge coffee drinkers, so we're sure that it will get lots of use.  It got lots of use over the holidays as well; everyone was pretty well-caffeinated.  I can't drink much caffeine, though.  Even a cup of coffee around 11 am will ruin my sleep that night.  I do like a nice cup of decaf occasionally, though.  

I had really been looking forward to the macaroni and cheese cookoff out on the peninsula, but it sold out this year.  We were really bummed about that, but it might have been a little too crowded for Lydia.  Instead, we went in to town.  Lydia sat on Santa's lap; he was a bad santa.  He didn't even say HOHOHO!  He was kind of sarcastic, and then he asked my 24-year-old sister to sit on his lap.  Yuck!  Still, we got some classic pictures of Lydia looking like she wanted to jump off.  She didn't cry, but she looked like she might.  

I love holidays with family.  There's really nothing like it.  I always love to see my parents and siblings.  It's hard that they're far away, but at least we get to see each other fairly often.