Thanksgiving and More

So our Thanksgiving was fairly low key, but involved a bit of traveling. We drove down to the South Bay to spend three days and two nights at my sister's (Gennie) new town house. It's very European - three stories, garage underneath, big but decievingly so. She made most of the food (with additional dishes by my mom and grandma) even though she was still going into work. I helped minorly with turkey preparation and at one point said to Ian, "If ever I say 'Let's have Thanksgiving at our place' (meaning to actually host and make all the food and have everyone over), just slap me." It's a lot of work, and maybe when our family is big and I've got the hang of cooking and watching kids at the same time, then maybe... but hopefully that won't be any time soon.

So that was pretty much it. It was great to sit down and talk to family and also to get away. One thing I do wish I could have gotten out of the weekend though was a family picture. Things I never remember at the time... or things that require much more planning than I have the capacity or the will to follow through on.

Of course, after Thanksgiving day... Friday, we were all thrown "off schedule" (in other words we got home super late and didn't mean to), I had a pile of work I was hoping to get down that was not done, and E had come down with a serious cold. It probably wasn't the flu, but it did involve three days of fever (which also means three sleepless nights for everyone) and five days of head cold stuff. Now she's finally getting better, except I think she's also cranky because of molars that are moving in. Let's just say, at the Spencer household we're all going a bit stir crazy for lack of getting out (because we don't want to infect others) and also really tired (oh, did I mention we all ended up getting sick after E did too... first me, then Ian). Boy, all this sickness sure reminds me of when E was a super newborn... sleeping very little, often crying or cranky, and us in a daze. Ahhh... those were the days. ha lol.

BUT having said all that... we are doing well. We're all on the mend and soon to be all better. And the time spent with family catching up and hanging out was so great, a true blessing. I don't know how many more years we'll have the opportunity to get together like this, so we treasure it. So... now we're ready for Christmas! Just Kidding.

P.S. In case people were wondering... this was our plan this year - Thanksgiving with the Yees and Christmas with the Bosserts/Thompsons/Spencers. Last year we did Thanksgiving with the Bosserts/Thompsons/Spencers and Christmas with both... and it was just too much.

From the mouths of babes

So, we have a friend whose 7 month old son just said "Mama ma ma" and they have this super cute video of it. This got me thinking... I have video of E talking too, but I never posted it. I think this was taken somewhere between 10-11 months.



What did she say? She said "All done."

On top of that, this week E clearly said "banana" while I was showing her how to sign the word "banana" out of a book we have (if you're wondering, she doesn't sign at all... probably too busy blabbing away). I then mentioned this to some other moms, saying I don't think it counts as she's mimicking us and not freely saying it on her own, as in saying to us "Banana" and pointing in wanting it eat one. These experienced moms promptly said that "Banana" counts as her saying a word (especially since she does know what a banana is). But if that's the case, E has been talking for months! So, did we miss her first word then?? If everything the other moms were telling me is true, then E's first word was either "dada" (for Ian) or "oh uh" (thought by me.. hehehe). First whole words (or actually phrases) could be "All done" or "Thank You".

What's your opinion on what the criteria for an official first word should be?

(p.s. Sorry for the incorrect uses of the " mark. It's too late for me to figure this out in my head. I'll have Ian fix them all later)

The new Ergo Baby Carrier

We just got this great new carrier and we're super excited about it. Here's a little into our thoughts on the new Ergo Baby Carrier.

The Reason why we "needed" it: To be able to carry E on our back when she gets older and we want to go hiking or something.

Why not a frame backpack? Well, we actually tried one in at the used baby gear store in downtown Davis, but it was so hard to get on and I felt like I would fall backwards. It was definitely not a back carrier that I could use by myself. Maybe if I was already used to using framed backpacks, it might have been alright. But I couldn't imagine myself wanting to use it very much. So, through a friend (who also has two ergos), we found out about this new carrier.

What's the difference? It looks just like a bjorn/snuggli/soft carrier. And don't you have a bjorn already? Yes, we do have a bjorn and E loved it. But the problem is that she's getting to heavy for us to carry her in it. So, we wanted to get a back carrier. The big difference between this ergo and the bjorn is that the ergo sits almost all the weight on your hips (versus shoulders and a bit on the back) and it has a "butt pouch" so E actually is sitting in the Ergo (with her legs to the side, just like when we hold her with our arms). So now we can hold her in front (and she goes to sleep in it!!), on our hip (so she can look around and feel like she's being carried without too much work on our part) or on the back. This will come in handy when we have more kids too... because we can "double" up on our carrier/sling contraptions.

So let's see this Ergo thing you keep mentioning. Here is is:


And the best part is the napping part; E (and Ian too fell asleep) just took an hour and 20 minute nap in the ergo. :)

IT Takeover

Yesterday, we did essential only two things.
(1) We got a new carrier (see next post),
and (2) Transfered all our files and settings to a new desktop.

This was a week long process of installing software, trying and failing to hook up two computers, finding out we were doing it wrong, getting the help (and some equipment on loan) we needed, and finally finishing the transfer. Now we just have to pull out our wireless card and move it from old to new desktop, and voila, we're done. (sarcastically) It's only taking a week plus.

Socks and Shoes

E has really warmed up to wearing socks and shoes. Maybe that's because she knows they mean she's going to go outside. Now, she if she finds her socks and shoes lying around, she tries to put them on herself. Everyday a new discovery!

First some socks.

Then the shoes.

Second try with the shoes. Almost....

Here's to giving up and imploring Mommy to help.