Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Adventures in Cruising

ESK is fully cruising along now. Here she is holding onto a neat toy (early Xmas present) from her ee-mo RBK. ESK loves this new toy because it plays music when pushed along. It's funny to watch her because she will push it and start walking, but once the music starts, she'll stop so she can do a little dance (swaying back and forth and shaking her little diaper-covered butt).

Of course, unfortunately, once she stops to dance, the music stops. So, she pushes some more. Until she runs into the wall, or some piece of furniture. And then she usually crawls away because she can't go any further!


Social Cramming
For some reason, this week has been full of social visits/playdates. It's as if everyone is trying to cram in some time with us before the holidays hit in earnest. I wish these playdates had been spread out some more over the past two months. However, it's gratifying to know that all the networking I had been trying to do is finally coming to fruition. Not that I treated it as a project or anything, but I really have been trying hard to meet new people here.



Here's a pic of ESK with two of her uhn-nees, M and A. They're helping her practice her walking! They love "Baby E" (that's what they call her) and find everything she does fascinating. In turn, I think everything they do is adorable and amazing. It makes me look forward to seeing ESK grow up!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Countdown to the Holidays

I can't believe we're already in December. November went past too quickly, and all of sudden, I find myself getting ready for Christmas. I am going to try to get as many presents online as possible. But it's still stressful thinking of good present ideas.

We are looking forward to an upcoming night out w/ the hubs for an office party. The only problem is I'll have to find something to wear. More shopping. Bah. Believe it or not, I used to really like shopping. No more.

ESK Update
We went to our last music class of the semester and she just loves her music. Her gentle rocking has turned into frenetic "bobbing and weaving", borrowing a term from the boxing world. She nearly topples herself over!

Also, she's big into kissing right now. If you like big, sloppy, open-mouth kisses, ESK is your gal. She particularly likes kissing her "Animal Kisses" book. Rubbery fish kisses? [Kiss] Fuzzy bear kisses? [Kiss] Sticky dog kisses? [Kiss]

There are definitely days when I doubt my decision to stay home. Yes, routine is good for ESK, but this means day after mind-numbing day of busy-ness. But when I see how fast ESK's first year has gone by, I remind myself to treasure every moment.

WooHoo!
Yesterday, while my hubs had the afternoon off, I took the opportunity to run some errands, including a quick side trip to the local video store. When I came back, we had the following conversation:

J: You'll never guess what I got!
[Brief pause]
S: Mmm....Season 4 of the Wire!?
J: [Excited nod in the affirmative]
S: ....And....Superbad?"
J: Yes!
[High fives]

We are losers.