Holiday Travel - Seven Quick Takes (vol 5)

--- 1 ---

Last year my husband and I were gone for a week around the holidays--and we said we'd never do it again. If we had gone to one place and stayed there it would have been different, but we hit up several towns and family members.
Did we learn our lesson? No...We did the same thing this year.
Holidays are really tough with a baby--everyone wants to see her! I was worried how she would do in the car, but she completely blew us away with her great attitude. She took two short naps on the 6 hour drive to my parents, and pretty much occupied herself the whole time she was awake by looking at her picture books. We stopped once to change her diaper and eat lunch. She was a tad fussy as we pulled into town, but who could blame her. Six hours is a long time in a sport wagon.

On the two hour drive from my parents to my grandpa's house she slept the whole way! From my grandpa's house to my in-laws she played with toys and I think maybe fell asleep a tiny bit, I can't remember. That drive was a little over an hour, but she started getting fussy at the very end again.
On the last leg of our trip, the three hour drive home, she took a good nap for half of it and played well for about 20 minutes. Then we had to stop. We had to change a huge (and I do mean HUGE) diaper explosion, including her clothes...it was disgusting. The last hour wasn't very fun for anyone, we played baby song tapes and CDs to calm down the very annoyed G. We were never so glad to see our front door as we finished our holiday travels, although we loved spending time with our families.

--- 2 ---

The gifts G got were very plentiful. My husband was getting bored playing with the same things over and over again, so he really appreciates every one's generosity. It's also fun to see her excitement with new things. She actually wasn't all that interested in opening gifts--pulling tissue paper out of bags was all she cared to do.
G is the new owner of:

• a super cute auntie bib & long sleeve onsie that says "My auntie is awesome"
• pink Skidders brand sock shoes
• brown and pink boots that my mom has to exchange because they were too small!
• an awesome toy that makes noise, flashes lights, and pops weeble like people up stairs and around a track, called Topzy Tumblers Twirlin' Tumblin' Fun Park
• A shape sorter that is super age appropriate (this is currently her favorite toy)
• Mega Bloks 80 piece set
• several new books, including "Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?" & "The Foot Book"
• wooden blocks
• several dolls
• a new homemade double sided Winnie the Pooh felt blanket
• a super cute salmon pink and black outfit
• a homemade doll from my husband's sister
• a David Freese (you know, the World Series MVP) Cardinal shirt from my husband's best man
• and Santa brought the baby a girlie Mega Bloks bus with driver :-)

Awesome haul for a 10 month old, huh!?

--- 3 ---

The holidays wouldn't be complete without an assortment of sweets, treats, and meats (lovely rhyme, I thought). We ate so well, I'm still working it all off! My husband and I also went running several times while at my parents' house (I had to break in my new shoes) to combat all of the calories!
The first night we went out to the best Mexican restaurant ever. It's odd that such a small town has amazing Mexican food, but I haven't been able to find anything close in the two cities we've lived in. I had Potosino, which is basically Mexican rice, chicken, squash, peppers, zucchini, spinach, asparagus, and an amazing white sauce.
The second night we had our taco night with my mom's best friend's family. There were beef tacos and chicken enchiladas, salsa/guacamole and chips, and raspberry margaritas. My mom also made a pumpkin cheesecake that was heavenly.
The third night was Christmas eve dinner. Mom made kettle beef; which we ate with gravy on rolls, as slider-like sandwiches, and mashed potatoes. For dessert I made those cookie dough, Oreo, brownie bars I have been writing about lately.
For Christmas, my dad catered-in delicious ribs & sides from a local place. My aunt brought pumpkin pies and my Nana brought custard meringue pies.
At my in-laws we had ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, salad, peas, and I ate like 5 chocolate dipped pretzel sticks.

--- 4 ---

The baby started doing many new things over our holiday trip. I know I recently blogged about all the things she is doing as a ten month old, but I have to share some of her latest skills!
She has started to get a bit braver with letting go, and stood for the longest she's ever stood (about 20 seconds).
G now enjoys "sharing." If she has something and you ask for it while holding out your hand, she'll give it to you! She even shared a PUFF with me!!! She loves it when you hand it back to her too, and then she'll share it right back to you. It's a little game now. Nana and G played "share the bow" for about 5 minutes on Christmas.
She's gotten really cute with her expressions and motions. My favorite is when she wants me and holds her hands out with a puppy dog face that says, "Momma, I want YOU!"
She loves to mimic my husband...a lot. She will repeat "Da-Da" often and I'm pretty sure she now associates it with him.
G also opens and closes her hands to signify she wants "more."

--- 5 ---

Sleeping on our trip was really no different than at home. At my parents we had to sleep in the same room (although it is a very LARGE room). I know some babies sleep better when in the same room as their parents, but G has never been that baby. She slept in our room for the first month, but we all got more sleep once she was in her crib.
On our trip, there was one night when she was only up once, but other than that G was up at least twice. Ugh. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why she doesn't sleep through the night. I "do" everything right. Sleep training is a bust for us...remind me to write about how that is going.

--- 6 ---

I'm so glad to be home, but really miss my momma. There are things she can empathize with, that, while I love him, my husband doesn't fully understand. Momma things. I don't want to live in my old home town, but I could stand to live a little closer. I'd love to go visit my parents more often, but I'm not comfortable driving the 6 hours alone with G yet.

--- 7 ---

The holiday fun isn't over yet--we have NYE plans! We are usually homebodies on New Years Eve, but this year my husband's cousins invited us to their place for the night. They love baby G so much, and we have such fun hanging out together; of course we said yes! I'm planning to bring baked pork egg rolls, little cheese & sausage toasts, and a dessert TBD. They will have cocktail meatballs and a cheeseball. We are also having Winter White Sangria, which I am especially excited for. We are going to stay the night, so G will go to sleep in their office at bed time and we will stay in their guest bedroom after ringing in 2012 by playing games and catching up.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!