First (5+ Hour) Flight

I am in Seattle for the AAM conference this week and my parents / babysitters and Fiona are along for the ride!  I had been anxiously awaiting the flight since it is long, and she has never been on a plane.  I am happy to announce that she did a-maz-ing.  We had the seats behind the bulkhead, which helped, and she had three people to bounce around to, but I am thrilled with how well it went.  Granted, it is still not easy to travel with an infant, but we rolled with it.  Of course, we got the anxious stares at the gate while boarding with an infant, but it was very satisfying to have several people tell you how good she was and that they didn't hear a sound.  Phew!  Fingers crossed that the return trip goes so well!  

The travel day was so long that we didn't do much yesterday other than get settled into our condo and walk around our Belltown neighborhood.   But today we rose bright and early (thank you jet lag), my dad and I took Fiona for a walk to Pike Place Market (we beat the vendors) and along Puget Sound to the Olympic Sculpture Park.  Fiona enjoyed the ride, saw some beautiful sculptures, and the fresh west coast breeze of the Sound.  We even ventured down to Tacoma because I wanted to see the Museum of Glass.  I love Dale Chihuly's work (Tacoma glass blower) and thought she might enjoy the Hot Shop where they have resident glass blowers who offer demonstrations.  I had seen glass blowing demonstrations in Venice that were pretty impressive, but I think the Museum of Glass demonstrations top them (check them out on YouTube).  They have an amazing studio with an impressive vent system that Fiona was very interested in.  The collection itself and the Chihuly Bridge of Glass were fantastic.  Plus, the Hot Shop colloborates with children ages 8-12 who design glassworks to be blown by the resident artists.  They are incredibly amazing and fun.  So glad we went.  I have to work the next few days, but Fiona will be out exploring so hopefully more pictures to share. 

  

The Great Wagoneer

Fiona loves her wagon.  It is a fun ride.  A fun walker.  Fun all around.  She knows the room we keep it and gets very excited about it.  Here are a couple more pictures of her and the wagon from the last week.  It includes one of her in the wagon at my parents' house; my mom bought a similar one at a flea market and said it was the best money she ever spent.  That is probably true because Fiona ust can't get enough.  Boy is she going to be excited to see that there is a wagon at the shore too!

In other news, she has really been feeling terrible.  She ran her first fever this weekend.  It was low grade, and we are pretty sure it is due to teething, but we feel just awful for her.  We have been keeping her pumped full of Tylenol.  She wasn't her normal happy self at Nate and Ashli's baby shower (although she was a little trooper--even happy--when she got caught in a passing rainstorm while walking back from the woods with Tim).  She has been extra cuddly but also unsettled, so I was happy her fever seemed to break late this morning.  We had lunch and dinner outside, wagon time of course, and she seemed just dandy!

12 week check up

Fiona (and we) have had a rough week.  She hasn't been feeling well since the party--not sure if it is a cold or just teething or the combo.  We had her 12-week check-up this week and the doctor said the same.  But, we have new stats!  She is 18 pounds 8 ounces and 30.25 inches so she is still low percentile in weight but high in length.  And, she still has a huge head; I have noticed more and more that outfits fit her in the body but fitting them over the head is the challenge.  Regardless, the doctor said she is growing just fine.

Despite being sick, Fiona has been enjoying all her new toys and other gifts.  Bath toys have been a huge hit.  She loves bath time but has only had one rubber ducky, some pouring cups, and general splashing to entertain her.  She has tons of bath stuff now though.  Her (or Tim's favorite) are some blocks with attachments that, when stacked created a Rube Goldberg like contraption to filter water.   The wagon has also been a big hit.  She knows where it is parked in the house and, when she can get to it, will use it as a walker, have us walk her around the house, or take her out.  Up until this weekend, we had only taken her for rides around the yard, but this weekend we took her around the block which she seemed to love.

Birthday Party

We celebrated Fiona's birthday with some family and friends at our house this Saturday.  Fi was super as ever.  She napped heartily before the party and was a pretty good socializer after that.  When it came to eating cake, she was a dainty little lady.  I gave her a dollop of icing on my finger and then she proceeded to slowly pick away small bites.  It was rather anti-climatic.  The "smash cake" didn't quite live up to its fate; half of the cake was intact when she was done, and we didn't even have to change her even though she went bib-less.  She wasn't into her birthday hat though, but hats are a sticky point for her right now so I wasn't surprised.  I don't have great photos from the weekend but these sum it up. 

One year old!

  The day has arrived.  Our baby is one year old.  What an emotional milestone.  It was surreal calling her the birthday girl this morning when she woke up.  We didn't do anything fancy for her today, but we got her a cupcake.  It had sprinkles, which she started picking off.  She eventually dug on in and got messy, which bodes well for her party Saturday.  I am a bit speechless and in awe today so I will just let you enjoy some pictures of Fiona on her big day.  We did her normal monthly picture with the sticker--that is quite challenging.  But we got plenty more priceless photos.  Fiona is quite the expressive little lady, and she seems to grow more so by the day.  Amazing, amazing, amazing.

Happy Easter!

Fiona spent Easter at the shore with the Grenko's.  Saturday was a nice sunny and not too breezy day on the beach.  Fiona watched Winnie dog play in the surf and enjoyed getting her hands in the sand.  She did really well until she started trying to put pieces of sand and shell in her mouth.  We were victorious in getting her to keep her hat on though--a necessity for our fair one.  

Since Fiona is a bit too young for an Easter egg hunt, we just filled her eggs with puffs, yogurt melts, and veggie bites and let her rattle them and take them out of her basket.  I think this is going to be our fun little game past Easter to keep her busy.  She is definitely into moving and sorting objects right now.  The only challenge is reloading her basket or whatever she is emptying quick enough for her to unload it. 

 

Spring has sprung

Spring has sprung finally.  Fiona has had a few tastes of basking in the great outdoors all weekend, but this weekend was the ultimate.  We were outside most of Saturday and Sunday, planting flowers, doing some painting, and enjoying dining al fresco.  It was fabulous.  Napping conditions in the stroller were also prime--cool breeze and the sound of birds.  Here is the little lady all kicked back and ready to snooze.