bounce around

I've been diggin' my new bouncer...I can't wait to walk so this is the next best thing.

Over the hills and through the woods this Christmas

We had a very special Christmas this year. Annabel got to meet her family on both sides!

We kicked off the holidays celebrating with our good friends. On Christmas Eve we had a lot of fun at Grandma and Grandpa Martin's house, and enjoyed the traditional beef wellington dinner (yummy!). Christmas day we really went over the hills and through the woods down to Great-Grandma Fuji's house where the Fuji and Gondo families were gathered. We spent Christmas day meeting everyone, opening gifts and getting to know those we hadn't met yet. Then, we boarded our first airplane and journeyed to Northern New York. It was a long travel day but Annabel was a very good travel companion and we made it safe and sound to Grammy and Grampy Murray's house where we were greeted by Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, and (Great) Grandparents.

We tried to capture a lot of these special moments on "film"...we didn't quite get them all but we posted many of the photos to the album below.

Thank you to everyone who made this holiday so special. We had a wonderful time and are looking forward to new adventures and making more memories in 2011.



PS. We got a new "toy" this holiday and hope to figure out how to post a few videos soon.

New Fun Things

Annabel has been having fun developing some of her hand-coordination skills. Here she is showing them off on her playmat. We've been having a ton of fun together over the past few weeks - she's grown to be a very happy, alert and engaged baby.

And, she's grown in size a lot too...this week she weighed in at 14.5 lbs! Here's her 3 month, 1 week photo.

Although she's been battling her first cold this week, she's still enjoying bathtime, playing in her first fort, hanging out with Dad, and much more. She's started to use her voice much more and we are having fun "talking" with her.

The Fat Man and Baby in Red

Ho, ho, ho...Merry Christmas! Matt had the day off of work today (use it or lose it vacation policy) so he decided to take Annabel to meet jolly old Saint Nick. Unlike all of the other children in front of us in line, Annabel took to the old man like she knew he was giving out presents! No crying for us. Some how she picked out the right outfit and was looking good for the photo op.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work I go...

Yesterday marked my first day back at work (sigh). So we decided to warm ourselves up to our new daycare the past two days. As expected it is going to be a big adjustment for all of us, though Annabel won't remember the trauma as we will!

We really like our childcare provider, Valerie. She's warm and affectionate with the babies and provides a very loving environment for them. The first day we went to check the place out she immediately asked if she could pick up Annabel and soothe her (because, surprisingly, she was crying!) which we didn't hear at any other daycare during our search.

Valerie runs a daycare designed for infants only (< 2 years old) and she has 4 babies. Only two of them, including Annabel, are full time so three days a week there are only two or three babies there. And, when she has more three or more babies she often has a helper to assist. We are also thrilled that one of the other children is the daughter of a friend of Lisa's from high school (she gave us the recommendation!) When Matt dropped Annabel off yesterday morning this little girl came up to her and gave her a big kiss!

Valerie also sends us home with a daily "report card". She's writes us notes and gives us little positive comments to help us through the transition. As you can see on her report card from Wednesday Valerie has noted that Annabel has some seperation anxiety issues already - but is looking forward to bonding with her to ease that pain. Wednesday brought a lot of tears, but when Matt dropped her off on Thursday Annabel calmly sat on Valerie's lap while she read her a book so we're already seeing how she can adapt!

Three Month "Birthday" Brunch

Annabel is three months old already! Monday marked her first quarter year (or as some call it, the "fourth trimester"). We celebrated by having brunch with Uncle Brant and Grandma. We enjoyed a festive loaf of pumpkin bread (though Lisa put the candles in when the bread was still warm so the candles melted in the loaf! Whoops, that's "mommy brain" in effect!)

She loved looking at the lit candles, but when they were blown out she wasn't so thrilled.

'Tis the Season...for College Basketball!

Well, college basketball season is upon us and this means only one thing. The return of the orange headband. Go 'Cuse!
She may not look a ton like Matt, but she has certainly inherited his sports team allegiances and his taste in music. Yesterday she was rocking out to his Pandora playlist (except when the Pixies came on when she started to cry...she gets that from Lisa).