The long overdue holiday post

We spent the Christmas holidays in the glorious Midwest. The snow was falling, the air was crisp and Walt was excited to be back in the heartland. But before we left SF behind, we had a gift exchange with Heather-the-nanny who, in additon to super-thoughtful gifts for us and Walt, brought us an enormous platter of delicious homemade cookies and candies that we promptly devoured. In a preview of what was to come on Christmas Day, Walt was only interested in eating the wrapping paper. (By the way--he doesn't usually wear that weird green suit...only when all of his normal clothes are dirty, or packed.)







All things considered, Walt behaved pretty well on our flight to Kansas City...not as much sleeping as we would have liked to see, but no screaming, which was appreciated. It was so nice to get to the Davidsons' house to find that Walt had everything he needed for a comfortable stay--a comfy crib, snug little carseat, a changing table and more.

Walt loved hanging out with his grandparents and Aunt Lisa and Charlie. Here are a few highlights from our stay:

Playing with Grandma



Showing off the super-cute hat he got from Uncle Chuck



Wii-ing with the family



Christmas Eve Dinner



Playing with spoons



Our little family





Fun with Aunt Lisa



Relaxing with Grandpa



Christmas Day














Christmas day impromptu photo shoot











Almost ready for a Christmas nap



Christmas Dinner







Our California baby was a little unsure of the snow.














Chatting with the nutcrackers






A couple days later we headed to my grandparents' new house near St. Louis to celebrate with more family. Walt had no problem chewing on some more presents.












To be honest, Walt wasn't thrilled with spending so much time in the car, but he eventually settled down for a long winter's nap.



As always, Walt could be counted on to provide comic relief. Check out the movie below...he really enjoyed the Davidsons' leather couch. Classy. The only thing that could have made this funnier would be if he was wearing his whoopie cushion costume.

6 months old today!

More fun with food

Thanksgiving, First Solid Food, Christmas Trees and more

So, my parents came out to spend Thanksgiving with us. They arrived on Thanksgiving afternoon and I had somehow managed to prepare a passable holiday feast...although Mike is still upset that I didn't make any stuffing. Luckily Mom got there in time to prepare the gravy, which was DELICIOUS as always. We had a turkey breast stuffed with sausage and raisins, among other things--not sure why more people don't make turkey breasts, they are delicious and dead easy. Also had gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, rolls, salad, apple tart-cake (a la Orangette). Had to cut out the sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry relish and pumpkin pie--no time, maybe next year.



Walt observing Thanksgiving dinner from the jumperoo:



Of course, it's not Thanksgiving without the A&M-Longhorns match-up. Walt had fun watching with Mike.



Saturday-Monday we rented a house in Sea Ranch, up in Mendocino County. Sea Ranch--doesn't it sound lovely? And boy, was it. On the way up we hit the Anderson Valley wineries along 128, including Goldeneye:





Sunday and Monday were full of lots of relaxing and exploring the gorgeous trails at Sea Ranch.



























At lunch in Gualala...too bad, not scenic at all.



On the way home we cut through to Healdsburg, stopping at one of our favorite wineries, Ferrari-Carrano. Walt enjoying his tour of the grounds:



Last week, Walt started solid food! Well, if you can call super-runny rice cereal "solid"...

We were so excited and recorded the event with cameras and video cameras--Walt clearly could not see what the big deal was and acted as though he'd been eating solids his whole life. No big messes, no stubborn refusals. Yesterday I made him some carrots and he gobbled those up, too. So far a good eater! Phew!











We also had fun selecting our Christmas tree:











And some more pics, just for fun...

Been a busy week

Thanksgiving post coming soon, we promise...