Holidays in review

As everyone knows, retail is very busy right before Christmas. Since Eric is in retail Vanessa and I took a trip to Florida to visit my grandfather. We had a nice time in the sun and spending time with family. Vanessa had a really tough time with a cold. It kept her up at night and naps were out of the question. Except for one 3 hour nap. Good thing because I was able to set up my grandfather's new iPod.

When we got there Vanessa went for the Christmas tree and presents. There was no stopping her. She crawled right over me. Grandpa went into the garage and got out a table to put the tree and presents on. It was perfect. She has gotten more mobile over the past month. She crawls on all fours when she feels like it. She pulls herself up to a stand on some furniture. She loves standing but not falling so much. Go figure.

Vanessa's favorite part of the whole trip was playing in the bathtub. She slipped around and splashed joyously. It was safer giving her the toys since it distracted her from climbing up the sides. Lots of giggles were had by all.

Vanessa has Mommy's love for magazines. Great-Grandpa had read them and let Vanessa have free reign. Ohh what bliss.

Equinox is my parents new boat. Vanessa and I were able to have a short visit after it went in the water that day. Vanessa got to have the first toast in the boat. It was quite windy outside so we went below for a nurse. She sure perked up after that.

This is Vanessa below. I think she's playing with the spinnaker pole.

When we came back from our trip, there was no time for rest. I had invited 7 people over for Christmas Eve. What craziness! I made it simple. We had tourtiere and soup with some small ordeuves. For dessert I made chocolate mousse. It was all very yummy.

We exchanged presents. We joke that one pile was for Vanessa and the other pile was for the adults. Vanessa's pile was bigger. She got lots of clothing, some books and toys.

Christmas morning we hung out the three of us and Daddy made pancakes. Vanessa had a nap while I made Sour Cream lemon pie to take to Tim and Christine's. It was tasty and refreshing. It would be a good summer desert and it keeps well in the freezer.

At Tim and Christine's we had a traditional turkey dinner with all the fixings. It was really good. We were a large group. It was nice to see the family. They all enjoyed Vanessa who was a real trouper.

Vanessa loves hanging out on Daddy's shoulders. She kept looking around to see his face.
Count on MJ and Ron to get the biggest present for Vanessa. As you see, she loves it. She looks like a really big girl on it.
This toy is sheer bliss. She stands up to it now and plays with the items. She stands for quite a while and she's steps away from cruising.

Vanessa has started to eat finger foods. Here she's eating scrambled egg yolks and cheese along with green beans. She has since had stewed pork and grilled cheese sandwiches. It's great fun and she loves it.

I've missed many moments but this is what I've gathered for now hopefully it won't be so long until the next post.