Christmas

Hello,

It's the morning of January 9, 2011. Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas too. Our Christmas was spent in Hastings this year. They have pretty set traditions on where they go and what they do for the holidays, and as we were doing those things, I kept remembering last time we did them, two years ago, when I was 18 weeks pregnant. :)

We arrived in Hastings at 2 AM on the 23rd, after driving all the way after work the 22nd (Wednesday). That day was pretty chill. Jack had to work and Jean was preparing for Christmas, shopping and cooking and stuff, so we brought Willow over to Josh's Grandma Lois's where Jill was staying too...they were more than willing to watch Willow for a few hours while we went out shopping, which we often have to do while in the civilization of the big city. We stopped at Babys-R-Us for disposable diapers (the ones we use at night are $6 cheaper a pack there than in Houghton!), and then headed for Ikea, where we got a toy bin/shelf organizer thing we'd been eyeing up, and the exciting purchase of the day...a big-girl bed! When I told my mom, she said, "but do you have a big girl?" Okay, Willow might not be quite ready yet, but pretty soon we're going to start the process, at least that's my plan. I'll have to night-wean her first so she stops waking up at night for "na-nas"...then we'll try to get her out of our bed. I know Dr. Sears has a lot in his book about how to do this, so I'll have to start reading up.

Christmas Eve we went over to Josh's Great-aunt Lorraine's house and visited with her family, and then later went over to his Grandma Eva's in St. Paul.

We spent New Year's Eve here at home with Ruth and Chad. We grilled steak and fish and sat in front of the fire. I just realized I don't feel much like writing today but here are a bunch of photos. Some were taken with Janna's camera which as you can see is much nicer than ours. Actually, our camera has been having issues - photos outdoors come out way too bright and you can't see anything. Video works OK, which is why I've included this silly little video of Willow in her stroller-sled, so you can see it. We got it at a rummage sale last summer. I think it's an antique. It works great on snow-covered roads!




Okay, here are some pictures.


Aunt Lorraine has a slot machine in her basement. Willow had a great time gambling. Look at how serious she looks here!

















Here's Willow with Auntie Jill:




















Showing off her mohawk...

















...and the adorable hat talented Auntie Janna made her.






















With her second-cousin Natalie (not a great photo, but the best one we got out of like 20). Nataie is, I think, about 8 months younger than Willow.
















And here with her second-cousin-once-removed, Bianca, who was also a preemie.



















At Grandma and Grandpa's we did some sledding in their driveway.





















Here are photos of Willow with some of her new toys. She got thoroughly spoiled, as can only be expected when you're the only grandkid on both sides.































Here is a picure of Willow with some fellow former micropreemies. I've been getting together with these kids' moms in our informal "preemie mom club" for a while now, and we finally got our families together last weekend, with the kids and the dads (one family wasn't able to make it). From left, in the photo are Cat, Willow, Charlotte and Lewis; Cat and Lewis are twins. Both families have blogs linked to mine (and update much more often than I, so these pictures have already been posted for a while on their blogs!). There's something about having a micropreemie...other people, no matter how empathetic, just can't understand what it is like. So, It's been great to get together with these moms occasionally over the past many months. Charlotte's parents are moving to Minnesota soon. We will miss them!















Finally, here is a video of Willow demonstrating her climbing skills. She is still very into climbing and has earned a new nickname (by me, anyway), of "baby monkey".