They've been a long time in coming, but finally here are a few pics of Anna's first Christmas. She followed Santa clear across the country, nipping at his heels first in Portland, OR, and then in Nashville. She actually caught up with him at Macy's in downtown Portland and snagged a picture or two with the man in the red suit. The trip to Portland to be with Gina's family marked Anna's first flight in an airplane...a big deal. Gina was understandably nervous, but mother and daughter did very well on the flight out. The flight back wasn't quite as pretty as Gina was miserably sick and had to hold Anna in her lap the entire time. But they made it home safe and sound, which was all we could ask for.
Anna got plenty of attention over the holiday from both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, so much so that when we finally settled back in Decatur I think she was disappointed to find only Gina and I available to entertain her. We only intensified her frustration with our decision to let her "cry it out" in order to break her habit of waking up multiple times at night. She surprised us...after only 2 nights of parental and infant anguish, she began to sleep for a solid 8 hours. We really do have the perfect baby :) We've moved on to sampling solid foods now with mixed results. Spitting and bright orange carrot mush is a lethal combination! More on this new culinary adventure in a later post.
