Trip Report

We're back from Ohio and all went well. Mabel was a total champ on the drive to and from, and she slept like a baby (interesting!) in the hotel crib and at my cousin's house. We were visiting a family (my cousin Dave and his wife Amy) with three little boys - ages 5, 3 and 2 1/2 months - and Mabel was fascinated by the older boys - so much activity! They were very sweet to her, and played with her and called her Baby Mabel. We had a great time and it was wonderful to introduce Mabel to her Hyland relatives. My great aunt Mary Janet, whose mother was the first Mabel Hyland, brought us several things that had belonged to her mom, which will be very special for Mabel to have one day. Here are some pics from the trip. The other baby in the picture with Mabel, Aunt Jan and Aunt Mary Janet is Nathan, Dave and Amy's youngest. He was the best baby, very quiet and mellow, only crying when he needed something ... otherwise, no worries, don't trouble yourself, he'll just hang out and chill.

On the Road

We are heading out the door to drive to Ohio for Christmas. As I write this, Dylan is packing the car and Mabel is sleeping ... shhhhh ... you wake her, you take her! The kitties know something is up, and they don't like it. We have one bag left open for last-minute things and Hamlet is sleeping on top of it. We will have Christmas with Grandma Sandy, Grandpa Tom and Granny Lib in Shepherdstown when we get back. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Like a Bowl Full of Jelly

Even with his busy schedule, Santa had time to visit Mabel's school late last week. All of the kids (and teachers) wore their pajamas to school that day and had quite the time. Sister Geri read The Polar Express and the big kids made gingerbread houses. Dylan took Mabel in that day and stayed to get some pictures.

Uncle Will's Rattle

We have received so many great gifts and hand-me-downs for Mabel. One of our favorites came from Dylan's mom: his brother Will's silver rattle. (Will is now 30 and lives in Hong Kong.) I keep it in the drawer of Mabel's changing table and sometimes give it to her to play with when I'm changing her diaper. This morning she decided she had no interest in letting it go and kept it with her during breakfast.

Cheers!

Breaking news - Mabel is learning to use a sippy cup. She is very skilled already (of course!), and really seemed to get the hang of it almost instantly. Granted, sometimes we give it to her and she waves it around in the manner of a dangerous weapon, but still, the girl's got some talent. See accompanying photos for proof.

Bun Bun

Although Mabel is still besotted with BlaBla, she is only allowed to play with him inside her crib ... leaving lots of time to make new friends. As we saw from yesterday's post, Pisco Bear has been warmly received. Also making the scene is Bun Bun, a soft, squishy pink bunny given to Mabel by Dylan's friend Eve.

Close, But Not Quite

My well-orchestrated plan to get Mabel's picture taken with Santa this weekend did not quite go as planned. Which is shocking, considering how easy it is to get babies to bend to your schedule. We did make it over to the holiday bazaar at her 'school', and even managed to get Robin and Aidan to come with us, but by the time we got there Santa was just about done for the day and Mabel was on the brink, since it was really, really time for her nap. As you will see from the picture above - this is her when we got home and I laid her down on her changing table.

So we spent the afternoon hanging out on the floor and logged some good tummy time, and also played with the bear Grandma Sandy gave Mabel for her baptism. If you look very close you will see the Episcopal Church shield on the bear's vest. Very smart.

Getting Through the Week

This has been a long week ... back to work for Mom and Dad, back to day care for Mabel and to top things off, Dylan is sick now. See picture above for a glimpse of life at our house these days.

But of course Mabel is still the star of the show and is really changing every day. She is verrry close to sitting up all by herself, and for the first time fell asleep sucking her thumb. Tomorrow we are taking her to have her picture taken with Santa, which should be fun. Photographic evidence to follow shortly.