HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN - JIGGITY JIG

Right now I am pondering whether to begin sipping a steaming cup of coffee to start my day, or whether to hold off and see if Annabelle will fall back asleep so I can, too.  Last night was a late one.  Annabelle and I have finally returned from our last trip of the summer and though we had blast, I am glad to sit tight in New York for awhile.  I have just two short months left of maternity leave and I want to maximize quality time with our girl with minimal planes, trains, and automobiles.  Due to some stormy weather in New York, our flight was slightly delayed putting us at JFK at 1:00 am.  Nate picked us up at the airport and by 2:00 we were back in our cozy apartment for a final feeding, a little playtime and eventually bedtime. This final trip of the summer really put our travel skills to the test.  We flew to Las Vegas to spend time with my family who was attending my cousin's wedding at the Mandalay Bay.  Then from Vegas we flew to Northern California to attend the wedding of my roommate from freshman year at UCSB, Tegan.  Between hotel switches, layovers, and rental cars in a 4-day span, Annie E is proving herself to be quite the traveler.  At not even 4 months old she has been on a plane 7 times!  She seems to mostly sleep during travel time, adopting a "wake me when we get there" attitude.

Anyways, now that we are home, I am feeling the urge to blog and give an update on our girl.  She is changing so fast every week and I want to be sure to savor and document the moments of her short life so far.  Annabelle is more lovable than ever with her big cheeks that I just can't stop kissing.  When I kiss her little feet or her cheeks she opens her mouth in a big 'O' of happiness and attempts to get some laughs out that right now sound like "eh, eh, eh."  Speaking of laughs, to date we have had 4 good belly laughs from her.  They are not yet a regular occurrence, but when we are surprised by one, it is the most joyous sound to hear.  She has discovered her feet, as I mentioned in a previous post, and just loves to hold onto them when she is lying on her back, rolling side to side.  She has perfected "happy baby pose" which comes in handy during diaper changes.  Annabelle can now grasp her toys and tries to put everything in her mouth including her hands, which makes for a very drool-y baby.  We often now say to her in our best Julia Childs voice, "Hello, I'm Droolia Childs," which we think is much funnier than she does.  She continues to want to stand like a big girl with our support, strengthening her cute little legs that are getting chubbier by the day.  This is also helping her strengthen her neck muscles for added head support, though she still has a bit of a bobble head.  When standing she always looks side to side, back and forth, just to make sure she is not missing anything going on around her, reminding us of an owl with her big eyes.  Aunt Ade believes she comes from a long line of owl ancestors.  Her hair is a constant source of amusement for us, growing in at strange patterns.  The dark baby hair that never fell out, continues to grow longer competing with the new growth that is coming in lighter (almost blond).  The circular spiral pattern on the top of her head that we refer to as the "eye of the storm" is in full effect, as is the mullet-like long pieces in the back that we call her "mud flap."  Depending on the humidity, her hair can be curly or straight, giving her some versatile styling options.  Annabelle gets more vocal every day.  Her language of "om" is adding new sounds that she is beginning to string together into a babble.  She enjoys reading her books and tries to help turn the pages.  Her favorite books so far include the Baby Einstein Animal Book series, a gift from Barb Letterman, and My Cat Just Sleeps, a gift from the Boosers'.  She has proven that she can roll from her stomach to her back, though she only performs this move at her own will, and extremely sporadically.  Other miles stones: she can now ride in the Baby Bjorn or the Moby wrap facing out rather than in with her head on my chest.  I believe she enjoys this brand new view of the world.  I am loving introducing her to new games and songs and mostly dance around making funny faces and voices trying to get reactions out of her.  Some of her facial expressions remind me so much of Nathan and I see more and more of him in her everyday.  As she grows, so do her list of nick names which now include the following:

Annie E

Annabellita (my favorite)

Annabellewski (Bellewski for short)

Bella-rues (Her Russian Name)

Banana-Bell

Cabana Anna

Molly B (Courtesy of Grandpa Mike)

Pookie Bear (which I don't particularly like, but it keeps coming out of my mouth)

It will be amazing if she ever recognizes her real name since we continually call her by her nick-names!  Here is a recent picture taken the day before we left for our trip.  She is wearing her "Breastmilk - 100% Organic" Nutritional Facts shirt, a gift from Aunt Ade. 

P.S. Annie E is now napping and I just finished that steaming cup of coffee.  No sleep for mama.  Perhaps I will catch up during the afternoon nap.  :)  More on our trip later...