Christmas is over

elenora and i are up in vermont again. my dad was with us for christmas and i drove him back home yesterday. last night i left a sleeping ella at home so i could go meet up with c. at the back home again cafe. i told dad that if she woke up to give me a call and i'd be home in about fifteen minutes. i thought she'd sleep the whole time since she usually sleeps from when i put her down at night until about midnight. it was fun to see c., but of course elenora woke up while i was gone and my dad decided not to call so that i could hang out with friends. silly baby.

christmas was a lot of fun this year. we went to the christmas eve service in boston. it was elenora's first church experience. she was pretty good, but j. and i had to switch off who carried her around bobbing up and down since she was so tired when we got there and then too stimulated to sleep. poor baby. then we all went to j.'s parents' house for a supper of shrimp cocktail, crackers and cheese, veggies and dip, and deviled eggs. j. and i exchanged gifts on christmas eve, along with my dad. i got lots of nice clothes from j. and a sweet journal that j. has kept of ella's first 13 months.

christmas morning we drank our mimosas and elenora was so sweet with smiles and good sleeping habits all day. we went to j.'s folks' house for a brunch, then we took a walk outside as it was pretty nice out. we tore into the presents while elenora was awake and pleasant. she was given so many nice toys. her favorite was a little kitchen set that lights up and makes a few sounds and has shapes that you can drop into holes in the fridge and they come out of the ice tray. so cute. her other favorite toy was a large mirror on a cone shaped, soft bee hive. she is so curious about looking at herself in the mirror now. dinner was prime rib, but mine was placed on a hot plate while i put ella to bed, as she suddenly was too tired to stay up.

wednesday morning we took my dad and elenora out to breakfast at the pancake house. ella fell asleep on j.'s shoulder before the meal arrived and we all enjoyed our time together. dad and i drove ella up to vermont and she was good up till the last half hour (when she was hungry and we just pushed through to get home).

today elenora and i went to see a. and her family, including naomi. naomi was all smiles and giggles. i can't wait until ella starts giggling. she smiles so much but no giggling yet.

tomorrow i head home. i have my grandma's car for the next three months, so i'm really excited to not have to climb in and out of my two-door every time she needs to go into her car seat. but the aztec has some blind spots i need to get used to. i may never want to go back to my old car!

i'm getting sick. my first cold of the season. i hope so much that i don't pass it on to ella. they say the breast milk is good for antibodies, but i'm not sure i can protect her from me.

we got our christmas cards out this year. the day after christmas. but that's better than last year, so we're pretty pleased.

here are some pictures of my family (including my grandma) with elenora on Christmas Eve: