Wildlights

Last weekend, we went to the Columbus Zoo for Wildlights with Sam's brother and his family, Dan, Beth, and Ethan. We were a little apprehensive thinking Inga would just have a total meltdown in the evening, but we totally wore her out earlier in the day Christmas shopping. She slept the entire time we walked around. It was nice not having a squirming girl in the carrier, but sleeping babies are super heavy!

It was the first really cold night of the season. The little tyke was all bundled up and so was I, but Sam forgot to bring a warm hat and was a bit cold. The lights were very pretty. I had never been to see them before and was impressed with the sheer number of lights. There are so many the zoo doesn't even turn on the regular street lights. We saw a few of the animals in the inside exhibits like the aquarium. There was a baby manatee that was super cute. It was pretty crowded (and cold) so we left after a couple hours.

We had a great time and will definitely go next year. Hopefully, Inga will be awake to see all the lights (and in a stroller; she's getting heavy).

This is what she looked like the whole time.

All bundled up for our evening walk

New Favorite Photo

This was too good not to share. It was taken during our attempt at a family Christmas photo.

3 Months

Ingrid is 3 months old! She has changed a lot in one month. She smiles, giggles and babbles all the time. She likes to have conversations while nursing, which means meal times take awhile even though she is a power nurser. She is very vocal and has a large repertoire of sounds for communication.

Her new favorite activity is standing. I am amazed at how long she can stand and giggle. She recently added taking baby steps to her standing routine. Maybe she will be an early walker. Probably not since she is also really working on pushing up onto her hands and knees. She now notices objects and wants to be much more mobile.

She is certainly growing. A week ago we moved into 3-6 month size clothing. I must say she has a very cute collection of 3-6 month clothes. We go to the doctor next week for an official weight check.

Sitting up about as well as the bear now (with the classic Wiley, open mouth smile).

The tongue makes many appearances nowadays. She has also found her fists and enjoys sucking on both fists to pass the time. Next up: the toes!

"I want to play with the camera, Mom."

This has got be her new favorite toy. It's a blanket our friend, Tiara, made for us as a wedding gift. Ingrid is totally fascinated by all the texture. She loves to stand up on the arm of the couch and just touch the blanket (and drool on it).

Thanksgiving Events

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it is the least stressful. Everyone just gathers around a delicious meal and recounts their many blessings. We did Thanksgiving with the Wileys this year. The Wiley Thanksgiving is always a large affair. There were 19 of us this year including 6 children under 6 and 2 babies under 1. We had a lot of fun and the food was delicious as usual.

Thanksgiving actually began a week early with a special lunch at great grandma Foley's nursing home. This was the first time Ingrid had met great grandma and Ingrid really liked great grandma.
Ingrid loves to sit up by herself and look around. She must feel like a big girl when she can sit in a chair on her own.

Surveying the chaos her cousins are creating.

Relaxing with Daddy after eating lots of turkey and turkey milk

The next day we tried to work off some the calories with Sam's sister, Anna, and her fiance, Michael. We took a walk at Black Hand Gorge State Preserve along the oak knob trail. We had never walked this trail and were pleasantly surprised by the views of the gorge and Licking river below.

I have walked the bike trail along the bottom of the gorge many times, but thought this trail was much nicer. Towards the end of the trail we found a little waterfall that was busing carving out the sandstone. There were actually several interesting sandstone formations along this creek the trail followed for awhile. Sometimes I forget that this area of Ohio actually has interesting little hikes hidden away.

On Saturday, Ingrid and I went to Anna's wedding shower. Ingrid was very well behaved and even took a nice little nap in my arms while socialized. I was one of the lucky people chosen to be dressed in a toilet paper wedding dress. It was quit amusing standing there while my sisters-in-law tried to make a stylish dress out of toilet paper.

And because no Thanksgiving blog would be complete without it, this year I am most thankful for Sam and Ingrid.

First Smile on Camera

This could also be titled, "Oh no! We've found the legos!"

2 Months!

Continuing my series charting Ingrid's growth and development, she is now 8 weeks old. I don't have a weight or height because she doesn't go into the doctor until 3 months. She is wearing 3 month size clothing and size 2 diapers so I am guessing she's about 13 pounds and 23 inches.

Her new favorite activities include sitting up (supported) and looking around. She can hold her head up pretty well and is more and more interested in looking around the room. She also likes bath time and playing peek-a-boo with Daddy. She has also started cooing and making a very distinct whining when she doesn't like something as opposed to being hungry or having a dirty diaper. She is also working on smiling when socially appropriate, but she's a little ways off from laughing.

We are turning her into our good little traveler. Although she does get bored in the car seat after awhile if she does not want to take a nap. I am looking forward to taking her to California for Christmas. Hopefully, it will be the first of many trips out West for little Inga.

Classic slightly perplexed look

The big, pink bear makes another appearance.

Can we go play now, Mom?

Cleveland: at least it's not Detroit

We drove up to Lakewood to visit Emrys before he moved to NYC in a few weeks. The great part about going up to Lakewood is we have several friends that live there so we were able to see the Petries and Mike.

We stayed with the Petries in their new apartment with a view of Lake Erie. It was pretty nice being so close to the Lake. Their one year old daughter, Laila, was very interested in Ingrid, but didn't know quite what to do with a little baby. On Sunday, we took a walk to Lakewood park since it was such a beautiful day. We also had lunch/dinner at this great pub, Deagan's. I highly recommend it, if you are in Lakewood.

Ingrid did a great job on her first overnight trip. She was a wonderful sleeper in her travel crib. I am very glad she is not picky about where she sleeps. She needs to have her bedtime routine and then she will just snooze away for several hours.

Cleveland skyline from Lakewood

I love my Ergo carrier (and so does Inga).

Laila being a total ham.

The little Petrie family

The little Wiley family