If memory serves me correctly, not a whole bunch happened that the week following Granny and Poppa's visit. However, the following week proved to be lots of fun! Part of G and P's Christmas present to us was a ski trip. Jennifer was very thoughtful and wanted the trip to provide Clay the opportunity to see his Yaya as well so she booked the ski trip in Angel Fire and made arrangements for Clay and I to fly to Albuquerque early so that we could see my mom.
Jim had to work that week so he dropped us at the airport (well, he got us all the way to the security check point) and then Clay and I were on our own. That proved pretty interesting because Clay had his own seat (hooray!) on the plane but that meant he needed a car seat which meant I needed a stroller for him. So..... to make life MUCH easier, we switched him back to his infant carrier just for the trip. Our umbrella stroller had special straps that allowed me to strap the carrier into the stroller. I was VERY impressed at how well Clay and I maneuvered through the airport. Getting us through security (meaning collapsing the stroller and feeding it along with our carrier and diaper bag through the x-ray machine while holding a baby all by my lonesome), getting a highchair while balancing our gear, changing his diaper in the family restroom (which, BTW did NOT have a changing table), and doing all of this without help made me feel like some kind of warrior. Now, please note if help had been offered by a stranger, I would have gladly accepted it. But seriously, in the 2 1/2 hours that we were at the airport, we were offered help once and that was while we were getting on the plane (I accepted the help, it was a grandma and grandpa couple who'd just said bye to their grandbaby). But seriously, I must have looked like I had it all under control (HA!) or everyone else was super busy in their own lives to realize that there was a new mama juggling an entire baby store on one arm and a baby on the other... But like I said, glad that I was able to do it on my own.
So, we got to Albuquerque and got to spend the week with Yaya at one of her friend's homes. It was just the three of us (Yaya, Clay and me) in a house with no TV. Now, I am one of those people who just likes the sound of the TV to help drown out everything in my head so I was a little skeptical as to how this was going to work. That being said, it was FANTASTIC!!! The house had a great stereo so I just pulled up Pandora on my phone and we listened to music, played with Clay and had the BEST conversations! It was perfect!
While in Albuquerque Clay had a few firsts! He started pulling up to stand while we were there. It started while my mom and I were sitting eating dinner. Clay was on the ground playing. He crawled past us and then we heard the dreaded baby silence. We thought he must be getting into trouble on the other side of the table and were surprised to see him standing (booty out to help with balance, of course) while holding onto the foot rail of a chair. But that's not all! He also managed to stand up in the pack-n-play with no real things to help him get up! Too fun!
Friday, Jim flew into Albuquerque so we picked him up to the airport, dropped Yaya off in Santa Fe, and headed to Angel Fire to meet Granny, Poppa, and the Fernihoughs. Saturday morning all of the guys who could walk independently (Daddy, Poppa, Uncle David, and Cousin Joseph) went skiing while the girls (plus Clay) stayed back to rest, read, and play. The next day Granny and Aunt Rachel graciously watched Clay so that I could join the guys out on the slopes. I had a blast! I am a very cautious skier and weave slowly down the mountain taking in the sites and sounds of God's earth as I go from one side of the mountain to the other (going fast freaks me out - it's that whole being out of control thing that doesn't sit well with me) - the guys would speed ahead and then patiently wait for me to catch up. They were really too kind with their time. I was happy on my own but they were wonderful to make sure that I was okay. After lunch back at the condo we headed out for a few more runs. That night we played UNO and we got schooled by our 4 year old nephew and his mama! It was a great trip!
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| Granny and Poppa (our gracious ski hosts!) |
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| The Fernihoughs (aka UNO Dominators!) |
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| The guys heading out for skiing and Joseph's first day at ski school. |
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| Me and my little munchkin (he went through a tongue sucking phase for most of winter as he worked on getting more teeth and getting his existing teeth to come through more). |
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| Aunt Rachel (baby Nora, still in utero), and cutie patootie, Lauren |
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| I don't think that Clay really liked the way he had to be positioned over my super plush ski coat... oh well, we NEEDED that family picture! |
The ski trip was a lot of fun and something that I hope that we'll continue with in the future!
The week after the ski trip we had our first big cold snap in Dallas, luckily, no snow (yet) but our heater bit the dust. That day (Thursday) that it died was also our first day of "art class" for Clay. The Dallas Museum of Science and Nature (which I will always refer to as "The Science Place" since that is what I grew up calling it) has these great "scribbles and dribbles" classes for babies 6 months - 4 years. Clay's big Christmas present from us was this class. It's not that we're trying to mold him into some sort of prodigy but we just wanted him to have different experiences outside of our house and that seemed like a great way for him to explore (and for our house to stay paint free).
Anywho, after the heating company confirmed that we'd need a new heater, we went to our first class. Ooooo-weee! Let me tell you, that first class just about did me in! I was amazed at the amount of cardio stamina it required (to jump from project to project all while keeping paint out of little man's mouth - by this time we'd dropped pacifiers to sleepy times only but added them back for art class so that the paci would be in his mouth instead of say... paint!). Regardless, the first class was great! I'll do a separate post with all of his art work. We ended up getting a new heater and since they were installing a new one, we had them move it up to the attic so that we could free up an entire closet (hallelujah!) since we were quickly running out of room for baby gear. So the "busted" heater was a blessing because we ended up with a safer, more efficient furnace AND more room for storage. The heating people worked until 9 pm and I got lots of cuddles from Clay (our house dropped to something crazy like 54 degrees) so Clay was in two layers of footie-fleece pajamas and a hat. And I was cuddled under an electric blanket and had the baby wrapped in blankets all day. Good times!
Well, I think that almost does it for January - I started a photography class that month too so I'll do a post with info on that class (basically, it was a great class at a community college. I enrolled so that I'd learn how to use my digital SLR camera and it got me some much needed adult interaction!)
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