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After 8 hours of travel with a toddler and a baby we have made if home from our Thanksgiving holiday in the Bay Area. There were lots of good moments, about a million photos, and one case of hidden crab at a Chinese/Japanese buffet. Being allegeric to crab, that counted as my low moment.

Our trip started off wet on Tuesday night and that weather carried through to Wednesday. Great for California and a nice change from our constant sun...except we (Jan and Jay + our whole family) were supposed to meet my dad on Wednesday at the SF Zoo for him to meet Keller for the first time. Even large umbrellas borrowed from relatives could not convince our party to venture into the great outdoors to view the wild animals. Instead, we ventured into Stonestown...yep...a mall.

There we ate Subway sandwiches in the food court and had the first of many frozen yogurts of our trip. The two kiddos also got a chance to hang with Santa. Keller fell in love and Vera, as can be seen by her expression, was unsure about the man. Keller's first meeting with his Opa was a success, rain and all.

Rice Cereal...Hmmm...Good

At Keller's last appointment his doctor recommended some rice cereal at night. The hope is, fingers crossed, that he will sleep a little more at night. I don't know why, but I feel guilty about feeding the kid "food" before 6 months. But, we really do need to sleep more in this house. At almost 5 months our boy is still up 2 times on a good night and 3-4 on a yikes night. Most times he ends up in bed with J and I, curled up by my side after having nursed because I am too tired to put him back in his bassinet after eating. So...we are trying rice cereal.

First food shots are so funny, his little tongue just wasn't quite sure what to do with either the spoon or the rice cereal. I would say he ate a teaspoon of food, the rest ended up on his bib, the table, and everywhere in between. We shall see if he sleeps for a longer span tonight.

Yummy

He is so yummy I could eat him for breakfast. The sticker on the forehead is all the fault of our soccer loving neighbor!

Yuck Factor!

I fully admit that where bugs and other icky things are concerned, I pass. When I was in third grade I somehow managed to step on a slug. It was then stuck on my shoe and I spent ten minutes yelling for someone, anyone to remove the slimy body. Both at the time and even today when I look back on that moment...I think ick, gross, yuck. Would I be able to remove it myself today? Probably not. I would run screaming to Vera to help her mama out.

Vera has no fear. Our good neighbor claims that I am going to warp her because I am such a scaredy cat...no luck so far. She loves bugs and frogs. At the zoo it is just wasted breath when I ask her to please skip the reptile and insect house.

She found this snail outside of her daddy's work and brought it over so proud to show me. Disgusting, yes. Cool that she has no fear, totally.

Shake it!

Our little hula girl can shake it! Vera switches from a shy little muncher to a dancing queen. It is amazing to see the different aspects of her personality developing depending on who she is playing with or what we are doing. She has friends she adores and so will chatter away a mile a minute. At home, she tells stories revolving around friendly monsters, her baby dolls and their various career paths, and imaginary members of our family. Currently I have both a Baby Keller and an invisible Baby John. Baby John rides in the car with us, doesn't have teeth, and needs constant comforting.

Strangers, all the people who randomly want to talk to her during the day, bring out her shyness. It takes her quite a while to warm up to people and even longer to want to talk to them.

Paint

To keep Vera entertained at times, we have been letting her use Paint. She spends 10-15 minutes clicking on different colors to complete her masterpiece. Is it bad that our child is already a computer addict?

Tie-Dye Family - J was loving it!