Snow! We made it. The drive was so pretty. We had no real issues, no worries. Once we got here, there were a few flashbacks from our trip to PA from a few years ago when we couldn’t make it up a hill, thanks to the snow. I need to get new tires on the Jetta. Maybe some studded snows… I wonder if they are legal in CT… Hum…. Anyway…. we’re here and all in one piece.
Hope everyone has an awesome Thanksgiving!
Today is the first day away from my baby. Today was her 15th month doctor appointment. She’s 20 pounds 12.6 ounces. Still in the 10th but not quite 15th percentile. She’s on a steady curve, so doctor isn’t worried about her. I need to try to give her more milk fat – ask daycare what type of milk she gets there, and see if it’s at least 2%.
She’s grown one inch – as they measure – in three months, a little on the small side, she dropped a percentile, but they know that they didn’t get s really good measure.
Ashlin showed the doctor her belly, where her nose was, pointed to the books, waved hi, did a little dance, and tried to climb the exam table. One ear looked a bit red, but not enough to need to do anything about it. We just need to watch it. Still on 10 teeth, with two working their way out…
She screamed for her shots, but waved to the PA as we left, so did great there. Driving back to day care, she peeled off her band aids and handed them to me. Such a neat girl!
Miss her. Miss them.
Life has been busy! So much has happened, so many things to update! I didn’t get too many opportunities to pull out the laptop while Stu’s family was here, so I got behind. Then, after they left, I put off coming back here, because I didn’t know where to start. It got overwhelming. And each day only made it worse. So, let’s just do a quick list and get on with it.
It’s late, I’m tired. Here’s some video of Teagan playing with my friend’s kids at their house from this past weekend. Pay no attention to the voices in the background :)
Stu and I went down to visit with friends in PA. Yes, where his car got stuck in a near record-breaking snow fall last year. It didn’t snow this time.
Mmmmm... crepes. Moar! Beez!!
It was nice seeing my friend and her family again. Fondue (cheese and meat,) soup, crepes, talks. Oh, it was a good visit. An overdue visit.
Her kids were great with Teagan – they even got into fights (and trouble!) because they both wanted to do things with her at the same time. Little did they know that she’s so active she could keep them both busy. Even with her toddler sensitivities.
It was also one of the few trips where were didn’t play any geeky games. Oh well. We need to show them the Zombie Game next time. And the new expansions for Talisman. :)
Anyway, too short a trip. They live too far away. We need to discover beaming technology. Before April.
Flight Home
Home. Finally. Flight home wasn’t anywhere near as fun as getting there… of course… but we also didn’t (couldn’t) get a seat for Teagan, which would have made it a bit more pleasant. If going from a balmy 80-85 to a frigid 20 is pleasant. Also, coming home to three feet of snow at the bottom of the driveway… We’ll get that straightened out tomrrow. Now, baby’s sleeping (finally!) and we have a minute to relax and recouperate from the trip home.
Still, it’s good to be home.
As yesterday, I’ll update with a pic, when I get the camera unpacked and get a minute :)
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Updated 1/6 with pic
So, I have a bit more time than I thought… Teagan is still sleeping. :)
So, yesterday we saw someone almost drown. It was more scary than the earthquake. Stu, my sister, and I were on our way back to the rooms when this girl ran by and someone from the hotel gave her a life ring. We watched her run back to the ocean and swim out to two guys, and offer the ring. The three of them were then stuck out in the current, the rescuer needed help too.
Eventually, a surfer paddled out to help everyone. The man who initially needed help was propped on the board and the remaining three slowly moved toward shore. The waves made it a very slow process. Men on shore chained themselves out into the water to help pull everyone in. Finally, everyone was on the beach and safe.
We gave the man our towel to help. Stu talked to him a bit while he was recuperating, found out the guy was a swimmer too. Stu mentioned that he had trouble the day before, that the currents were nasty. We also found out that the second guy was a local guy, who swam out to help keep the initial man afloat while the lady got the life ring. So many good Samaritans out that day.
The flag yesterday was yellow. The day before it was red. I’m amazed that both Stu and I both know better. We will look from now on.
At dinner last night – buena noche con lechon! – Stu was talking to a cousin (Benny, of course!) who said there is at least one tourist lost each year around this time to drowning. Usually a bit further down the beach, but still.
Merry Christmas!
And as a Christmas present – some beach shots:
I guess sand tastes good. <shudder>
PS. For those that expressed concern, we’re all fine! We were in Caguas, near Agua Buena, the epicenter of the earthqake. On top of a mountain. Mom and Renee were inside; dad, Stu, myself and Teagan were outside. We heard it coming, it sounded like a train. I initially thought a truck or something large hit a retaining wall for the house or something. It only lasted about 10 seconds. At 5.4 it was the strongest quake that I’ve been “awake” for. Interesting feeling. We joked that it was a great Christmas present. Then passed the Champagne.
How can you not love having this view for breakfast?? It’s just so pretty here. Teagan is having a blast! She loves everything so far, except going in the ocean – can’t blame her, as the waves are very very rough. Both Stu and I were knocked off our feet a few times! She does love the little pool, but only if there aren’t any other kids there.
Things are going well, we have an adjoining room to my parents, so we can put Teagan down for a nap, and to bed, and not disturb her. We get a bit more adult time, and now that my sister is here, will take advantage of La La and Pop Pop (or “hop hop” as Teagan has been saying lately) and go down to the hotel bar & club.
This morning, was awesome. Teagan woke up chattering “da da da da luv luv luv.” How sweet is that? Then La La and Pop Pop took her down for breakfast and let Stu and I get ready a bit more leisurely.
We try to let her burn off some energy in the mornings as well – letting her chase the pigeons and grackles screaming “duck! duck!” And doing hand stands:
When we go for rides in the car, Teagan loves it – we ended up getting a “booster” style seat that we were able to pack in a suitcase – she’s been front facing for the first time ever. Seeing the excitement on her face when she sees things – dog, ocean, tree – is fantastic. I’ve told my dad that he needs to drive extra carefully, as Teagan’s still a bit young to be front facing.
I’m hoping that we don’t have too many issues when we get back having her rear face again!
Anyway, I have to give back my dad’s notebook.. so, that’s the update for now :)
Hope everyone is having a happy holiday – and Merry Christmas!!
So, today, and for the next two days I’ll be a single mom. Stu’s traveling for business. He left this afternoon and doesn’t get back until late late friday night. <sigh> It’s never fun dealing with the piglet alone. It’s not that I can’t take care of her by myself, or even that she gives me a hard time when Stu’s not around. It’s just that there’s no down time. I have to bounce back and forth from taking care of her to taking care of myself and the house (and cat and fish!). The only down time is really when I get to sleep. Which will be soon!!
Since the piglet’s gone to sleep, I have the house to myself. (Well, me and the cat). I’m taking advantage of Stu not being here to watch the shows that I’ve only seen half of, that I fell asleep during watching, but haven’t deleted from the DVR yet. And finishing the chocolate chip ice cream :)
It looks like I need to be more disciplined about doing entries, it seems. Oh look! Ice cream! Be right back :)
Ok, back. You have to love when your hubby brings you ice cream :)
So, I need to talk about the snowy weekend in PA. A great trip to see friends, we went to look at a house before we left, (more on that later,) and for the most part, had a great trip down. Didn’t hit any snow until just about Hershey, and then just flurries. Kept checking in to see how the snow was on the mountain, and by the time we got south of Harrisburg, it was falling hard at my friend’s house. I think they got almost 4 inches of snow in an hour. By the time we got to their mountain, we just couldn’t drive up, the car couldn’t handle the snow. We pulled over and called, hoping for a St. Bernard and a sleigh ride up the mountain. A snow plow eventually came by, and we tried to drive up again. No luck. Called to see if they could get us, after the plow had gone by. Her husband was able to drive down.
He told Stu to follow him up, through some back roads which were supposed to have less slope, and might be easier on the Honda than the main road. No luck. We got stuck just around a corner. Got into the minivan with the baby and drove up together. We’d just have to get the car out the next day.
We started saturday looking out the windows to see all 22 inches of snowfall that arrived overnight. It was still snowing. LOVELY! The kids were excited. We bundled the piglet up and all went sledding:
Waiting at the top
Getting ready to go down the hill
walking back up
Afterwards, we went inside and had lovely hot cocoa. With marshmallows. Then we had to think about getting the car out. Took my friends husband, a few snow shovels and drove off. This is the first glimpse of what the car looked like the next day:
We tried digging it out, but it was taking too long. We ended up borrowing her brother who lives around the corner… Still was taking a long time.
My friend’s husband wanted to go get his snowblower and blow it out. As I could no longer feel my fingers, I let him. Several of their neighbors stopped as we were digging, waiting and getting the snow blower ready. One of them suggested that we back the car out as the ditch had a big drop off just in front of where we had come to a stop. So, we start working on the other side. One neighbor had chains and offered to pull the car out. We ended up taking him up on the offer. We really wanted to be done and back inside. With his help, we got the car out.
Ended up playing Talisman, playing with the baby, chatting, drinking a little, laughing a lot. It was a good weekend. Even if Tegan didn’t sleep well, so I didn’t sleep well. Even though we caught a cold. We need to do this at least twice a year. If not more.
Videos :) Me! on Ravelry
Whatever! 
