This year we went to my dad’s family in Harrisburg. It was a long car ride both there and back but Josie did relatively well. Unfortunately on the first morning it took us a long time to get going, everything takes forever when packing for an extra person who also demands tons of attention! We stopped at a new favorite, Reins Deli in Vernon CT:

Rein's Deli in CT

We had a wonderful meal at Cousin Sue and Jeff’s house on Christmas Eve. Josie got to meet the huge dog Zeke, she tried to kiss him, but they weren’t too sure about one another.

Josie playing with the dog toy

Jordi and Josie by the tree on Christmas Eve

Josie and Jen on Christmas Eve

Karen, Jen and Josie on Christmas Eve waiting to leave for church

As always it was a bountiful Christmas morning, although since we had opened a lot of gifts the previous weekend, gift unwrapping didn’t take all morning into the afternoon. Josie did a good job walking into the room to amazement at the gifts being , which is a family tradition that I have thankfully outgrown having to do.

Walking in on Christmas morning

Christmas morning unwrapping

As usualy Josie was initially shy with everyone, but after a day or two she started to warm up and really enjoy everyones company. Phoebe the cat was very friendly too and Josie kissed her frequently. The other cats made themselves scarce.

Cousin Ally and Abby with Josie

Josie and Abby

Sadly all good things must end and Saturday morning we packed up and went home. The trip home was shorter but not particularly easier. We had a lot of toys to amuse Josie with in the car but we still stopped frequently for changes and leg stretches. We stopped at McD’s for a potty break rather than BK so Josie could enjoy her first playplace. We sent Jordi up in the climbing structure with her, she did seem to really enjoy it. The fries would have been much better at BK, but we made the sacrifice.

Aunt Diane, Uncle Todd, Cousin Abby, Cousin Ally, Jordi, Josie, Jen and Grandma

McD's playplace

Saturday before Christmas and Hanukkah we opened gifts from people who weren’t at our holiday destination. There just wasn’t room in the car for all the loot. Josie had gotten some practice unwrapping gifts at my birthday and so she started to really get the hang of it. Unfortunately the time between pulling paper off and putting it in her mouth was still very short.

Jordi enjoyed making a fort out of Josie’s presents before she opened them. He remarked how he used to do it with his presents and realized it’s not that he got fewer now, it’s that they’re just generally smaller. Baby toys are big!

We had a great Thanksgiving although not without its challenges. Josie was sick on the day itself, even had a very low grade fever and wasn’t feeling sociable. She healed up quickly though and got back to her normal cheery self. She had a great time meeting and playing with everyone! Unfortunately she also decided that getting up at 5am was awesome, so we made some early morning trips to Starbucks to help the rest of the family get some sleep. Sunday morning we had a lovely brunch at our aunt Ana and uncle Carlos’ house for more socializing and some great family photos.

Last Saturday we got some time to use our (new england) zoo membership and go to the Miami Metrozoo. We went with Jordi’s mom, dad and paternal grandmother. It is a great zoo with lots of animals. We had a quick visit and managed to make it through the zoo and have extra fun by renting a bicycle built for 8 (6 adults and two kids). The seats were pretty tight with three across in the back but we made it work. There aren’t many cages because most of the animals are kept from (killing) you with deep ditches and moats.

Josie didn’t like riding in the front basket of the bike, but she liked being in the carrier and ‘driving’ the bike. One cool thing they let you do there (for $2) is feed the giraffes! Josie didn’t seem phased by the huge animal in her face, she was more interested in grabbing the lettuce. I was feeding the giraffe and suddenly felt something wet on my hand, I got licked! Giraffe tongue feels like a wet snake pretty much, it was clearly very strong and dexterous.

Last weekend we went to New York City with Josie to see the sights and visit with our friend Larry and cousin Will. We went to the Met, Central Park, FAO Schwarz, Chinatown, Financial district and some other places I probably forgot. Josie loved the bright lights of Chinatown at night walking around. She refused to sit in her car seat if she was awake and had to be carried by hand or in the wrap to look at everything.

We didn’t buy anything for Josie at FAO (although we did buy something for another friend) but we had a good time there. They had a nice place to change her diaper (unlike most of the restaurants). The salespeople were surprisingly staunchly pro-breastfeeding. I was looking around for a chair to nurse her in and the sales lady offered to get me a chair and put it anywhere I’d like. I told her wherever the chair already was placed was fine for me. She then told me that in NY mothers have the right to breastfeed their child anywhere it is convenient for them and again asked where I wanted the chair. I followed her to where the chairs were (in a back office) and nursed Josie there because it was nicely quiet and a non-distracting environment. Afterwards back on the sales floor another set of employees came up to me and asked if she was breastfed, I confirmed she was, and then they said ooh’d and ahh’d over her and said how smart she would be because of it.

Josie did relatively well on the road trip part of the journey, although the evening travel on the way back where we ran into traffic first from an accident and then night paving was unfortunate. The drive took a long time and went through Josie’s fussy time in the evening, but we all persevered and made it home in one piece. On the way home Josie got to see part of the gay pride parade in Greenwich Village because I was on the hunt for Magnolia’s cupcakes. Turned out the line was around the block for the bakery and so we decided not to stop after all.

Two weeks ago we had my aunt, uncle and cousins in town and we took the nice day Saturday to hike around Halibut point state park and Gloucester and Rockport. Josie slowed us down a little and we were trailing behind a bit as evidenced by these pictures but it was a good trip in all! Can you spot the baby in the last picture?