outings

violet is so much more interested in the world these days, and the evening fussiness has really been on the decline - either that, or we're just better at management. she's warming up to toys and will smile and coo at bunnies, monkeys, and other brightly colored animals. i keep reading how no toy will be as interesting as our human faces, but i honestly think her longest conversation has been with a plastic teddy bear head that plays music. i'm sorry we don't have video capabilities yet because the interaction is priceless.

my mom's friend gave her a bouncy seat, and violet will now sit and play in it contentedly for a good ten minutes. i can take showers during the day again! it's very exciting. i read that baby whisperer book this week and took away some useful advice, most significantly to set the baby down when she's calm and pick her up when she fusses. that's been working well for us, thankfully, since we're on a four-week countdown to daycare. in the past i'd avoid setting her down because i knew it'd set her off, and although it does eventually, i'm more confident in my ability to calm her now, so we're working up to longer stretches. i'm also getting her in the crib for about half of her naps (sometimes literally the first half, before i have to coax her through the sleep cycle change and let her nap on me for the second). baby steps. ba dum chhh.

we made it down to san diego and back for thanksgiving - our first big road trip - and much fun was had. the dogs gave us more grief in the car than violet. rudy always pukes at least once, and every time i vow not to feed him breakfast before the drive, but every time i cave in - this time i gave him a half bowl - and regret it. but on the baby steps front, he made it all the way back to los angeles on sunday with a stomach of steel before he unloaded all over the (sheet-covered) floor less than a block from our house. man we love that guy.



then on tuesday my mom came up and gave me a needed nudge (/shove) to embark on another outing - taking violet to the grove to see santa. since violet can never seem to make it through the sleep cycle bump while napping in her stroller, she woke up at half-nap while we were just finishing lunch at the farmer's market (oh most delicious crepe of my life), so we decided to just race her to santa. no line. her shrieks meant business the moment she hit santa's lap, so we quickly adjourned to the nordstrom ladies lounge and promised we'd be back when she wasn't so hungry. but by the time we got back at 3:40pm, santa was on break until 4:30pm - no way violet would make it until then.



i resisted telling violet all the naughty things that "playing reindeer games" might entail. instead we took a picture by the snowman.



(oh by the way, i know violet is technically too young/small to face out in the baby bjorn - usually we still do the moby - but she has great head control and seriously loves it more than anything. i only let her do it for very short periods. she rarely liked being shoulder- or cradle-carried, so she's been facing out in our arms since about day three. when people ask how old she is, i just lie three months to avoid the scrutiny. she is almost there!)

nana was SO DISAPPOINTED about missing santa, and my heart just broke for her. after all, violet got all dolled up for the occasion.



luckily kevin is a genius and suggested we just try again the next morning, which we did. we only wish dada could have joined us too. when santa asked what violet wants for christmas, violet replied, "milk" (pronounced "mrah!" in babyspeak). ah, the milk jokes never get old.