December 2009

December Begins


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The beginning of December was lots of fun. I think the best part of the first weeks was watching Mikey smile for the first time. He also took his first trip to the Department for the end of the semester pizza party where he met the faculty, staff and students of Physics and Astronomy.

He also began exploring his hands with his mouth. He started by attempting to suck his thumb but it was curled inside his fingers so he would wind up either sucking the nuckle where his thumb meets his hand or sucking his whole fist. Then he tried opening his fist to free his thumb, which was a good plan if he did it when his hand was NOT in his mouth. Otherwise he would get an explosion of fingers like a finger firework if you will. By the end of the month he had discovered how to access his thumb without all the complications.

We set up a pack-n-play in the living room so we didn't have to move the bassinet in and out of the bedroom. The pack-n-play has a mobile but the animals that come with it are these lame little white bears. So I replace those with three rattles from the DeCamps - a red rooster, a pink piggy, and a black and white cow. At the beginning of the month, Mikey's favorite was the piggy. He couldn't take his eyes off it. By the end of the month he changed his preference to the cow. over the course of the four months it was fun to watch Mikey and he watched the mobile going around and around. His attention span got longer and he can now track an animal all the way around the circular path it takes above his head.

Also at the beginning of the month: Grandma and Grandpa Uzelac return. One of the first things on their agenda was to help us decorate the house for Christmas. Grandpa went with Mike and Jen to cut a wild Christmas tree and Grandma held the baby while Julie and Mike unpacked ornaments and placed them on the tree. The really wonderful thing about unpacking all the ornaments was putting some up that had never been on a tree before. You see, Mike and I have traveled for nearly every Christmas since we were married so we never had a real tree before. Meanwhile, my family continued the tradition of giving us ornaments every year. So we had stockpiled a couple-dozen ornaments.

Christmas Round One


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I am dividing the Christmas holidays in two - marked by Alex and Nichole's trips to Missoula. Unfortunately, Alex and Nichole could not overlap their trips. So we got to celebrate everything twice. First, we celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa Uzelac, Grandma and Grandpa Schneider, and Uncle Alex. Then we celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa Uzelac, Grandma and Grandpa Schneider, and Aunt Nichole, Uncle Dave and doggy-cousin Ellie.

12/17: Grandma and Grandpa Schneider arrived in Missoula.
12/18: Watched the Griz game until Uncle Alex arrived in Missoula
12/19: Spent the day hanging with Uncle Alex
12/20: The family spends the day together in our house
12/21: Dinner at the Schneider's rental house
12/22: Spend the day with Alex
12/23: Tour the Department - Mike shows off his lab and does the flametube demo; Christmas celebration #1
12/24: Alex leaves early in the morning; dinner with just the Schneiders; Christmas celebration #2


Christmas Round Two


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12/25: Aunt Nichole and Uncle Dave arrive; Christmas celebration #3
12/26: Yoga with Aunt Nichole
12/27: Mikey's two months old! A surprise baby shower; The Schneiders last day in town.
12/28: Mikey's first trip to downtown - with Nichole and Dave
12/29:
12/30:
12/31: Dave's birthday; First First Night Missoula
1/1: Nichole's birthday celebration
1/2: Mikey's first ride in the stroller - we walk to Bonner Park with Nichole, Dave and Ellie
1/3: Nichole and Dave leave

Whole Lotta Love

In the first six weeks of motherhood I have been contemplating love. Until now I have been really working on my marriage. I feel like I have a good handle on what it means to love Mike and to be loved by him. When Mikey arrived I didn't really recognize my love for my son. It is a new kind of love and one that I look forward to learning.

Christmas is Coming!

As Christmas celebrations neared, our excitement grew. A fresh snowfall made our house particularly festive. With hope of a white Christmas to share with our family who were flying in from Michigan and southern California, Mike snuck outside around 5AM (we were awake anyhow) to take pictures of our home as it was decorated for the holidays.