There are times when you seem to know that charm is called for and you turn it way up. We went to both church services today and you decided you would smile and giggle and “talk” to everybody. You did the same when Auntie Antje came to visit (you had been asleep when she got home from work yesterday to meet you). You laugh like crazy when people make faces at you, hold you up to a mirror, bounce you up and down, toss you in the air, and help you wave your arms in cheer/dance moves.

You spent the afternoon helping Daddy cheer on the Seahawks, then the evening with playing Santa’s elf with Mommy, Auntie Antje and Grandma Lois at the mall searching for presents…and new socks for your rapidly growing feet.

Today was a big day. You, Mommy and Daddy took a long plane flight from Houston to Seattle for your first Christmas. You were supposed to fall asleep about 1/2 hour into the flight…and instead fell asleep 1.5 hours into the flight. This means that you were rather cranky for an hour–getting Mommy and Daddy some sympathetic looks from other passengers–before you conked out for two hours. Not having colds made taking off and landing so much easier this time around.

Our first stop was to see Grandpa Don, Grandma Lois and Auntie Antje, and to pick up our ride for the duration, the oldest of Daddy’s Volvo fleet: the tan 1977 2-door. Grandpa has been storing it for us. It is definitely a different story getting a car seat into the back seat in a 2-door compared to a 4-door.

In the evening, we went with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Carol for your first acting gig. Grandpa’s church in Edmonds does a living nativity every year with live animals and real babies. Mommy played Mary and you were baby Jesus. The first show, you were calm and awake, charming everyone with the fleecy monster pajamas and nook peeking out from beneath your swaddling clothes. The second show…let’s just say it was half hour after your bedtime (Houston time), you were hungry, and had just had enough of the bright lights, noises and cold drippy weather. You made sure everyone in the vicinity knew you were a real baby…loudly. Fortunately, a quick thinking angel brought Mary a not-so-historically-accurate bottle and you eventually fell asleep.

You and Mommy still have colds. Mostly it just means congestion and occasional coughing fits, though you have woken up several times in the early morning not happy, which means that Mommy and Daddy are very tired. Daddy took you to the doctor’s office to be sure it was only a cold. There, we learned that you are now 14 lbs 1.5 ounces, which means all the chowing down you did over the Thanksgiving holiday has paid off. Soon, you’ll reach a new milestone…size 2 diapers.

Some businesses truly deserve kudos for what they do with their social and environmental relationships. Today, we got to see an example. In Ruskin, FL, manatees often congregate near the warm water discharges at the local nuclear/coal power plant, especially if the weather is chilly. Think of it as a sea cow family spa. This power company knew that peole would visit the cove where the manatees hang out and they could have just let people come and go as they pleased (complete with hazards of parking lot runoff, garbage, boats in the cove, people getting too close to the manatees, etc.). Instead, they worked wih the local goverments to set up a manatee viewing and education center complete with boardwalks out over the cove, a solar powered visitor center, and an exhibit on what environmentally-friendly landscaping looks like in Florida.

All in all, you might not remember much from today either than that Grandma Carol got you an adorable manatee T-shirt and you got your first postcard to add to your visiting places collection (we’ll do this in the future and have you write on your postcards what you did/saw/want to remember about places you visit). Daddy and Mommy will remember that they got to see dozens on manatees for the first time including a mom with two calves, a couple very large males, and several playful manatees who liked to surface near the boardwalk and blow nose-fulls of water into the air.

You got to meet your godmother, Aunt Rachel, today. She drove to Ruskin, FL to Aunt Danielle’s to spend the day with us. Aunt Rachel was Mommy’s roommate in high school  and now teaches kindergarten in Palm Coast, FL. You and her spent the later part of the morning playing and talking, then after a lunch of yummy Thanksgiving leftovers, we braved the Black Friday crowds to take you on a walk around the mall. We found you some more adorable outfits including a couple sweatshirts since the weather in Houston has finally gotten a little chilly. You gave them your stamp of approval (i.e. chewed and drooled on them).

Auntie Rachel says she misses you and your giggles already and can’t wait to come visit us in New Mexico.

Happy first Thanksgiving! Today you had your first plane ride as you, Mommy and Daddy flew two hours from Houston Hobby to Tampa to meet your aunt Danielle, uncle Craig and cousins, Emma and Elaine. The plane ride was okay for you as you worked on your pacifier, slept in Mommy’s arms, or ate a bottle. The ride was much more painful for Mommy and Daddy who both are still under the weather with colds–stuffiness + pressure changes = unhappy.

Grandma Carol met us at the airport and took us to Emma and Ellie’s other grandparents’, Keith and Lorre’s, house for Thanksgiving dinner. Mommy and Daddy got to try their first turducken: a chicken, a duck and a turkey all deboned, seasoned and baked together as one big, tasty, hybrid bird. You got to try your first sweet potatoes, which you liked very much. Your cousins, who are 7 1/2 and 6 1/2, thought you were very cute and funny…but they did not agree with us that the noises you make constitute “talking” since they could not understand your words.

Daddy took you to the doctor’s today to check how you’re growing. At five months, you are now 13 lbs, 12 oz–still on the lightweight side (10th percentile) but growing well. You are also between clothing sizes; most of the 3 month stuff still fits around you while the 6 month stuff is long enough. We’ll check again at your 6 month appointment in January.

In the meantime, you are quite happy with apples and, surprisingly, gobbled down your zucchini with great gusto…and a lot of mess since Mommy made it a little too watery.

Today is your second day of your first cold. What started Monday night as sniffles is now continuing with stuffy nose and general discomfort. Daddy is keeping you all nice and buddled with the hope that you will sleep most of the day again today and fight off whatever bug is making you sick.

Last week, you started a new adventure: solid food. First, it was mashed up avocado. Then came Mommy’s first try with the baby food blender and your first spoonfuls of banana. You really like banana. Two days ago, it was peas. The first date with peas did not go as well. You ate them, but not with nearly as much gusto as the bananas. Yesterday, the second date went better though we have yet to capture any bright green mustache and beard pictures. On Wednesday, we’ll see how you feel about apples. After that: zucchini.

Last week, Mommy and Daddy also started a new adventure: solid food diapers…it’s a brave new world.