Karmann experienced her second trip to Illinois on her 1st birthday. She was great on the flight - of course! She had had an ear infection the week before and was taking antibiotics (yuck) but got a clean check the Friday before. We went back to the doctor to check and make sure, in fear of the cabin pressure causing her problems, but she was good to go.
We landed in Bloomington and it was cold and dreary. I told Kris that good old Illinois didn't let me down - I was expecting cold, gray, dreary dry weather, and it was! We celebrated Karmann's birthday with grandma, papa, mom and dad and had a piece of caramel apple cake! The big party was coming up with the whole family on Christmas day!
The next day Aunt Keri, Uncle Choy and Cousin Amara made it home. It started snowing that day, and by the afternoon, there was enough on the ground to go play. So we bundled Karmann up and headed outside. Her cousin Amara was having a great time with Papa, too. He pulled her around the yard behind the tractor. He even got Grandma to take a ride! Karmann stayed in my arms, but was passively catching snowflakes in her eyelashes! It was too cute!! She loved watching all the action.
The next few days we spent Christmas shopping while Karmann stayed at home with Grandma. We actually didn't have many gifts purchased, so we finished up in Bloomington. The rest of those days were spent cooking, baking, and wrapping.
On the 23rd, Kris, Karmann and I headed east to Danville to pick up Great Nannie and continue on to Indianapolis to see Uncle Adam, Aunt Delana, GG and Gramps, and Aunt Esmer and Uncle Jay and Cousin Jaymer too. Karmann showed off her somewhat walking skills, and got reacquainted with everyone. It was a quick trip, but well worth seeing all the family.
We then headed back to Bloomington for Christmas Eve. The Stenger tradition is to go to church in the evening, get home and have appetizers, and then open gifts. G. Nannie also is part of the tradition, though she wasn't feeling too good with a cough and didn't make it to church this time. At church, Karmann met a lot of babies and got to show off her adorable little Christmas dress and shoes! She was too cute! A funny thing that happened was when we headed to the car after, we had Karmann all bundled up in her coat and cute little hat with ear flaps, but as soon as we went outside and the cold air hit her face, she yelped! As if to say "why the heck am I in the north in winter" - it was too funny! It must be a reflex, or a Florida girl's reaction! Karmann, I was thinking the same thing! Anyway, I'll never forget that!
When we got home, it was time for gifts! Karmann actually stayed up and was entertained by all the action - especially watching Amara play "elf." She received a lot of very nice things, especially savings bonds, clothes and books! She got a few toys, too of course! But it was a very nice evening.
Christmas day was also a great day. GG and Gramps came to Bloomington to share the day with the Stengers. Also, Aunt Lillian, Jan and Vicki came to celebrate Karmann's 1st birthday with the whole family. Again, Karmann was all dressed up in another Christmas dress that Gramps picked out ( it reminded him of a little lady bug!) It was a great day - too short, of course. GG, Gramps and G. Nannie headed back to Danville, as the snow was starting to really come down and the roads were getting worse as the day went on. We got some great photos of everyone (Thanks Uncle Charlie!)
The next day was Stenger extended family Christmas. Again, lots of family came to celebrate, and did I mention through all of this, there was a huge delicious meal at each event? Well, this day did not disappoint!
Sadly, on Sunday, we would head back to Orlando. After packing Saturday night, and needing an entire other suitcase to get everything home, we headed to bed. Over the week, both Karmann and I developed a stuffy, mucky nose. I was concerned again about the flight, but the plan was again to nurse while taking off and hope she would sleep on the flight. We got to the airport (keeping in mind there was about 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground, which was beautiful!) and the flight was an hour delayed. We knew it had left the original airport, so it was bound to land. Once it got there, it took about an hour to get everyone loaded. Then, we had to de-ice the plane. This took forever - almost 2 hours! Karmann couldn't wait to nurse, so she actually slept during the delay. She woke up in take off and was awake the entire flight. She was really good, though so no complaints!
Home sweet home.
Monday was Karmann's 1 year doctor check up. She is now 18 lbs-15 oz., is 29 3/4" tall, and her head grew another inch in circ! She's still in the 75% for height and 50% for weight. All on track! After a thorough inspection, it came to be that she had another ear infection on the other side - blamed on the weather and air travel. So more antibiotics (yuck) were prescribed. Poor baby!
That evening Grandma flew down to Florida for the week! Karmann's daycare was closed that week, so she and Karmann got some one-on-one time in warmer weather. The other benefit of this was that Kris and I were able to actually go-out for New Years Eve! We went and saw the movie "Avatar" in 3D at the IMAX theater on I drive. It was well worth it! And we enjoyed our time together. Uncle Choy, Aunt Keri and Amara also headed to Orlando to spend the night and celebrate bringing in the new year. Again, it was fun hanging out with family! Friday was low-key, too. Grandpa Bob came down to visit and we all had lunch at Olive Garden together (Amara's choice and favorite).
And that was it! Grandma headed back early Saturday morning and the holidays were officially over! Karmann did accomplish to walk more on her own when she got home, and in the midst of all the commotion, she FINALLY got her 8th tooth on the bottom, so she's no longer going to be asymmetrical on the bottom. She's working hard on more, too. She's also picked up blowing kisses, which I don't know how, but she all the sudden started doing it while skyping with GG yesterday! She also is an expert paddy-cake doer! I swear she is so smart! I'm pretty sure she understands about everything we say, and she loves to talk back. She's even let us hear her very strong opinion a couple of times! We can only image what she thinks she's saying, as it sounds like she is cussing us out when she gets mad - it really is funny!
Well, I've decided to stop here. I know there's a lot more to tell you about but I will have to add more in later posts. Since I've been all words this time, here's a link to our Christmas photos. They are not in any order, and are a mix of different cameras, etc. Enjoy!
Happy New Year everyone - best of luck in 2010!
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