Christmas in Michigan 2015

Nothing makes for perfect blog weather like a  blizzard! Rob and I have been enjoying a nice, relaxing and slow day snowed in. So here I am, catching up on a few entries I've been meaning to record!

Rob and I have tried to make a point to take turns spending Christmas with either of our families during the holiday. This year, it was our turn to go to Michigan. It was even more perfect, since we were already relocated to Maryland. We decided to make the alleged 8.5 hour drive (which turned out to be more like 12-13 with stops, traffic delays, and some unanticipated snowfall). Surprisingly, Uriah did amazingly well with the commute and slept most of the way, with no hiccups in nighttime sleep either! 

It was an interesting road trip since we also took Sophie with us! It was fun to be able to bring Sophie on vacation with us ( we were in MI for 10 days). She took turns sleeping in our laps and whining out the window.

We had a nice time in Michigan. It was really great getting to spend some quality time with Mom Taylor. It was a nice, relaxing trip. It was fun having Daryl, Cal and the gang, Monica and her group all get to meet Uriah for the first time. Uriah had just started his separation anxiety phase, so it took him a bit to warm up to everyone, but by the end of the trip, he was more comfortable. He took to Monica right away though! She credits it to FaceTime and Uriah being used to her voice. Aunty Ashley also fed Uriah, and Aunty Karmen and Aunty Cassidy took turns holding Uriah. Cassidy was particularly fond of Uriah, and wanted to carry and hold him as much as she could! I didn't mind, either, having such a doting helper :) 

Aunty Monica!

Cassidy loved her some Uriah! <3

Opening presents with Grandma Taylor

 

Uncle Calvin loved Uriah

These two were holding hands for the LONGEST time. So sweet!!!

While we were in Michigan, we decided to go to the mall to take pictures with Santa! The wait was about an hour, and Uriah was pretty tired, but the waiting rooms were so entertaining! They had fake snow falling from the ceiling, snoopy Christmas videos playing, and Christmas music. By the end of it all, Uriah was so tuckered out!

Ran out of fumes 

This present is delicious!

Aunty Tiff

 The unfortunate part of our trip was that Uriah (along with about 7 other family members!) caught a nasty stomach virus. Uriah woke us up vomiting, and I thought he was just spitting up. An hour later, he was vomiting again, and when I checked on him, his outfit was soaked. I changed him, then started to nurse him, and he started vomiting again! He ended up vomiting 7 times in a 1.5 hour span. We were worried since he is so small and was not able to keep anything down, so we took him to the Emergency Room at Genesys. The doctors seemed pretty unconcerned and chalked it up to a bug that was going around. After waiting a few hours and having them run an x-ray to rule out other more serious conditions, we were on our way home. Uriah was sick a total of about 4 days, each day doing better. Rob and I caught the same bug, though thankfully, we caught it when we had already driven home (we got it the very next day from getting home!) It completely wiped us out. Thankfully, it was gone as quickly as it came. 

My poor baby :(

He looks so sad

and since we don't want to end on a sad note, let's compare crinkle nose grimace and smile pics... LOL
Uriah's been really into this smile lately!!

Olivia Pope Reports: Christmas at the White House!

It is 12:39 a.m. and I am still wired. So here I am finishing the blog that I've been meaning to complete! Also - we are in the middle of a blizzard. Something about a blizzard makes me want to cozy up on the couch with my sleeping dog and work on my blog! So here goes:

Our family was lucky enough to be able to go on a tour of the White House a few weekends ago. We were majorly assisted by Angela's Mom to get our application reviewed, and we were offered to "jump on" to another local family's tour. Normally, tours of the white house take a lot of advance notice (we had to write our senator to request permission, and once processed, complete a background check), but they are particularly busy during Christmas because the White House gets absolutely DECKED OUT with christmas flair!

The tour started at 8am, and we needed to check in to the tour 15 minutes early. On top of that, we needed to meet even earlier with the Hawaii family (who we had never previously met) to coordinate our entry ticket, which they held. So we planned on meeting at 730 a.m. near the Treasury side of the white house. We live about 40 minutes away from D.C. with no traffic, and since we had no idea how traffic would affect our commute, we opted to stay in D.C. within walking distance of the White House. If you haven't had a chance to read the Yelp review I wrote of our hotel, please do so here: 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/harrington-hotel-washington?hrid=1LQoK8fZPBz7SOmIuOvzIQ&utm_campaign=www_biz_share_page_share_review&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)

 I venture to say you will find it wickedly delightful. The moral of the story is: it was scary, it was expensive, and we were not murdered despite our fears of the same.

We walked the two blocks to the White House (it really doesn't get much more prime than that!!) decked in our winter gear (it was, after all, 34 degrees while we were walking outside) and made it on time, which is a record for the Taylor family. Everyone knows we generally arrive fashionably late to most occasions. We met our group, then walked through four different guard shacks where we had to have our ID and name verified against their printed list. Our last and final screen involved the same type of screen at the airport. The security was crazy, but totally understandable considering the circumstances. Secret Service was also swarming at every corner, and while they were polite enough, it was still somewhat intimidating!

He said he technically couldn't pose, but allowed me to get his photo - Secret Service. Chillin. With guns and bulletproof vests. This was from our first trip to D.C.

Waiting to start our tour!

Every single room in the White House was decorated with Christmas trees. It was so beautiful, and smelled wonderful. Every room also had different themes. I think the Christmas spirit made the tour that much more special. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to see the White House decorated so elaborately. 

Section dedicated to service members on deployments

Rob sending a Merry Christmas e-mail to deployed troops

Hallway of beautiful hanging snowflakes.
Every state had their own snowflake.

EO! Found em!

 

Fine China from multiple presidents

 

beautiful presidential portraits throughout the white house

The largest room in the white house. It is used for wedding receptions, parties, and even held the bodies of assassinated presidents (I know they said Abraham Lincoln's body was held in this room post mortem)

HUGE, GORGEOUS TREE! Red, white, and blue.

 

My favorite room was decorated like Babes in Toyland!

 

 

GIANT gumball machine

The president is often seen coming down these steps to do state of the union addresses 

The exit...

Which is what everyone sees as the "front" of the white house (see pillars)

Uriah is 6 Months!

Uriah just made six months! (jaw drops, cue flabbergast!) I cannot believe how quickly time has gone. It's a weird phenomenon when time feels like it stands still while simultaneously rushing by; I feel like I just had Uriah, but it also seems so long since I was pregnant...or slept an uninterrupted night :P But! enough about me! 

Uriah is progressing so well. He is so smart - and I'm not just saying that because I'm his mom and am totally biased. He continues to be curious and observant of all things. Sometimes, it can be exasperating because he will find interest in EVERYTHING! If I am trying to lay him down on the bed, he will find the tag on the pillow and tug. I move the pillow, and his nail scrapes the sheets. What a FUN sound! (rapid "scrape! scrape! scrape! scrape!" successions follow) When you really think about it, though, what an exciting world babies are just discovering. Literally everything is brand new and uncharted territory. There is a beautiful innocence to the novel wonderment. He also had his six month shots recently (4 at once! yikes!), and while he cried, he recovered quickly and was just a little sleepy and out of it for the following two days. He is such a good baby.

poor little guy

4 shots - the plights of growing up!

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Current stats:
Height - 90% of age group! He was 27.5 inches at his check-up

Weight - 37% of age group! Just under 17 pounds. He is long and lean! Still on the slender side, but his pediatrician is not concerned, nor are we, as his temperament is pleasant between feedings. Hopefully he keeps his svelte figure and doesn't have to try as hard as mom and dad to keep it off!

Head Circumference - of course he was in the 90%. People always are surprised he is only {insert whatever age here when they ask}, and I think it's because they see his big head! Luckily, he carries it well and I'm sure he will grow into that, too.
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Things Uriah LOVES right now:
-Sophie. ALWAYS. They are joined at the hip. Of all of the family members, Sophie gets Uriah to smile the easiest and quickest. He just loves Sophie. Sophie is also strangely drawn to him. I say strangely because every time they are close, Uriah is pulling her hair, legs, etc. yet Sophie, like a moth to a flame, can't help but to go back for more. Das one potagee dog.

-Being read to. Uriah can sit through an entire book, riveted, just staring at the pictures, and feeling the pages. He also wants to eat the pages. Obviously, he is all about books for many reasons.

 


-Drinking water (we only give him little). He loves trying to drink from a cup, or our hydroflasks. We bought him a little sippy cup and I swear getting sips of water between his food is his favorite part of eating!
-Singing. Uriah will stop what he is doing and listen to music during a commercial, to a song playing on our phone, or when we are singing. He also loves to sing with me! I was able to capture a few videos of him singing with me. :)

-Jumping. Uriah has really strong legs and loves jumping up and down in his bouncer (thank you aunty Leihua Stewart!). He spends hours a day in there bouncing. I get tired just watching him!

-Being tickled. Uriah is very ticklish and loves being kissed on his cheek/neck, and tummy!

-Going for walks. Our community is so beautiful, and we have been really trying to take advantage of the beautiful weather and quiet neighborhood. I have been walking with Uriah almost every afternoon just to get us out of the house and looking at all of the beautiful things God created for us!

-Grabbing things. Little Mr. Grabby Pants grabs everything in sight. Sophie's hair, christmas tree, newspaper, phones, chargers, blankets, toys, really whatever is laying around he will grab it! He is a quick draw, too, so we always have to be prepared!

***
Milestones:
-Rolls over all day every day. Last update he was not yet rolling very much. Fast forward to now and he is a rolling fanatic. Back to front, front to back, he is all over the place! The curious nature helps because he will roll himself closer to things. 

-He also scoots backwards. Not a crawl, but we will place him somewhere and he will maybe end up a body length or two back from where he started! I know all of these things are precursors to crawling, and mischief!

-Eating pureed baby food! He is still predominantly nursing (and no supplementing! yay me!), but we have starting to incorporate pureed stage 1 foods (simple 1 ingredient veggie mixes) for fun. He had a rough time at first (even with Hanalei sweet poi!) but I mixed a little breastmilk with it and things have been going much better! So far, Uriah has tried poi, green beans, and sweet potato. Sweet potato appears to be the favorite of the bunch. Green beans easily the worst! Uriah still gets a formula bottle to go to sleep but other than that, it's me and the purees.

Let's get something straight: the smile is bc of Mommy, NOT the green beans!

-Recognizes his name.

-Recognizes Mom and Dad (and also recognizes and usually hates when they leave the room. Stranger anxiety, on its way!)

-Sleeping in crib (in our room, as he still gets up in the night to nurse)

Uriah continues to be such a friendly, happy, and pleasant baby. We are so blessed to be his parents!