December

Okay, so it's been a little while. Sorry! I've been flying solo with this operation, but hear I'll be joined in the very near future. December was a good month. Jim and I were busy at work, which is generally a good thing. Hannah was healthy and happy (up until the very end of the month, when she developed an ear infection that she's now getting medicine for). We had a great holiday season and we're looking forward to a new year.

More on the holidays... Hannah experienced her first Hannukah lighting, which she was somewhat interested (what baby doesn't like to look at fire?). Hannah loved "Dreidle dreidle dreidle," especially when I actually "dropped" from getting tired from spinning (as the dreidle does, pursuant to the lyrics, anyway). She found that pretty funny.

On Christmas eve we went up to the Gauss house for dinner. It was so nice to be welcomed into a family celebration, as we don't have family here in Denver (except for Laura Berl). Dinner was delicious and the company was even better. After dinner, Jim played dad/babysitter for Hannah, Chance and Mason (Hannah and Chance were asleep, Mason was not - Jim walked him around the house to keep him happy) while Melanie, CJ and I went to look at the lights at this one house that does an amazing job. Lots of fun.

The highlight of the month was definitely going up to Vail on Christmas day. We stayed with our friends Leigh and Kevin (and their 6-month-old Ryan, who is Hannah's buddy) at Leigh's dad's awesome condo at the Arrabelle, right above the gondola in Lionshead. Great location, and beautiful place! It was definitely a special treat.

Here's a shot of Jim and I skiing. I t was so much fun to get out there again! It had been awhile for me (March 2008) and I loved it. We got a sitter for Hannah and Ryan - sitters are expensive in Vail, but totally worth it.

Hannah and Ryan had fun playing. We had fun watching them.

Jim and Kevin went back to Denver on Sunday after we got off the slopes. Then Leigh and her mom and I, babies in tow, went into town for some pizza at Vendetta's. I had been craving it since the day before, when we tried to have lunch there but the wait was too long (and somewhere in that process my diamond earing fell out... I noticed it while we ate at the Red Lion and then went back to Vendetta's and found it! Very lucky.). Ryan fell asleep on our way into town, but then woke up while we were eating and was not a happy camper. He was pretty pissed off, in fact. We left Vendetta's with one very unhappy baby and one almost unhappy baby (Hannah was getting tired - here is a shot at Vendetta's before the eye-rubbing) and hightailed it back to the shuttle stop. All was fine - we got the babes to sleep in their pack n plays and then we enjoyed some reading.

Much to his dismay upon receiving this next photo, Jim missed the next big event. We went down to the bar at the Arrabelle to have a beer with Leigh's parents and some of their friends. Hannah was very interested in my guinness, so I gave her some (read: put the glass to her mouth and that's all). There is a photo pretty similar to this one of my dad pretending to feed me beer when I was a baby. Full circle. Jim was a little upset he missed Hannah's first guinness.

Back in Denver on Monday, Hannah and I hung out. I got some laundry done. Pretty uneventful day. I made it into work on Tuesday, only to come home to find Hannah with a fever (not sure when it started, but it was going strong at 6pm). I've basically been home with a sick baby ever since - not a ton of fun, especially when mom is also a bit sick. But she's on the mend, just an ear infection.

That's all. Happy new year, everyone.