Wow, I'm behind!

Well, I know I haven't posted in a while, so I've got lots to update everyone on. I'll try and do this in chunks in the right time period.

First off, a belated happy birthday to my sister Marie, who had her birthday on December 15th. We were unable to celebrate with her on her birthday, but my parents went out with her and Michael and Michaela to Horatio's on the water in San Leandro, a very nice restaurant.

After that we moved my parents into our home on December 19th, a Monday, which seemed like it had all the possibility of ending in disaster since it had poured rain on the 18th and had all the signs of raining on Monday. But we lucked out and it stayed mostly dry and got most of my parents moved in. The first few days looked like a diaster area, as boxes were piled up everywhere. But my mom made short order of all the boxes and got them unpacked quickly, so that we could hold Christmas dinner at our house.

My aunt Lih-Ping, her husband Jun, my uncle Tao, his wife Cathy, their sons Jeff and Eric, and the rest of my family were the invited guests for Christmas eve dinner. My older sister was there with her kids Amelia and Daniel, and of course my sister Marie, Michael and Michaela. We had a gift exchange where every one drew numbers to see which present they would get in the exchange.

Little Lauren was a little too small to really understand her first Christmas and in fact slept through half the evening before waking up to join us later after most of the presents were unwrapped. Lars went to the trouble of making a prime rib for dinner that turned out fabulous. It was so good that even my father had some, the first meat he's eaten since his cancer diagnosis.

So that was Christmas, pictures coming soon.

As for Little Lauren, she continues to grow and to amaze us. At about 5 months she started to sit up on her own, so now she likes to sit up and play with her toys. That is until she gets tired and then she just flops over. So we have to keep soft pillows or carpeting around her. She also holds her own bottle now when she's being fed. She's also started on solid foods. She's had rice cereal and seems to enjoy it. Applesauce on the other hand seems less than desireable to her. Her teeth have started to come in, so everything goes in her mouth to help her teething pain and she drools everywhere.

She knows who is holding her, and who she wants to hold her. So if she doesn't want you to hold her she turns away, but if she does, she'll hold out her arms to you. Of course we had the most adorable pictures of Lauren over both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

After Christmas we went to Las Vegas for New Years. My parents, Lars, Lauren and myself. The first plane trip for Lauren. As many of you know, we tell everyone what a great and easy baby Lauren is to care for. On the plane ride out to Las Vegas, she made us look like horrible parents. As soon as we got on the plane she started screaming. She didn't stop screaming until the plane took off and she fell asleep. It was a combination of how tired she was and how over-stimulated she was from all the travel excitement.

She slept the entire plane ride over to Vegas and didn't wake up until we landed. In Vegas she held her own, being very sociable and good-natured. She greeted strangers with smiles, and seemed to enjoy all the different scenery. Meanwhile my parents enjoyed themselves in the Bellagio casino and restaurants.

The plane ride back to San Jose was less traumatic, and Lauren also slept through the entire plane trip back, mostly because we were on a late flight.

Now that we're back, I've got to work on getting the house my parents were staying in ready to be rented. It needs to be emptied and then cleaned and painted before being rented out. The good news is I've already got a rental application! So getting it rented shouldn't be too difficult.