60 Reasons to Celebrate

Our trip to Alabama was full of celebrations.

My mom (aka Memaw) celebrated her 60th birthday during our visit, and had a fantastic birthday get together with friends and family. Here's a few shots of Virginia with the birthday girl.

We also celebrated the upcoming addition of a new baby to our group of high school girlfriends. Ashley Harwell Norton is expecting her first baby - a girl - so the usual suspects threw her a shower during the holidays. We've been experiencing quite a baby boom these days. Stacy and Katherine just had their second children, Allie is expecting her second, and Lauren is expecting her third! Needless to say, there were quite a few babies in attendance at the event. Virginia enjoyed meeting Maya Efrat, John Marshall Rathmell, and Cate McCammon for the first time.

Baby's First Christmas

We had a fantastic time celebrating Virginia's first Christmas in Alabama this year and spending time with friends and family.

On Christmas Eve, Wormy attended her very first candlelight service at First United Methodist. She entertained our seatmates by deciding to blow very loud and very wet raspberries during a serious and quiet part of the service. Oh well!

On Christmas Day, the whole Webb clan came over to my parents' home to eat lunch and open gifts. Virginia joined the feast perched high in her high chair and proceeded to hold court. She was in a fantastic mood and happily gnawed on a can of Tab for most of the meal. It didn't take long for her to understand what being a Southerner is! On her next trip, we'll let her try RC cola and moonpies for sure.

Virginia was a little too young to understand the concept of presents - she was most entertained by the wrapping paper they came in and how she could crinkle it. Wrapping paper aside, her favorite Christmas gift was a "Go Baby Go" activity center from Memaw and PaPa. She spent most of the holiday practicing her pulling up and cruising skills on it. Big hit.

I'm happy to report that Virginia behaved quite well for both of the long cross-country flights, so that was a relief - for us and for our neighboring passengers!

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus

Virginia can't wait for Santa to arrive!

Formula for Success

After 8 full months of only getting breastmilk, Virginia got her first formula! My efforts at pumping while at work were frustrating and increasingly futile, so we decided that it was time to start slowly making the switch. It was a hard decision to come to - San Francisco culture is militantly anti-formula and there is a certain sense of guilt that comes with making the switch prior to one year. But most of my working friends didn't make it breastfeeding as long as I did, so I decided to be proud of what we accomplished and move on!

I was a bit worried how Virginia would react - would we have to mix pumped milk and formula over a period of several days to get her used to the taste? Well, my worries were completely unfounded. Virginia took her first bottle without flinching a bit. She has had no problem with the switch - the girl just likes to eat!

Here's a photo of her chowing down in her high chair using her mesh feeder.

Great Eight!

Virginia is now 8 months old! On her birthday, she visited Dr. Oken and had a great checkup. She's 17 pounds, 4 ounces, and is 50th percentile for both height and weight. She's mastered sitting up since she last saw Dr. Oken at her 6 month appointment, and she has also started pulling up. She's still doing a "commando" crawl, but she's getting her legs into the action much more, so we think that she is on her way to doing the classic cross-crawling soon. She's extremely mobile at this stage - we are childproofing like crazy, but she's always one step ahead.

Virginia's likes and activities at this age: She loves doorstops, mirrors, and anything with a bell in it. Her favorite toy is the silver rattle from her godmother, Amy (the girl has expensive taste!). She won't let anyone hold or cuddle her for more than a split second - she immediately begins squirming and arching her back to get down on the floor to play. She is fascinated with feet and shoes. She also has learned to shake her head back and forth as if to signal a vigorous no - she doesn't know what it means yet, but we're a little worried how defiant she might turn out to be once she figures it out! She loves giving me "kisses" when I return home from work which basically consist of an open-mouthed sliming of my cheek. No teeth yet - and no sign of them anytime soon according to Dr. O - so we are enjoying her toothless baby grin for now.

Santa Baby

Like her parents, Virginia is quite a fan of the Christmas holidays. She helped us put up lights on the front of our house and has already modeled quite a few red and green outfits while her parents were in pursuit of the perfect Christmas card photo. Next week, she plans to pick out her first Christmas tree, bake holiday cookies, and visit Santa. Busy girl!

Pulling Her Weight

We knew that our move to the new house in Alameda would be soon followed by a number of big milestones for Virginia. She's been increasingly mobile and alert - it is a joy to watch!

While not technically crawling yet, she's a complete speed demon at her modified crawling method. We lovingly call her method of locomotion her "wounded soldier" impersonation because she mainly uses her upper body to drag her lower body along afterwards. We've begun the childproofing of our new house because she's already showing a strong interest in outlets and doorstops.

This week, Virginia's big feat was learning to pull up! Here's a video of her with her nanny, Kim, demonstrating her new skill for one of the first times.

First Thanksgiving

Virginia had a blast celebrating her first Thanksgiving at Grammy and Poppy's house in Piedmont. She got to sit in the same high chair that her daddy used many years ago. Her dinner was mainly of the pureed variety, but she did some serious damage to the breadsticks.

Wormy and the Brain

Virginia recently has been devoting herself to higher learning. She has become a serious student of the physical sciences, carefully analyzing any object she encounters by placing it in her mouth. Here she is reading a treatise on Western Civilization.

We are concerned that this new knowledge may have gone to her head. Here is Virginia striking her "Pinky and the Brain" pose as she prepares to take over the world.

Lil' Stinker's New Trick

Yesterday, Wormy added a new item to her bag of tricks. Our nanny Kim put Virginia down on all fours and let her do her standard pre-crawl rocking. Kim then ran to hang up a towel, and when she turned her head around, Virginia was sitting on her bottom. Apparently, she has figured out how to shift her legs forward and sit.

This may not seem like much, but we are told it is the precursor to various other forms of mobility, particularly full-blown crawling. And all signs indicate that Virginia is almost ready to pull herself up with her arms, too.

Looks like the move to a house with childproofing is coming not a moment too soon.

Splish Splash, I Was Taking A Bath

Virginia is a huge fan of bathtime. Lately, she's been creating a lot of mopping cleanup work for Mommy!

Downward Facing Dog

Virginia is entering her golden age of baby trick learning. Last week we saw advancements in manual manipulation of the pacifier and improved combat crawling. This week she is perfecting her yoga pose of Downward Facing Dog.

Movin' Out

We officially began packing this weekend. All our books are now packed up. Virginia was good enough to test our boxes for us, measuring both durability and moisture resistance.

Sitting in the Vicinity of the Dock of a Bay

Wormy really has got the sitting thing down. Check her out!

Here Comes My Head

If Virginia is interested in it -- and she usually is -- then Virginia goes after it. And she goes after it with deadly accuracy. No holds barred. For example, if it's a cool black camera that Daddy is using to take pictures, and Virginia takes a shining to it, then she lurches toward it before Daddy can snap the photo.

Happy Halloweenie!

After much deliberation, Virginia decided to dress as a Frankfurter for the big day. Mom and Dad had very special German bar maid and lederhosen costumes to complete the look.

Virginia was not amused...

Our House Is a Very, Very, Very Fine House

An advance photo of our new house in Alameda. We close November 20th!

Skeletons in the Closet

Virginia is getting pretty excited about Halloween tomorrow. Today, she dressed up as a super scary pirate skeleton and visited Daddy at work.

Cuteness Factor: High

Virginia likes the weekend as much as us. She gets to hang out in her PJs!

But mostly I'm just posting this picture because she looks really cute.

Creepy Crawler

At 6 1/2 months, Virginia has suddenly become a very mobile baby. She can scoot and roll all over the room and rarely stays on the blanket we put down on the floor anymore! Her latest development is pushing herself up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. She is quite proud of this feat.

Babbling and Boo

Virginia is just in the early stages of true babbling - repeating a consonant/vowel combination over and over again. While many of my friends' babies have started with "ba, ba, ba," Virginia was smart enough to think of something more appropriate for the month of October. In celebration of Halloween, Virginia has been saying "boo, boo, boo!" She somehow combines the word with blowing a raspberry, so babbling is quite a saliva-filled affair.

Here is a picture of our little ghost all decked out in her Halloween attire (pumpkins+rear end=cute). She has an extra special costume planned for Halloween itself, so stay tuned.

Let's Get Moving

We are excited to announce that Wormy is about to move to a new home! Thomas and I made an offer on a beautiful home in Alameda's Gold Coast and it was accepted. We close November 20, so we will be spending our Thanksgiving holidays surrounded by boxes. We'll go by and take a photo soon.

Pears Are An Acquired Taste

Yes, this is actually the face that Virginia made when she tried pears. Her first fruit.

But after further thought and reflection, Virginia ultimately concluded that pears actually are pretty sweet and yummy. After a few more mealtimes, she is now eagerly powering through them. And she's moving on to apples too.

Wormy Tries Food

Also in celebration of her six month birthday, Wormy was introduced to her first taste of big girl food. For the last several months she had shown serious interest in what mommy and daddy were eating. She grabbed for and gnawed on just about everything, including Coke bottles, Wheat Thins boxes, and daddy's beer bottles. So after dining only on breast milk for six months, Virginia got her chance to sample rice cereal.

Rice cereal is the "gateway drug" of big girl food: once you prove you like it and are capable of handling it, you move on to bigger things. Virginia's immediate reaction was skepticism, but after some coaxing (and allowing her to control the spoon), she found the rice cereal to be worthy of her attention. Frankly, I'm surprised it went as easily as it did, because this food is absolutely unappealing. All of the charm of oatmeal with none of the flavor or nutritional benefits.

The scene was a little like Cookie Monster eating a cookie: a lot of frantic activity without any actual swallowing of food. In the end, though, Virginia did pretty well. At least a few mouthfuls actually went down her throat. A few more days of this and she graduates to the next level. Next up: fruits and vegetables!

VW's Jumperoo!

For Virginia's six month birthday, Leslie and I finally busted out the Fisher-Price jumperoo for her jumping enjoyment. Virginia was easily leaning up in her bouncy seat, which is supposed to be the hallmark of a baby ready for jumperoo action.

Her little legs didn't quite make it down to the floor, even on the lowest setting, so we placed a towel underneath. Now she can swivel around, push off, and jump. She's still sorting out all the entertainment options on it, but seems to be having a good time. It has not been the surprise smash hit that Aunt Meg and Uncle Steve's exersaucer proved to be, but we think it is growing on her.

Daddy is a Yale Man

This weekend, Thomas and I headed to Connecticut with Virginia to celebrate the Whiffenpoofs' Centennial. Virginia made a cameo appearance at the Friday night concert and then spent Saturday night with Uncle Steve and Aunt Meg while Mommy and Daddy had their first overnight outing without her. We had a great time visiting Gram and all the other Macks, and Wormy was well-behaved for her babysitters (or at least we were told she was!).

Virginia sporting her Whiffenpoof gear:

Whiffenbaby meets Whiffenbaby-to-be... Alexa went into labor the afternoon after this picture was taken!:

Visiting with Gram:

Virginia loved her exersaucer:

Sweet Child O' Mine

Virginia has been spending time with Daddy learning the canon of '80s hair band rock. The star that burns brightest in this magnificent constellation is, without a doubt, the incomparable Guns N' Roses.

We've gotten through Appetite for Destruction and parts of the Lies EP and Use Your Illusion albums. So far, Virginia's favorite (no surprise) is Sweet Child O' Mine. She thinks the band kind of went down hill after the death of Steven Adler and especially after Izzy Stradlin recorded that solo album with the JuJu Hounds.

Wormy Likes Food

Anyone else seeing a trend here?

I think someone is ready for solids!

Carolina Girls

This weekend, I traveled with Wormy to Charlotte, North Carolina, to check out Liz and Dave's new house and to visit family. Memaw came from Alabama to meet us and Nanny and Auntie drove in from Wilson as well.

While we were in town, we were treated to a nice dinner by Beau and his new fiancee, Jessica, at Beau's house. I was particularly thrilled to meet Jessica even before her new in-laws had!

Back at Liz's and Dave's place, Virginia was especially taken with the guitar performances of her hosts. She even decided to try her hand at strumming a few chords. We spent the rest of the weekend shopping, hanging out, and generally having a good time in each other's company.

Virginia proved herself to be a true Carolina girl on the trip. She was easy as could be on the trip out, but when it came time to leave, she had to be torn away kicking and screaming. It was a rough six hour return flight.