New Year's in California

After a whirlwind Christmas in Bama, we headed back to California for the New Year. We didn't have to feel sad about leaving my parents because they followed us back to California two days later to see our new house. We showed them all the Alameda sights and Dad offered us some much needed advice on making little repairs to the house.

We also celebrated Christmas (again!) with the Harveys upon our return. Virginia got a red wagon from Grammy and Poppy and a glowworm from Mom and Dad.

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.