Has Olde Acquaintance Been Forgot?

We know it's been a while since we last posted, but we heartily wish you a belated Merry Christmas and prosperous new year. In the spirit of a late Christmas gift, here's an update on what Evie June has been up to for the last month or so.

A couple of weeks after our last post, Evie had her 9 month checkup. The news was all good but for one thing--she's a tad on the thin side. The doctor's advice? Branch out from baby food and put butter on everything. Jimmy is thrilled to have a medical professional endorse the butter diet concept he's been piloting for the last several years, and Evie June is once again giddy to have another thing in common with her daddy.

Below, Evie offers her best Santa impression thanks to a new favorite food--whole milk yogurt.


Eating is a whole new kind of adventure now since Evie is sporting teeth. Here she enjoys getting jiggy with everyone's favorite dessert--demonstrating that there's always room for jello . . . and molars.


On the 21st, we boarded our flight for KY, a bit apprehensive about how our newly mobile (and very busy) daughter would handle the confinement and the long day. But Evie June proved once again to be a true traveler. She played, crawled back and forth across our laps, ate her weight in cheerios, and generally charmed all the other travelers. And thanks to a great tip from our friends Jason and Amanda, she even got her own seat on one flight.


The next morning, Evie awoke in West Virginia. She was happily surprised to see her poppy . . .


. . . enjoyed a little girl time with Cousin Alex (13) . . .


. . . and showed Cousin Sawyer (9) that she's tougher than she looks.


But a visit the Bradbury Mountain homestead would have been incomplete without the proudest and most established of family traditions: chopping down a dead tree on the property. This one was so big, Pop brought a crane home to tackle the upper branches. Though Evie declined an invitation to ride up in the basket, she was awfully tempted by all those pretty buttons and levers.


After a wonderful Christmas in WV, we loaded the car and drove West to Owensboro. There Evie June got reacquainted with Nana, her aunts and uncles, and cousins Harrison (7), Hayden (4) and Logan (2). Below, they help her understand the exciting features of a new toy while Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Katy make sure the boys don't help too much.


There was lots of laid-back fun during the visit to KY. Despite the fact that Evie was already in bed asleep, her choice on Movie Night (The Little Mermaid) won out over a repeat viewing of Cars. Hayden and Logan didn't seem to mind.


And one afternoon all the boys went bowling. Still, these guys proved even that can be soothing. Here Harrison demonstrates the zen calm that comes from watching a ball trickle down the wooden lane.


Sadly, our return trip home was not as relaxing as our time in Kentucky. First we had to deal with all the excess baggage that resulted from baby's first double Christmas.


But then we discovered something even more terrifying than Snakes on a Plane: Diarrhea at 20,000 feet. Poor Evie June suffered a tummy more turbulent than a thunderstorm all the way home, resulting in a record number of visits to the lavatory. Jimmy was grateful he was skinny enough to fit inside the bathroom with the changing table folded down. I was grateful that I wasn't the one sitting on the aisle. Evie was grateful that we'd thought ahead and brought several changes of clothing for her. But we weren't prepared for the number of diaper wipes she went through, which meant that I spent our layover in Minneapolis begging other mothers for spare wipes. It was a rough way to start the new year, but things are already looking (and smelling) better. Here's to the possibilities!

Jen