The only thing cuter than Delia is Delia with a baby alpaca

It's been a busy fall in the vanEagleGiessen household. Alan is teaching and applying for jobs, I am working, taking spanish, and knitting up a storm. Delia rearranges the tupperware daily and tries hard to point out lapses in our baby proofing efforts. We had a visit from Alan's parents, who hadn't seen Delia in 6 months! We went north to visit an alpaca farm. Delia loved the baby alpacas and the feeling was mutual. Perhaps once we have a bigger yard...I'd have an endless supply of yarn and wouldn't need to mow so often. We are trying to enjoy the New England fall weather as much as possible before we're housebound for the winter. Delia is a walking champ and starting to talk a little more. She has become even more generous with hugs and kisses and her favorite place to be is in a lap with a book. She's knows how to "shake it" when the older kids at daycare are dancing and loves to listen to music. She is very excited about Halloween.

Knitting/Beth Update

Even through the summer, I've been knitting a lot. I still fantasize about chucking the traditional jobs and raising goats for milk to make cheese and sheep for the wool. However, on a 0.16 acre lot, I'll have to make do with the local yarn shops and farmers' market cheese. Work remains busy, sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a pull-my-hair-out way. I've always been a bit of a luddite, but I have found a very cool way to learn spanish. I am taking a class via Skype with a teacher in Ecuador. We both have video and audio capability; we IM during the class to correct mistakes and homework is sent by email. It is just what I needed to get my butt in gear and practice speaking and writing. Fall has arrived and I am reminded every day why I love living in New England.

Delia Update

Delia is now 13 months old. We had a little family party for her birthday at her grandparents' house in Connecticut. She started walking about a week later and is now getting into everything. She says "Mommy", which can mean 'mommy', 'daddy', 'mine' or 'milk'. She's now sleeping through the night, which makes us love her even more. She remains a very good natured kid, often open-mouth kissing all of her classmates as they arrive at daycare. She loves to read books, dance, and pet the neighborhood dogs.

Naked Time

...for Delia and the pets, that is. Naked time started out of necesity many months ago when a diaper rash just wouldn't heal. It's now become part of the well-established routine in the vanEagleGiessen household and, speaking for everyone, it is the best part of the day. Mornings and afternoons are equally chaotic with two working parents, a toddler and a dog. Dinner usually is often a tearful affair with the dog getting most of Delia's dinner. Bathtime is quick and efficient; moods improve as the layers of sand, snot, and food get scraped off. Then we all toddle down the hall to hang out in Delia's room (cat and dog included). We let the dishes sit dirty in the kitchen. Clinic notes and lectures wait in backpacks. The dog's bladder is about to burst, but no matter. It is the only time of the day where we are focused on eachother. We read stories, blow bubbles, terrorize the dog and decompress from our stressful days. Once Delia has nursed, we sing a lullaby and say goodnight. Then it's off to walk the dog, clean the kitchen, pack lunches, return phone calls, grade homework, do paperwork....

Vacation

We've just returned from our first family vacation. We spent a few days on Block Island. BI is a gorgeous little island about 12 miles from Naragansett, Rhode Island. Many people liken its geography to Ireland. It is possible and quite easy to be car free on the island, although a disturbing number of people ferried over their SUVs. We rode our bikes with Delia in tow as far as she would let us. I think she gets a bit bored back there by herself, but her stuffed dromedary helped some. As nice as it was to get away from the responsibilities of home and work, travelling with an infant is not always so easy. She slept quite poorly in a strange environment and our condo was a baby-proofing nightmare. The highlight of the trip was the animal farm located next to our condo. Delia loved to watch and wave at the llamas, camels, bull, donkeys, and kangaroos. Poor Stuart seems a little boring after that crew. We ended up coming home a day early due to rain, sleep deprivation and my new affliction with solar urticaria (sun induced hives). We are now getting ready for Delia's first birthday!

No more ear infections!

Hooray for the ENT! Delia had tubes placed in both ears today and was a real champ. We are hoping that our days of broad spectrum antibiotics and motrin are over. She'll recover at home today and will go back to daycare tomorrow. We've even gotten the green light for swim class on Saturday. Delia is standing on her own and is very close to walking. She has learned how to take off her velcro shoes and, most importantly, learned how to unravel the toilet paper. Despite her often painful ears, she remains very cheerful and full of hugs and kisses for loved ones (and dogs).

Trip to the Beach

This past weekend we went to a friend's lake house in New Hampshire and got to see some friends from our years in Boston. We had good food, wine, conversation and, of course, knitting. From the look on Delia's face, you can tell the water was quite cold. But doesn't she look fantastic? This is one of my old swimsuits, circa 1973, that I found in my parents' attic last week. She now has four teeth, can cruise all over the house and has learned how to go down the stairs backwards. Unfortunately, we are still battling ear infections and the poor kid only had 10 days in between the last two. Although we have conflicting feelings about it, she's scheduled for tubes in 10 days. We will be happy to be antibiotic and ibuprofen free!