okay...so i have to brag...that is what parents do, right? :) i try to be unbiased and observe nev for awhile before jumping to conclusions about her personality, behavior, skills, character, etc. so i have finally determined and accepted one characteristic after observing her for 8 months now...she really is a happy baby! most people have told me that over the past months...and i would agree with them in the moment...but i also thought it could just be a phase. well, she was put to the test this past week when we traveled to illinois and passed with flying colors! i think i am safe to agree with the other people who pointed out that she is so happy!
to explain what happened...joe and i realized when at the airport in phoenix we forgot the key to get into the condo in downtown chicago. so we tried calling grandma peggy and could not reach her...for those of you who know her...that was very odd! :) we then tried grandpa tobey and could not reach him. in the meantime, we boarded our plane and flew to chicago. nev was squirmy on the plane but very good. she slept and entertained us during the flight. once we got to the airport we could still not reach anyone to see about getting a doorman to let us in the condo. meanwhile...all of our luggage did not arrive (joe's clothes and nev's carseat). so joe went to the airline area to report this while i tried to track down grandma peggy via uncle rob and aunt beth. we spent an additional 2 hours at the airport which put nev 2 hours past her bedtime and dinner. her behavior was better than either mine or joes at this point. she was just observing everything and making faces at the ladies sitting by us...it was remarkable. if only i could have maintained my patience as well! by the time we left the airport, got the rental car and made it to the condo it was 3 hours past her bedtime. she ate, had a quick bath and went down for the night immediately once we got to the condo....amazing again! then she slept in until 8:30am (granted she did go to bed later). so i think i am safe in saying she is a happy baby!
as for the rest of the trip...she walked around michigan avenue in downtown chicago with me while we gave joe time to work on his lecture in a quiet environment. good thing we left the condo because she was squealing with delight the entire time we walked around! i am not sure if she liked the shopping, the hustle and bustle of the city or the weather!
we headed down to bloomington, illinois for the illinois wesleyan university (iwu)homecoming weekend on thursday where joe was being honored as outstanding young alum. grandma peggy and grandpa tobey were in town and uncle rob, aunt beth, cousin mia and cousin elle came too!
nev attended the architecture lecture that joe presented for 40 people on friday afternoon and was a big supporter of what he was saying as she would let out squeals periodically. she also got to touch lots of books and crawl under the stacks as the lecture was at the library. she was squirmy at times so i had to take her out of the room for breaks so she could crawl around. she loved touching the different textured book spines and even managed to pull a few heavy ones off the shelf.
nev got to go swimming in the hotel pool with aunt beth and her cousins. she even showed them how she goes underwater! cousins mia and elle also helped feed nev lunch at the homecoming luncheon and entertained her afterwards by skipping all around the room. nev loves to watch people skipping and was all smiles and laughing as mia and elle skipped all around! the three of them get along very well!
in addition, nev had an overnight and took naps in many different places during our trip. the first night we were in town nev stayed with grandma peggy at her college friend's house, linda and dick nolen, in bloomington. she did her bedtime routine and played with them upon waking in the morning before i came to pick her up. the nolen's also babysat for a few hours one night so all of us could attend a campus dinner. thanks to the nolen's...they were a huge help! nev also slept in the hotel and at ann and cp hardings house too! she was all over the place taking naps!
nev also had a playdate with the children of joe's college friends. chris and kelli ellis brought their 3 kids, bumper and gretchen anderson brought their daughter and unfortunately nick harding had to leave his wife, julie, and two boys at home in texas due to the youngest son being a month old! they all played at nick's parents house in bloomington. that is also were nev took a 2.5 hour nap...the longest one since she was a newborn! she must like their crib or it was all the stimulation of 4 other kids running around that wore her out!
on the trip back to phoenix nev had another playdate with a 7-month old baby boy sitting behind us on the plane. she was "talking" up a storm and making him laugh. they were touching hands and flirting too! the gentleman in front of us told us as we were deplaning that we had a very verbal little girl! i think that was just the polite way of saying she was a chatterbox on the plane. she has definitely been even more vocal lately!
nev is also learning how to wave and is getting better at it. her timing isn't quite there yet but she will raise her arm and hand in the air. she also doesn't "wave" her hand but just holds it in the air. her kisses have improved too. she opens her mouth and will press it to your mouth. again, the timing isn't quite there and there are times when she is "extra kissy" and times when she wants nothing to do with kisses! we will continue to practice these things and are also going to start working on her balance a little more so she can learn to stand on her own!