Friday, July 6, 2012

Christmas in July

Since she was born at the very beginning of November, Abby's first Christmas season fell between the end of her second month, and the beginning of her third.  (I always confuse myself trying to describe this, because although she was actually only turning two months in January, it was her third month of existence in the big, wide, world.)

This was the Christmas picture that we put into cards that year.


It was a very special time for many of us, as Abby is the first grandchild (and first great-grandchild) on both sides, and she had the opportunity to meet a lot of her family for the first time- Tom's immediate and extended family in New Jersey and New York, and some members of my immediate family in Maryland.

She was a great little traveler- she's always been good in the car- though sleeping always was and sometimes still is an issue for her in new places.  Tom, Abby, and I spent December 23rd to 26th with his parents, and then we stayed with my parents until just after New Year's, when we celebrated a second, late "Christmas" with them and with two of my siblings.

During this time she was already becoming the social butterfly that she is today, all smiles, coos and giggles.  I remember having a hard time pinning down the date of her "first smile," since she was able to do it unconsciously from day one.  But I'm pretty sure that by the first week of January, she had mastered the social smile- smiling in response to smiling, which I did make a mental note of at that time.  Whatever kind of smiles they were, you can definitely see lots of them in the pictures that we took.

I have great affection for these pictures- they tell a wonderful story.  But they were, unfortunately, taken with my old point-and-shoot, which had limited capability, and so many are not of the quality that I wish they could have been.  I'm hoping that by this Christmas, I'll have had time to learn a thing or two to get some quality shots of Michael's first experience.  At the very least, I have a more hard-core camera at my disposal.  :)


A requisite Santa-suit shot, with a little attitude.

Christmas in Flushing, NY


Hugs from Cousin Chichi...
...and kisses from Cousin Ali...
...and best of all, snuggles with (Great-Grandma) Mia.

"Second Christmas" in Rockville, MD


Getting to know Aunt Mei Mei

Cuddles with Mommy on "Christmas" morning
Hanging out with Auntie Lisa after "Christmas" dinner

And here's some evidence of those smiles!