Big things happened this past month.
We had our first *indoor* house guests since Grammy Wendymom and Papa Jim were here back in March. Our friends Yancey and Celia came over to have some drinks and just spend some quality time. Sid warmed right up and was her usual ham self.
Of course, by 'ham' we mean eating a cracker while simultaneously puking on Yancey.
Then we celebrated (by matching our outfit to the balloons) Zeke completing the clinical and supervision hours he needs for his next level of licensure! His meeting that milestone meant he could resign from a job that was incredibly rewarding but also quite taxing. That and the fact that Virginia is working remotely for the foreseeable future gave us the freedom to pick up and "relocate" back East to spend time with, and for Sid to meet, extended family.
After a successful (barring that one massive blowout in Ohio) road trip, we started off in Syracuse just prior to Thanksgiving to see Grammy and Papa and the Benders. Sid was unsure about these cold Northern temps, but was pretty into her first experience with snow!
The first several days were wonderful, especially when we were out of quarantine and able to see the Bender clan. Sid was enamored with everyone and stoked on all the love and excitement in the air!
Then...we all got struck with COVID. Short story is that it sucked and was stressful, but we all had relatively minor cases healed with some heavy hydration and rest.
We got a little stir crazy during our convalescence.
Our regular walks in the neighborhood were life-giving.
But we also had such a wonderful time just being with family and watching Sid discover new things together.
Like green beans and mashed potatoes, pianos, and jumping.
We also rediscovered the joy of a baby in the sink for our nightly baths!
side note: throwback to 1988 and a 9ish-month-old Gin!
Then we celebrated this girl turning 9 months old with a drive through Lights on the Lake.
Sid has officially outgrown using a cute muslin as the backdrop for her monthly photo shoot.
We tried and girl does not want to sit still. So we improvised this month. Now that we know what we're working with we're confident we'll get some better shots next month! (I know our loyal readership is very concerned with the quality of our photography.)
