Hi Ho, Hi Ho

This week marks my official return to work. Luckily, Brian's day off coincides with my first day back, so Mia is still at home with her Papa while I play catch up. It turns out, I didn't to as bad a job as I thought working from home, because it's 3:30 and I am already able to take a bit of a breather (long enough to write this post and update everyone with some pics!)

Mia has changed so much in the past few weeks. She had her first plane ride, which she behaved superbly on. She cried for about 5-10 minutes on the ride to Chicago, waking up only briefly to eat. Her routine was very disrupted in Chicago, where she was shuttled from one end of the Chicagoland-area to the other, napping almost exclusively in the car and sleeping 5-6 hour stretches at night. Although I am pretty sure Brian and I were more tired at the end of our vacation than when we started, it was well worth it for the Caccamos to meet their newest family member.

Mia with her Big Granpa



Mia and Brian at the Zoo!

 Luckily, we planned our trip so that we would still have 2 days at home as a family to recover from our vacation. We took advantage by sitting on the couch, snuggling with our sleepy baby, and not doing the laundry but watching movies instead.



Mia with some of her presents!



Mia's daytime naps are starting to become less and less frequent, and she spends a lot more of her awake time thoughtfully looking at everything around her. She has started paying attention to both the mobile over her crib and the one above her swing. She tracks objects like a champ, and seems to be starting to become aware of her hands. It looks to us as though she might be a thumb sucker, but she sucks her fist more often than just her thumb. She still has tons of hair, and it's starting to be long enough for hair clips! Yay!

She is super strong and about 90% will support her own head when you're holding her. That other 10% means she is only a few minutes away from totally falling asleep. She still eats like a champ and my prediction for her 2 month pediatrician appointment on friday is at least 11 lbs. She's in size 1 diapers, but still hasn't outgrown any of her clothing, except for one dress that barely fit over her head when she was born.

 She still doesn't give smiles out to anyone, and so far has only given a full smile to me, Brian and my boss (of all people!). Since it's still pretty rare, it is still easily the most exciting part of my day, and nothing makes me happier. Here's what I was able to capture of her first smile, in progression:

These photos were taken a couple of weeks ago, and she's already changed since then!!

That's all for now, I will try to be more consistent with weekly updates now that I am back at work. 

Chicago Air and Water Show

This past weekend was the billionth annual Chicago Air and Water Show. According to Brian, who knows about these things, the CAWS is good, not great. Two years ago, we decided to skip out on the crowds of North avenue beach, where you can see the water show, and stick closer to our neighborhood and watch the water shower from the Belmont section of the lakefront. You still see all of the air show, so that's good enough for us.

This year, we thought it would be fun to invite some of the Caccamos down. Iryna has never been down to the lakefront, so it was a nice way to show her what her new city has to offer. Also, she really likes Tyler:

Tyler was not a big fan of the sonic booms some of the airplanes were making (probably not the most thought out portion of inviting the 8 month baby, but what can you do). Other than those few booms, he was, as usual, in excellent spirits.

Chloe and Swarley were happy to be out of the house for an afternoon. They were exhausted for the rest of the day. We only had to take them on a pee break before dinner!

It was a gorgeous day in Chicago, a nice change from most of the summer's weather, which has been hot, sticky and humid. I've found that after spending a week in the dry Nevada climate, despite the high temperatures, I much prefer it to the gross stickiness of Illinois. But, this week has been a nice change. It's been in the low 80s, with very little humidity. I can't wait for Chicago's fall, and I will make sure that Brian and I take advantage of (possibly) our last Chicago fall, the best season Illinois has to offer.

In parting, I leave you with an adorable picture of Brian and his nephew.