memories from atlanta

i'm so sad.  today colorado life felt like the norm.  i met up with friends at the park for a visiting teaching play date, went to costco and met up with more friends, and then did stuff around the house and for my calling during nap time.  then when honey came home, we hung out as a family... just like normal.  today it didn't feel like i should be waking up in georgia.  and it made me sad.

so before i forget, i'm going to use these few minutes before bed to write down a few things i want to remember.

when we arrived at the atlanta airport, i asked mom to hold abigail while i got her carseat hooked into the car.  two minutes later, as we were driving away i hear abigail whining from the backseat "i want grandma.  i want play grandma!"  ha, it was seriously obsession at first sight.  i know this is was our third trip to atlanta since may, but i wouldn't say abigail was obsessed and attached to my parents like this before.

baby girl also took an instant attachment to my sister, emmy.  to the point that the second night we were there, she woke up crying two hours after i'd put her down to bed (i think she either thought she'd just taken a nap or was scared that she didn't know where she was).  so i went up to her room to comfort her.  as i was holding her and trying to calm her fears her crying and sniffles went from just that to "i want emmy.  i want emmy" cries.  it was precious.  luckily, emmy was nearby and heard her cries.  she came running in, "did someone want aunt emmy?!?!"  baby girl still crying said "yeah" and lunged to em's outstretched arms.  it was all just hilarious and precious.

baby girl also couldn't get enough of my dad.  she asked about grandpa all day long and was so excited when he would get home from work in the evenings.  she also figured out that grandpa would do absolutely anything she asked for and never ever said no.  like seriously.  she also loved when my dad sang to her.  which brings me to my next point about her new favorite song.

baby girl's favorite song is now "sweet baby james."  my dad sings it with his guitar.  and without.  and it is wonderful both ways.  baby girl is obsessed and that is now my ultimate trump card when i need a sure fire bribe for her.  one day baby girl wasn't eating her lunch and she had tons of half eaten food on her tray.  i hate wasting food but knew it would be pointless and gross to save (bananas and gnawed on cheese don't seem to save well) so i tried a few unsuccessful bribes.  then i said "baby girl, if you eat your food all gone then grandpa will sing you sweet baby james!"  so then i got myself some milk and put away some stuff in the kitchen.  when i came back to where she was sitting in the breakfast room, she was on her last bite of banana.  i was shocked.  first that my bribe worked and she actually was eating her food, but second that she was inhaling it at such an alarming rate!  so i ran upstairs to my dad and asked if he could spare a moment to sing sweet baby james to baby girl.  it was awesome.  we've been back several days now and baby girl keeps begging, "i want grandpa sing baby james!"

she also keeps begging for grandma, emmy, and "iwanskyeunwill" which i need to get a video of because it's amusing the way she makes "skye and will" morphed together into something that sounds like just one syllable.

grandmas and old ladies are notorious for always having peppermints in their purses to hand out to small children at church... my mom is notorious for always having granola bars on her at all times.  baby girl learned this quickly and as a result, consumed several granola bars a day while we were visiting.  she insists on holding them herself and one time the fiber one oats and chocolate granola bar got all messy and melty so i told her she couldn't hold it anymore because it was yucky.  after that, normal granola bars were called "bars" and fiber one granola bars were called "yucky bars."  it's somewhat embarrassing in public when your child is loudly requesting yucky bars.  whoops.

in addition to granola bars, baby girl loved my mom's yogurt and granola.  she also ate a lot of string cheese and cashews.  but her favorite was "baby milk,"  which was just regular milk, given to her in an itty bitty cup. like half the size of a small dixie cup and maybe three times the size of a sacrament cup.  it came from a toy set i used to play with as a kid.  i feel like i spent half of the trip refilling that tiny little yellow cup over and over and over again.  now that i think of it, it's like the plastic version of a shot glass... just even smaller.

several times, baby girl requested to sleep in the twin bed in her room instead of in her pack n play.  so i let her.  all times ended with crying except for the last time when she just got out of bed and walked to the door where i was waiting on the other side.  i'm thinking she's not ready for a big bed yet.

baby girl loved the "baby rocking chair" and the "baby rocking chair horse" although honorable mentions go to that little record player toy because that was definitely a favorite as well.

k, i'm out of time but i think that takes care of most of the basics.  this goes down as one of my favorite trips ever.

ps- diana, i'm sorry i suck.  i swear i will call you back.  try not to hate me for being such a terrible friend.  but if you do anyways, i totally don't blame you for it.  xoxo.