Adventures in babysitting

Lily and I survived our first babysitting adventure last night while Carl and Kathleen took in a musical. She really behaved like a champ, chowing down on a bottle and then proceeding to sleep for the next 4 hours. Can't ask for much more than that. Terra, on the other hand, was not happy about the whole family not being around - every car door that shut, every dog that barked, every voice she heard set her off. It is truly amazing to me that Terra can be right next to a sleeping Lily and be barking up a storm and Lily doesn't even move. I'd be worried about her hearing except that she does wake up whenever Terra shakes and her collar jingles. Selected listening.... Anyway, by 10pm Terra had worn herself out and she slept quite peacefully as well.

Christmas (part I)

Christmas (part I) took place Tuesday night here in Baltimore. It was a lovely evening of chicken and dumplings, unwrapping presents and enjoying some quality family time. Here are some pictures to get those of you who only celebrate one Christmas (I can't even begin to tell you what you're missing out on!) in the mood!

Naughty and Nice

Nice
Snow plow man who saw me shoveling away on Saturday morning and went out of his way to take a good 2 feet of snow away for me.

Naughty
The passenger on the bus who started a fight with the bus driver other whether the bus driver was on a cell phone which she wanted to make sure everyone on the bus knew is "ILLEGAL!"

Ever notice that all my stories of irritation involve the bus? I wonder if I'd be a generally happier person if I didn't take the bus every day. Happier maybe, but also much less entertained!

Side note - I saw RENT last night. One of the best movies I've seen in a long time. I absolutely loved it. I know some people will be disappointed with this rendition, but not me. (Maybe that's because I've only seen the play from the nose-bleed section - it was awesome to see everything so upclose!) I'm not usually a crier at movies, but this one definitely broke me down.

More pictures

Lily and Terra comparisons

Terra chews on her bone.

Lily chews on her play mat.

Both Terra and Lily love cuddling with Kathleen.

Lily withdrawal

I'm back home after spending five days in Baltimore with the fam. In some ways it's nice to be back in the swing of my normal day-to-day life and it was great to see Maverick last night, but I'm definitely exhibiting some withdrawal symptoms. Maverick doesn't play catch nearly as well as Terra does nor does he like to be rocked like Lily. :-) I'm glad I'll be going back out there soon. Big props to Kathleen for being able to manage both the baby and the dog during the day. It takes a lot of hands!