Coming and Going

Last week, Manny took advantage of his spring break to head back to San Diego to do some research and collaboration. I'm still too scared to go that long solo, so my parents kindly flew in the rescue me. The allure of time with Sofia sure doesn't hurt my negotiations. 

My parents decided while I was pregnant that they would be called "Big Mama" and "Big Papa." This may not make a ton of sense if you don't know them, so here's a good shot of them, relative to Sofia to give you a sense of where the name might come from:

very very tall Grandfather, very very little grandaughter.

The great thing about these names is Sofia can already sign and say "big," she even knows to associate it with my sister [who is also very very tall!], so it is like "Big" has become our last name, instead of Stewart. 

Weather was all over the map, so we got to enjoy all sorts of Maine activities. Visits to rivers, oceans, ponds, towns, shops, lighthouses. Mostly, we had lots of opportunities for grandparently bonding to successfully occur. Sweet memories were made like:

• Sofia finally assuaging my father's urgent need for her to love clam chowder, downing about half a cup on her own
• Playing ball in the yard
• Reading lots of books, old and new
• Video chatting with Dad [she kept trying to look at the back of the computer screen to see if he was hiding back there]
• Learning and expressing lots of animal sounds
• Meeting some of Sofia's little friends, including some that brought over a brand new birthday gift toy bird. My father very sweetly bonded with this little 4 year old boy by flying his bird with him, flying it right over our neighbors' fence and even up onto our roof. I'm just hoping Sofia didn't get any ideas watching my dad crawl our my bedroom window onto said roof to fetch and fly down the bird. 
• Sofia's first instance of convincing people to buy her toys she takes to in shops [meet "Bah" below]

#blessedmamaproblems : The horrible part of course is that at the end of the week they had to leave. I just can't seem to resign myself to this long distance grandparenting business. So spoiled I am to still feel so close to all four of my living grandparents, who lived in the same town as me as I grew up. It's just so hard for Sofia to be so far from my parents. She loves them and enjoys them so very much. It just stinks that we have to keep saying goodbye. 

Time was well spent, my love tank was refilled. I dare say Sofia's love tank is more than running over. And in the end, we got to say hello again to Daddy, and that was sweet and precious and good. 

Why traveling with a toddler might be worth it

Santa Baby.

Ok, I got my ranting out of my system last week. Traveling with Sofia after she's learned to walk was not the most fun. But the point wasn't to spend the holidays on planes or on the phone with customer service, the point was to be with family, as long distance as they all may be. And that mission was definitely accomplished. Here are a few snapshots of why all that trouble might have been worth it:

Sofia gets to play with cousin Gus. Much love.

Sofia learns to play patty-cake with great-grandmother, Gee.

Sofia getting a blocks building lesson
from carpenter great-grandfather, Daddoo.

Sofia in intense study of pretty bells with great-grandmother, Grammy.

Sofia entertains the man (great-grandfather, Grandpa)
who supposedly never wants anything to do with babies.

Yep - count 'em, that's four great-grandparents Sofia got to bond with. Pretty blessed aren't we?

Sofia wearing one of four Christmas outfits
for one of four Christmas gatherings.

A glittery birthday lunch. 

Wintery walk with Big and Big Mama.

Quiet reading of "I like you" by Auntie Nina (Lauren). 

Cousin Eric teaching Sofia how to blow out birthday candles.

Birthday fro-yo.

Amazing birthday decor, made by Auntie Nina with so much love.

Gobbling Texas-sheet-birthday-cake, expertly made by Auntie Nina.

Office tour by Grandma.

To sum it up, that's four great-grandparents, four grandparents, one aunt, one uncle, two cousins, four Christmas gatherings, four birthday celebrations, four cities, seven planes, and one very happy and blessed baby girl.

Coast to Coast

I recently posted a series of photos of my parents with my daughter at the Pacific coast. Shortly thereafter, they came to visit us on the other coast. In just over 48 hours we tried to accomplish a whirlwind tour of MidCoast Maine. This included a visit to the Portland Headlight, the most photographed lighthouse in the area. So, I had to photograph it:

But surprise, surprise, I was more inspired by the beautiful relationship blossoming between Sofia and her grandparents ("Big Mama" and "Big Papa"). Props to her Grandma Nora for finding her the adorable sun hat. So here's a series of the three of them on the Atlantic coast.

Zoo Part Two

My favorite animal at the zoo and its fuzzy grandfather:
[for part one click here]

Oceanside with Granddaughter

Shortly before we left San Diego, my parents got to enjoy an afternoon with their granddaughter by the ocean.