Walking

Lane has been taking a few unassisted steps here and there, for the last week or so he has been taking up to ten steps at a time. I would say that he is officially walking now. Everywhere.

Meet Santa

We went to meet Santa today. Lane is a little under the weather. Runny nose, teething, who knows?! But we went anyways, since we have limited time to get our Christmas cards out before we leave for Tejas. While sitting on his lap unimpressed, we were making fools of ourselves behind the camera, trying to get Lane to smile. Santa saved the day by pulling out a book, which Lane seemed to be interested in, at least long enough for the photographer to catch a shot. I have to say, part of us was hoping for the screaming baby with Santa shot, for future laughs.... this is what we got, our Christmas card.

Thanksgiving Road trip

Dad is taking his paternity leave for the Holidays, which means we get to take some trips! The first, is our road trip to Grandpa Dave and Grandma Liz's house for Thanksgiving. I hadn't been past the Hearst Castle along Hwy 1, so wanted to take some time and see the sights along the way. We kind of ended up following the schedule that we would wake up, eat breakfast, play, then about morning nap time for Lane, make our 2 hour drive to the next location. We'd get to the town, explore a little, eat lunch, check into our room, then take an afternoon nap with Lane. Then we would go somewhere for dinner, then back to our room for bedtime. It was pretty nice and still relaxing.

like my dad would always say when we started a trip, returning to the house a couple of times to get things we forgot... "We're off! Like a herd of turtles"

Morro Bay: Our first stop. We walked along the waterfront, went to their "Aquarium" which had rehabilitated sea lions. We are not sure how we felt about their living quarters. You could feed them sardines, which Dave did, but they barked really loud and freaked out Lane, so we left. Morro Bay also has a cute Main Street with Antique and Thrift Stores that we walked around. For dinner, we went to Taco Temple (found on Yelp) which had awesome, huge, fish tacos for $5. We got way to much food. You really only need one taco there.

photo opp and our bathroom break

Big Sur: Day 2. It was so pretty, the drive there and in actual Big Sur. We stopped off to see the waterfall and lagoon at Julia Pfeiffer Burns and walked some of the trails to see the redwoods in the state park. I think next time we go, I want to stay at the Lodge there. Dad was a little freaked out that there was no cell service (facebook) and no TV in our room, but it ended up being the best day of our trip, forcing us to disconnect and reconnect. We had dinner at the restaurant where we were staying, then put the nugget to sleep and hung out on the patio outside our room. It was nice, the Big Sur River Inn, but the room reminded us a little of the Bates Motel. The next morning, we headed to Santa Cruz. I finally got to see the Bixby Bridge, which I have been wanting to see. We drove through Monterrey, too - where I definitely want to go back to visit soon. We really are going to have to go back to all of these places and spend some more time.

Santa Cruz: We walked around downtown, then checked in our hotel so that we could catch our afternoon nap with Lane. For dinner, we went to a vegetarian restaurant called Saturn Cafe. Dave is finding his way to vegetarianism, quitting red meat and pork for now,  so he wanted to try this restaurant. It was pretty good! I'd go back. I definitely want to go back to visit here, too. We didn't even get to the Boardwalk...

Napa: We got up in the morning to make our way to Napa. I love Napa! Of course I had to go to a winery since we were there. I asked the concierge if it was okay to bring babies to wineries (haha), he said that it was, so we just drove toward St. Helena and stopped at one of the first ones we saw. The Menage a Trois tasting room, so technically, I still need to go to an actual winery. We stayed at the Embassy Suite, and our room was so nice, we decided that we are only going to stay in suites when we travel from now on. Lane loved it because they had cube ottoman's on rollers in the living area that he could push all around the suite. He is walking with a walker and holding on to things, so they were perfect for him. It was really nice to have some extra space, some of the other rooms were a little cramped with the three of us. Did I say how much I loved Napa? It was almost exactly how I always pictured it, fall colors and all. I don't know why, but I have always pictured it with fall leaves and that is how it was. I might have to only visit in Fall. We walked around downtown, and Dave and I both agreed that it just feels good there. The wine definitely tasted better, we couldn't decide if it was since it didn't have to travel, so the temperature was consistent, or if it was just because we were in Napa. You know, how a Mai Tai always tastes so much better when you're in Hawaii?

Went by Dave's Aunt Carol and cousin Lori's house so that they could meet Lane. They were getting ready for their Thanksgiving and Dave's Uncle Terry and Aunt Marilyn were there too. It was nice to see them and for them to meet Lane. We were a nervous wreck, since Lane is getting into everything and they have lots of nice, breakable things at his level. Luckily, nothing was broken.

Grandma & Grandpa's: Thanksgiving morning, we headed to Loma Rica for the next few days. We had a fun few days, relaxing and spending time with Grandpa and Grandma. Lane met his Aunt Denise and Blueberry for the first time, who he got along with very well.  Lane loves dogs and gets really excited when he see them, so we are trying to teach him to be gentle. It is so pretty in the foothills in Fall, with all of the turning leaves.

cousin Levi was there

Uncle Nick and Bob's dog, Shelby

Uncle Nick

First Thanksgiving!

cousins

Grandpa took us over to see the neighbor's animals. They had goats, geese, ducks, cats, and a horse. Lane met his first miniature horse.

Meet Dot.

and the goats... 

3 generations of Thomas men.

Things we have learned about traveling with baby:
1. Spend more than one day in a place to really be able to take everything in and catch an afternoon nap with the nugget.

2. Get a suite - with living room and bedroom (Embassy Suites was awesome) the extra space is very luxurious!

3. Hotel rooms are almost totally baby-proofed, just pick up the trash can, close the bathroom door and you're good!

Milestones!

Lane is now able to sit at the table and eat at school. They wait until he is interested in sitting in the chair himself. Yesterday he was eating, and Tommee moved the chair behind him and asked him if he wanted to sit down, and she said that he turned around and planted his body down all by himself! I went to visit at lunch today and he was sitting in the chair, eating. It is the cutest thing. I have been waiting for this, you can see the kids eating at the table through a window in our cafe, and I have always loved watching them sit and the table and eat.

Today, I just got a text saying that Lane climbed the stairs to the diaper table all by himself! It's going too fast…. He's going to be walking before we know it!

happy nugget - waiting for breakfast to be served

sitting at the table all by himself

this morning - so cute, Tommee set up a Vet Clinic in the "dramatic play" area in the classroom.

crawling up the stairs to the diaper table all by himself!

9 months

Lane is a happy boy now that he can get around. He's crawling super fast, cruising and even standing on his own for a few seconds (before he realizes that he is doing it). There is a climbing structure with a ramp and stairs and Lane does circles, up the ramp, down the stairs and around over and over again. He is saying Mama and Dada and loving us so much. He loves music and I am told that he is the only one that is actively participating the whole time when Annie the music teacher is visiting. Dad puts on little rock shows, playing the guitar and singing and Lane loves it. He is very talkative and eating all kinds of different foods and pretty much loving all of it! Your First Halloween was so much fun!

LOVES: Eating, Music, Mom and Dad

HATES: Diaper changes, getting dressed

Sunday Funday

Today is the first day of the time change, so we were up extra early and decided to go to breakfast at Mrs. Olsen's. We ordered Lane's first meal from a restaurant - a blueberry pancake - which he loved - and walked across the street to the beach after.

note: I just threw my hair in a ponytail and a sweatshirt over my PJs, so needless to say, I didn't get in on the photo action :)

First Halloween

Lane dressed up as Charlie Brown for the majority of Halloween Day, fitting as he has a strong resemblance. The Seahorses went trick-or-treating through Patagonia, the different departments hand out candy. His friends' costumes were so cute. I was worked after carrying his around for an hour - my biceps were killing me, little Lane is not so little anymore, he is one solid dude.

our little Charlie Brown

Lane Shark ready to go trick-or-treating! HIs growl that grandma taught him went along with his costume perfectly!

his spanish teacher, Diana, and Jude

It's Fall Y'all!

I love fall. Halloween is definitely one of my favorite holidays. We had a lunch date with auntie Adrienne today at Sumo sushi. Lane tried edamame and ginger for the first time. It was so cute watching him try to bite into the slippery edamame with his front teeth, he loved it.. asking for more with "Mmmm"... next time he'll have to try the sushi!

After, we went to the pumpkin patch for a mini photo shoot and to pick up a pumpkin for the carving party we were headed to. Lane was totally into the pumpkins, but not too sure about the big tractor... he was a little freaked out.

Then, we went to a co-worker's house for a pumpkin carving party, I carved a jack-o-lantern while Adrienne played with Lane. It's always fun seeing people I work with outside of the office. Lane had a pretty good time, too. I had to laugh when we got in the car to drop Adrienne off, and she said, "man, that's alot of work" talking about keeping up with the nugget. Tell me about it, it's exhausting! But so worth it.

Auntie Adrienne and Lane hanging out while I carved.

Lane was more interested in gnawing on the stem.

the final product