Adam here-
Sloane decided to actually put together some steps this weekend. It is fun to watch her decide when to walk. We are excited and proud, though I don’t think the cats will be too excited about her increase of mobility.
https://youtu.be/VfGMGhk5coY
Sloane melts our hearts all the time, so Valentines was a fun day to have her around. Her cousins Max and Zander were able to make special valentines for someone and they both wanted to make one for Sloane, which is so sweet.
Sloane also received her first musical card, a Valentine from G. Given her reaction, we think it won’t be her last.
https://youtu.be/NTgYMrFJVEk
Adam here-
This video is about 2 weeks old, but I still need to post it. Sloane has begun to find her feet and she is using them! She seems to be waiting until she is over her “sea legs”. She is able to stand on her own now and can stand in the middle of a room. She mostly only walks with “walkers”, but it is very cute.
https://youtu.be/NgkRpKxpjVE
This winter has been interesting. One month ago we had a snow ‘storm’- about 3″ fell. Luckily, we have great hand-me-downs: mittens from Lida and snow pants from the Zips. Sloane was excited to have the mittens put on by her dad. The snow was less exciting given that she is not walking. But it was a beautiful day.
Today was another beautiful day- in the mid 60s, sunny, and clear skies. I love the heat for 2 reasons- 1. Sloane is a hot baby and the warm weather makes her sweaty, making her hair more wavy and crazy. 2. Sloane gets to wear t-shirts so we get to see her cute roly poly arms again!
Adam here – Part 2 of Christmas started on the 26th.
The Zip cousins had asked Santa to come to Nini and Papa 2’s house on the 26th so they could share Christmas morning with Sloane. Santa agreed! All the kiddos got new matching pajamas and it was pretty adorable.
Maybe next year, we’ll have to get ones for the adults too. Sloane watched most of the present opening from her highchair because she couldn’t really wait for breakfast. She found it all very entertaining and helped a few people open presents.
The day went by with lots of playing, a fun walk and then it was time for a dinner!
We got to play games with everyone. Sloane enjoyed that there were a ton of people around to keep her entertained, never a dull moment with the full Bramble and Zipfel clans together in one house.
It was fun for us, and Sloane enjoyed having a second week of family around. She got to the point that she could say the first part of Ellie’s name, it was just and “eh”, but it was really fun.
I think Sloane’s current favorite word sums up how the three of us feel about family time, we just want more. We look forward to more fun times with everyone.
For this Christmas, we squeezed in celebration with both the Ouellettes and the Brambles. It was a crazy 2 weeks and well worth the hectic schedule.
We arrived the day of the Straw family Christmas party. We were a little cross eyed but that was an ongoing theme for the trip. As soon as we walked into Tim and Donna’s, Lida was there to great us. Sloane reached right for her and wanted Lida to hold her. Lida was very helpful- playing with Sloane and keeping her out of trouble. The party was wonderful- we got to chat and visit with everyone and meet the newest Straw- Lily Cook.
While my family had work and school for part of the week, we relaxed and visited some friends and family. Sloane met her great-grandmother, Pat. This was special for us as Pat is the only great-grandparent Sloane will meet. We also had visits with the aunties on Pine Top, Fritha, and Abbie and family.
On Christmas Eve, we went caroling with the Ladouceur family. Sloane was a little off key, but we didn’t tell her. Christmas morning was super fun. Sloane was mostly interested in other people’s presents. Once we got back home, she has been exploring and loves her new toys. Her favorites are blocks made by Pa, an echo microphone from the MacMasters, and her Stella baby from G.
It was 68 degrees on Christmas day. We unfortunately had to go to the airport in the afternoon. Flying on Christmas was actually very pleasant. Everyone was cheery and happy. Even Sloane- who slept the first 40 minutes and the last 5 minutes of the 6 hour flight!
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Who is running this blog? We are behind schedule.
I am working on a couple posts about all the fun we had and people we saw in the past month. In the meantime, here is a cute video of Sloane. She just learned to blow kisses this week.
https://youtu.be/vXRd5p4NBI8
We made it! Not only to the one year old mark, but also through the craziness of prepping for holidays, traveling, and spending time with both our extended families. But more posts about those fun times to come.
Sloane turned one year old on 12/17/15. She has grown from our 10 lb 12 oz 21 inch bundle to our 25 lb 30 inch little lady. And Adam and I have grown- parenting is both easier and harder than we expected. I am learning to let things go- like a messy kitchen. And Adam has learned how to be super caring for two ladies in his life.
Sloane is a bundle of laughs recently. This is especially helpful to warm our hearts after the horrible nights we have been having recently. Being awake for a few hours is no fun, but waking up to a big smile and sparkling eyes makes the long nights worth it.
We celebrated her birthday twice. On the Saturday before, we had the Lembos up for a homemade ramen dinner. It was delicious, but Sloane was partial to the chocolate pudding pie that Rach made for her. It was at this dinner I realized we had a little grunter on our hands. When Sloane wanted more food, she would point and grunt, becoming more and more aggressive if she had to wait. I decided to stop reinforcing this habit and focus on the sign and word more. Her first word after Mama and Dada is officially more. And it is ridiculously cute!
https://youtu.be/6SruibvyU74
Her actual birthday was a nice relaxing day. We had Paula over for dinner of take out Indian. I wasn’t ready to cook a dinner after working that day and we were leaving the next day for New England. Everything was yummy and the best part was the carrot cake Adam made. We let Sloane have her own cupcake. The cream cheese frosting had some sour cream into and I think Sloane noticed.
https://youtu.be/zMF5CetGQxY
We love our little Sloane-e-o!
Adam here-
My sister Morgan came to visit over Thanksgiving and Sloane got to play with her. It was fun to watch them play, as Sloane is now much more fun, and can interact better
Both Sloane and Morgan love to watch the cats, though Sloane is less excited about the idea of holding the cats (to the cats firm pleasure, as they don’t think she is up to it yet). I didn’t get a shot of this, but maybe at Christmas.
Sloane also helped to pick out the Christmas tree for my parent’s house. She touched a bunch of trees and seemed to enjoy the one that we picked.
Yesterday was the 20th MLS cup, and the Portland Timbers were playing. They were the first soccer team from the PNW to make it. Sloane “watched” the last 30 minutes, and was a bit scared by the cheers from me and my dad when they won. But here is a shot of three generations of Brambles rooting for the Timbers.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Sloane-o’s 1st! The night before, Adam had to work late. Sloane and I had a nice slow dinner and she was so gabby.
https://youtu.be/wWMI3MjRluA
We celebrated Thanksgiving day with Adam’s parents- Nini and Papa-too, and Adam’s sister, Morgan. Sloane ate some turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. But her real love was the apples from the pie Adam made, which I agree was his best one to date.
The day after Thanksgiving we decided to attempt the Bramble family wine tasting tradition with an 11 month old. Sloane was amazing the whole day. We drove out to the gorge during her morning nap and went to three spots- Marchesi, Domaine Pouillon, and Syncline. Then Sloane napped on the way home. I was glad that everyone was willing to be flexible and do a shorter trip as it will probably be a while before Adam and I can do this together again.
