Charleston

It was a visit back to my hometown, but it wasn't so much about the place this time.  It was about seeing family.  Okay, friends who are like family.  We got to stay with Richard Ryan, our friend who has also moved away from Charleston, Joan Heinsohn, was back visiting, and my friends Katie (Ryan) and Matt Parry were the big reason we were there - to meet their baby, Maggie!  

Libby was amazing on the trip down.  Really only got fussy when I actually sat in the backseat with her.  Then she just asked me a few times to please help her to get out of her car seat.  Other than that, she was completely perfect playing with my glasses, napping, talking to herself and playing music, waving to us, and loving her blankie.  We stopped for a good leg-stretch and quick lunch at our favorite mexican restaurant in Augusta (Vallarta) on the way down and made two quick stops on the way back for breakfast and lunch (and leg-stretching/diaper-changing).  I was so impressed with my super traveler!

Charleston was fast, but still low-key.  The Ryan's are amazing at making you feel at home and like part of the family when you visit, but maybe that's because I grew up with Katie.  We had a great dinner made by chef Richard on Tuesday night and went out for a fun (and loud) dinner at Taco Boy on Wednesday night.  Richard pointed out that you could have a seizure in that restaurant and no one would notice- but wow do they have good guacamole and it was great for the babies, cause when Libby got a little annoyed, it bothered no one around us!  Maggie was in such a daze from all the noise that she just laid in her carrier and looked around.

We also went to Charles Towne Landing, which is conveniently located right next to Katie's house for a walk and trip through the "Animal Forest."  We saw more turkeys, some deer, waterbirds, bison (which Libby squealed the most about) and an alligator.

Libby loved the many dachshunds the most - Molly (the reason Michael let me get our dachshund), Greta and Aggie were all big favorites and received many kisses from our girl.  Maggie received a few, too!

Maggie was so light!  Libby just finishing up a kiss on Maggie's sweet little head.

The babies!

Talking to her momma.

Discussing their plans to go to Lutheridge together for summer camp.

Enjoying the "Animal Forest" attractions (and a snack.)

Marmena's magic at getting Maggie to nap!

Now, I felt like Libby slept through the night at a pretty early age.  (Not as early as I would have liked (immediately?), but it was pretty good.)  But Maggie, starting maybe five weeks? began going to bed at 7 p.m., being woken up to nurse at 10 p.m. and then waking up around 6 a.m. to nurse and going right back to sleep until 9 or so.  Wow!!!  Now, she does nurse every 2.5 hours or so during the day and is sometimes hungry at 2 hours, (she also doesn't do a lot of daytime sleeping yet) but I'm thinking this schedule is pretty impressive.  Funny though, neither of our girls like a paci!  I was kind of relieved, since Libby enjoys removing paci's from the mouths of babes and I was a little nervous that she might do it to this tiny new one.

Girl is also down to one bottle just before bed and has cut back a bit on her food consumption since she loves drinking tons of milk through her straw sippy cup throughout the day.

AND she has perfected the art of blowing kisses.  But she seems to only do it for me when she's in her car seat in my car and I'm blowing her kisses from the front seat via our mirror system.  Too funny!

Next blog... Libby's overnight trip to Marmena & "Granddiddi's" 

We're planning another trip within the next couple of months so Michael can meet baby Maggie while she's still a baby!