See you all there!

Camille loves her French Aunt!

We had a busy week! It was so great to host Rémi’s sister Chloé and her boyfriend, Quentin. They are the cutest couple, and they loved all over Camille. They also did a lot of tourism, visiting all the sights in the city. It was a whirlwind week for them. Camille stayed closer to home, but was able to spend a lot of time with her French Aunt nonetheless. Chloé helped feed her, went on walks with her, and helped put her pajamas on at night. Camille took to Chloé right away and by the end of the week they were best buds. She was hilariously more shy with Quentin at the beginning of the week, turning away when he would look at her and pretending to be very interested in her toys all of a sudden when he would try to talk to her. But he was patient and by the end of the week she was playing with him and letting him hold her, she warmed right up to him. We also went to the park for a picnic where Camille discovered the new love of her life, apples. Now mind you, she doesn’t care for apples at all when they’re pureed and in a baby food jar, but she LOVES them whole, when she can bite into them with her new little teeth. After the picnic, we stumbled upon a Hungarian street festival (only in New York! - Or Hungary, I guess). We had a great time, a great week.

Finally after months of gum pain and excessive drooling, Camille’s first tooth broke through this morning. I guess she’s ready for the steak au poivre that goes with the baguette she gnawed on Saturday at the park. (See picture) Our little girl growing so fast!

After days of trying, finally she can pull herself up.

Camille had been putting all her efforts into learning how to pull herself up on her crib rail, and finally, on her 7 month birthday, she succeeded. Now she just can’t get enough of it, and every minute she spends not pulling herself up on something (anything!) is time wasted in her book. She’s become an expert crawler, but this step towards walking is her new favorite activity. We’re finally settled in to our apartment, we have a few boxes remaining, but are pretty well unpacked. We’ve spent the last week exploring our neighborhood, and discovering all the great stuff we have within walking distance. Camille is in heaven, since she hasn’t seen the inside of a car in over a week, and she gets to walk around all day in the baby bjorn, where hundreds (literally) of smiling people greet her every day. They say New York isn’t a friendly city, and this may usually be true, but Camille is making plenty of friends. I think she’s such a ray of sunshine to people who aren’t so used to seeing a baby. The new city has its downsides, however. For one thing it is sooo noisy, something I never noticed as a tourist here. I’m told we’ll get used to it and pretty soon we won’t be able to sleep without the sound of sirens and taxi horns, but I have my doubts. Meanwhile it’s making naptime very interesting. Anyway, here are some pics of the last month. Some of these are from Asheville, where Camille and I spent a long weekend visiting her cousin Julia.

Walking in our new apartment

Unbelievably, our little girl is six months old. So much has happened in the last month, it feels overwhelming to try to bring the blog up to speed, but I’ll do my best. Camille and I have had a great time staying at my parents house in Atlanta. Jami’s wedding was so sweet and fun, and Camille got to see a lot of family and friends. She also got to meet her great grandfather, my mom’s dad, for the first time. We spent a week relaxing in Atlanta after that, then went up to New York to find an apartment. We found a great little spot in the upper east side of Manhattan, just three blocks from the Met and Central park. I think Camille is going to like her new neighborhood, even though I noticed the city is so much noisier than I remembered. I don’t think she’ll be riding the subway anytime soon! We celebrated her six month birthday by walking around our new neighborhood. We ate lunch at a yummy sidewalk cafe, then she fell asleep while Remi was carrying her in the baby bjorn. She is more interactive every day, and blabbing her head off. She is eating some solids and starting to drink from a sippy cup. Also, big news, she’s started to get up on her hands and knees like she is just about to crawl. She is beginning to be a bit shy with strangers and a bit clingy with Mommy, but on the whole she’s such a joyful girl. Here are some pictures of the last month or so…

These pictures are the last of our time in Albuquerque and in our adorable house. We’re so sad to leave, but excited about what’s to come.