All-turkeyed out!

We arrived home last night at 6 p.m. after a very busy, full, and fun five days in Maryland/VA. Our schedule was jam-packed with two Thanksgiving parties/dinners, a "leftover" party on Friday with my brother-in-law's family, a visit with Samantha and her family on Saturday, a family baptism and party on Sunday, a trip to the newest Air & Space museum out at Dulles airport, and a dinner party/sleepover at my sister-in-law's Sunday night. Whew! Beatrice was an incredible traveler and slept very well at nighttime overall. Much better than when we traveled in July! She met dozens of family members who adored her and showered her with love, and got to spend some quality time with her grandparents, Lolo and Lola. Her first Thanksgiving dinner was at Tita Dory's house with the Martin side of the family where she enjoyed delicious bluefish, turon, pansit, adobo, and deneguan (I'm probably not spelling that one right, but she loved it.) At the second party she had the more traditional foods and she delighted in those as well. Saturday was a highlight because we met up with Agnes and Lucious for Pho where we met adorable and shy Samantha, B's "sister" from the orphanage. I must say that she was pretty curious about her and more interested in her than she generally is of children her own age. I hope we can keep in touch with her and with some of the other babies with whom she lived for the first year of her life. As she gets older, it might be a comfort to have that little glimpse into her beginnings. Sunday was beautiful baby Dominic's baptism and it was a gorgeous and warm day in northern Virginia. At the party afterward, she eventually passed out, took her tights off, and took a good long nap in Dominic's carseat. I was so proud of how she handled herself with all the new people and places. She is really growing up, acting like a true toddler, sitting and feeding herself, playing with the other kids, adding a few new words to her vocabulary (Lola, Lolo, wah(water), what?, wow, the beginnings of "I love you," and may may, which we have no idea the meaning of) and just looking so big next to the kids who are younger than she is. We were all happy to get back home and Beatrice was excited to see Sula and hunker down with some of her fave toys. She slept like a rock from 7:30-6:30, and I did pretty much the same. Now a new month is upon us and we can focus on enjoying the Christmas season. Soon we'll be out selecting a tree and decorating the house, which we haven't done for two years since we've been away. It'll be so good to have a Christmas at home and start new traditions with our family.