From December to March

Yes, this is a big leap, but I can't remain in the past forever! And so, here are memories from the first four months or so, "en vrac":
I remember Christmas, our first Christmas as our own family! We all went to midnight mass and hung out at Ford Hall drinking egg nog, hot chocolate and mint schnaps until very late... it was great! Paul and I had sushi on Christmas eve and pates, cheese and cold cuts on Christmas night. We even had our own little tree. Lovely! C behaved like a newborn through all this: she slept. We were trying to take pictures of her with her gifts under the tree, but they had to be pictures of her sleeping under the tree!
I also remember our ministry meetings on Tuesday morning at the rectory of Notre-Dame. C started by sleeping through them like she slept through everything, but little by little, it was harder to handle her. It became a little easier as I became more skilled at this whole breastfeeding thing. Thanks here to Constanza who will remain my breastfeeding idol! I was truly inspired by seeing her nursing R while walking around, talking to friends and scolding MG. That's multi-tasking for you!
After most of those ministry meetings, I would stop by the office to say hi to Sylvia who seems to appreciate C's visits a lot still. I especially remember C at 6 weeks cooing and smiling non-stop at Sylvia until she (Sylvia, not C) was crying.
Then there was California! We went to the bay area mainly to visit Walter, C's Great-Great-Grand-Father who is 101. What a special moment! He held her and she took his finger, to his great delight. You don't see a five generation bridge like that everyday... We took this opportunity to visit with Great-Grandma Harriett as well, who was delighted, as well, and with Tante Dominique, Oncle Christian and cousins. Carmen quickly found out how to make C burst out laughing, which she had just started doing. Kids somehow understand each other. Gabrielle seemed very intrigued by her little cousin and we had to keep reminding her to be gentle: "Tout doux Gabrielle, tout doux."
Finally, C's baptism. It was beautiful, of course, not because of anything we did, but because of the obvious abundance of grace. What could be more beautiful than God claiming my little one as His own? Many people made the trip and it was a very joyous feast!
Through these first three months, C slept great! She had an established 5+4 hours sleeping pattern until California where the schedule got a lot less regular. I suspect she started teething around that time too. The faucets opened and my little one, who had never even needed a bib before, started drooling and drooling. Between cradle scalp, eyes full of buggers and drool all over, she was a really cute baby!