Christmas III: Meeting Isla

After spending Christmas in Vermont, our next stop took us to Keene, NH, for a brief stop-over with our friends Jim and Karen. They are good old friends from our days in Seattle, and we haven't seen them in awhile, so it was great to catch up over lunch. Next time, we'll definitely stay longer!



The final stop on our whirlwind Christmas tour of New England was David and Colleen's house in Beverly, MA. Here, we met our sweet five month-old niece, Isla (pronounced "eye-la"). Isla is five months old (about one year younger than Susannah) and has big blue eyes and scrumptious chubby cheeks - she really is a cutie! We decided to relax at home for most of the time due to the frigid temperatures outside, combined with challenge of dealing with the demanding napping and eating schedules of two babies. It was so cold, in fact, that our ventures outside were limited to a trip to Babies-r-Us and an afternoon drive around the North Shore area so that Susannah and Isla could sleep. David remarked that you know things have really changed when your idea of "relaxing" is driving around so that the baby can sleep. Yes, indeed.
We had such a good time just hanging out with David, Colleen and little Isla. In addition to taking care of a new baby, David and Colleen are doing a major house renovation - we were impressed!
During our visit, Susannah alternated between showing little interest in her baby cousin to saying "BABY!" and pinching her ear and poking her in the face. Thankfully, Isla didn't mind too much. So, we can't exactly say that they're buddies yet, but hopefully that will come eventually.


Isla looks concerned as Susannah tries to give her a kiss





















This one's a keeper! Note the matching shirts on the dads, and the adorable matching sweaters on Isla and Susannah (beautifully knit by Cynthia). Nice work with the maracas, Dave!