Eleanor was excited by the wrapping paper and kept trying to eat it. We are all convinced that she is starting to get a tooth, although none have surfaced yet; but everything goes to the mouth, she is drooling like a champ, and just this week, a runny nose started. Aunt Pam gave Nora her "Baby's First Christmas" pajamas, which she wore that morning. Here are some pictures:
This last one is of Nora opening her first baby doll, which was from Uncle Anthony.
After our own Christmas, we headed to Wendy's Aunt Mary & Uncle Charlie's house to see the Wehage side of the family. You may have heard me describe them (My dad was 7th in a family of 15 kids and we grew up with huge gatherings at Christmas, with a visit from Santa Claus and a gift exchange that lasted for hours). Even with two of the 15 deceased (My dad & Uncle Jim) and four others not there, Eleanor still got to meet lots of her family---great uncles & aunts, cousins, second cousins, and even great grandma Elsa. It was a lovely afternoon filled with catching up, hugs, and lots of smiles between Eleanor and her family. The end of the day found Geoff & Wendy having drinks at a local watering hole winning at the video lottery--just how we prefer our holidays to come to an end!
On Day 7, Geoff and I did a little shopping while Grandma had some quality time with Nora. That evening, after some quality time of our own with Nora, friends from grade school, high school, and college amassed at The Lutz. This is a place only 3 blocks from Mom's house that we all adore. It has $1 Pabst, good microbrews, and a decent jukebox. People came from far and wide, including Melanie (from Spokane, WA), Sonja (from Lakewood, WA), & Jeff (Little Rock, AR). Others came out despite long work days and little ones at home, including Molly, Robert, & Ruth. We started at 7 and ended around 1:30 am talking and laughing and making plans for my Za Za Sisters (Molly, Ruth, Mel, and Sonja) to come to Ohio this summer for our annual weekend.
On our last day in town, Geoff and I took the evening to visit the new McMenamins--the Chapel. These restaurants/microbrew pubs are all around Oregon. They take existing old structures and make them into restaurants. A fire station, grade school, farm, lodge, and now a chapel. They are wonderfully historic and fun, plus they brew a really good set of beers. For lunch, dad watched Eleanor while Mom went with Grandma, Melanie and Ruth to lunch. It was a really nice time out.
Day 9 had us returning the rental car and flying home. It took literally all day (left house at 7:50 am and got home in Ohio at 10:50 pm), but again Eleanor did wonderfully on the planes.
We had a terrific time at home in Portland for the holidays. Thank you to everyone who made the time to see us. Thank you especially to Grandma for watching Nora so much, we know she loved it.
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