Earning her wings and first snowfall!

Yesterday was Annika's 1st airplane ride! I need to really sing my baby's praises as she was absolutely perfect the entire time. Fortunately, the plane was 1/2 empty so I was able to snag the empty seat next to me for her car seat. I had the bottle ready for take off as I was advised this is often a problem on little ears. Thank you Aunt Traci for calling and giving me all kinds of baby travel tips. Much appreciated!!!!!

Daddy's girl - sleeping through take-off!!!! One of Victor's skills, too!

She slept through takeoff.
She slept the entire flight, opening her eyes a couple times.
She slept through the landing and all the loud announcements.

Love this kid!!!!!

Peaceful slumber.

She got all kinds of compliments from the stewardesses (er, um - I mean flight attendants) and other passengers on not only how well mannered she was, but how beautiful too!

The really sweet stewardess also gave Annika her first wings too! Can I mention how much I love JetBlue????? And even more, love the direct flights they have from my perfect little Long Beach airport to everywhere I want to visit people (Seattle, Salt Lake, Chicago!)!!!!

Shameless plug for JetBlue!!! Love this airline!

We snuck into town a few days early and didn't tell my niece and nephew, Scout and A-rob, that we were in town. My sister told them they needed to go into g-ma's house to pick up a special package. They were so suprised, and loved to finally meet Annika! A-rob would leave me weekly messages on the phone about how much he misses me, loves Annika, and couldn't wait to meet her. He is such a sweet little man.

A-Rob holding Annika for the first time! Such a sweet cousin!

Scout is growing into such a beautiful young lady, both inside and out!

My dad, AKA the baby whisperer, immediately charmed Annika. I'm so glad they finally met. We have to wait until next Christmas for Annika to meet her Peruvian abuelos, and I know it's very hard on them to have to wait.

Snuggling with grandpa. It was love at first sight!

We also met my brother Doug and his lovely girlfriend Amber for dinner, when he also met Annika for the first time. It was also the first time my parents met Amber. We had a great dinner, and I think Amber will do a great job of keeping Doug on his toes!

Dapper Doug holding his favorite niece for the first time!

We flew into Seattle before the snow. We are experiencing a bit of a cold snap - quite a difference from SoCal weather. We are layered up and keeping toasty warm!

She has about 3 layers of clothes/tights/thermals on here, so no comments about not having a coat/hat/gloves on the baby. We were only outside a minute... :-)

Now, the cats are slowly adjusting to the invasion of their home our new, loud little critter. It is interesting to watch how they are now interacting with the new baby stuff that has taken over the house. Here is Osa perching in the stroller.
More posts later this week!