Ivy in Icy Iowa

We are all in transit, feeling like we're far away from each other and from our friends. Josh and John made it to College Station on Monday, despite some harrowing moments on the road and a few physical difficulties for John. John left on Thursday, and Josh is busy setting up the house -- he's got our cable, phone, utilities, Culligan water, fridge (which he thinks is smarter than we are and may take over as Ivy's nanny), carpets cleaned, and all kinds of other things done. Now he's grading and missing his girls. His girls miss him too, and can't wait to see all that he's discovered in our new home. I hear the HEB is pretty good, and has excellent store-brand chocolate soy and smoked deli turkey. I only have 48 hours to teach Ivy to say Dada before we get to Texas.

Ivy and I are in Iowa, mostly warm and safe, but we did have quite the adventure Tuesday. The ice storm made the power go out for about three hours, and then it was spotty all afternoon. We built a big fire in the fireplace and Grammy got the quilts from her childhood bed (when she slept in an unheated upstairs!) to hang to block off the family room. It was pretty cozy under the quilts, but pretty cold in the rest of the house. And there was no wireless!

On Sunday we had a very nice open house to introduce Ivy to many of my old neighbors, my family, and some of my old co-workers (and old is indeed the operative world). I was especially pleased to see neighbors Bob and Karyn (who helped with everything); Sam and Jane Martin; Cathy and JoAnne Talarico, who worked with me at IRMS; and Cathy Wintermantel, whose daughter Mary was my best friend all through grade school. And Ivy got a lot of nice presents! After the open house, the family stuck around for dinner. Ivy met her funny Uncle Mark and liked him a lot.





Our dear little girl is very happy to see Grammy and Grampy, but she misses her daddy! She's had some tough times settling down at night, but Grampy made her life-size photos of her daddy to keep her company -- she tried to stuff one in her mouth -- and that seemed to help. We also played a Christmas music box (she loves that tinny music) and Grampy danced with her down the hall, playing the mix he made for her.




We've been doing lots of Christmas shopping for Ivy, getting her new clothes (because the poor dear girl is likely to go naked with the way I refuse to shop for her). Both times she stayed home with Grampy. We found lots of nice things at the second-hand store in town, including this cute cute penguin suit. I feel guilty buying it because it's for a boy and they don't have as many cute clothes as girls, but it was so soft I couldn't pass it up. Her Aunt Heidi should love this picture, because of the penguin and because Ivy is the same size as the Burmese monk she brought us.

We also got this little chair, which Ivy loves. She's getting so much stronger -- when we first brought it home on Monday she slumped in a bit, but now she sits up straight. During dinner she sits next to us and talks and talks. She's figuring out how conversation works and is eager to join in. And last night, in front of the fire, Grampy played "Where's Ivy" with great success. He'd pull her bib over her face and ask where she was, and she'd push herself up in her chair over the edge of the bib and laugh and laugh as he cried delightedly "There she is!" I was so excited I called Josh. I'm not sure he's going to recognize her.

We've tried to keep Ivy on a pretty regular routine, but she's not sleeping very well at night -- down to about six hours at a time (though she's been taking naps very well, going down without a fuss -- it might be the lullaby in the next blog entry). Grammy and Grampy think she needs soft food, and it's true that she's pretty interested in the process of eating all of a sudden. I think she needs her daddy and her crib. And I miss her tummy tub. She's taking baths nicely in the sink, but she's harder to manage in there. Grampy helps.





(This is Grammy's dear friend, Judy Dietrich. She couldn't come to the open house so visited on Friday. She has nothing to do with our house sale.) Our house is not sold. The people who were buying it conditionally pulled out because they couldn't get financing; the other interested people couldn't get financing either. It does indeed feel like it will never sell, but at least it's a little better out of sight, out of mind for me. I try not to worry, as I'm picking out wood floors and quartz countertops.


In addition to all the important friends of mine and my parents, Ivy also met Santa Claus. He gave her a candy cane, but she didn't get to eat it.