Making friends

Willa has had a busy week!  Last week our regular babysitter was on Spring Break, leaving us without childcare for five whole days.  Yikes!  Thankfully, my friend, Sandi, was willing to pack up her eight month old son, drive three hours, and work from my house for two of those so that I didn't have to skip work Monday and Tuesday.  What a blessing it is to have such friends in my life :-).  Because of this, Willa got to meet her new friend, Ethan.

Ethan was excited, Willa was skeptical

She really wasn't at an age to play yet, but she was very good about not screaming when he grabbed her face or hands.  I was impressed that Sandi was able to handle both kids at once, I definitely struggled!  It let me know that another child is a long, looooong way away!

Willa also got to meet her Uncle Sahil and cousin Lark on her first long car trip.  From Greensboro to Atlanta is about five and a half hours, and we were hopeful that it would be successful after my trip to Raleigh and back (she slept for about that much time during the day with only one feeding, three hours in).  We figured we would feed her during our stop to gas up, and leave Roxy with helpful friends to have a few less moving pieces.  Luckily, she is at an age that the plan worked!  We only took about 20 minutes longer than usual, both thanks to her cooperation and lack of traffic.  She fed well in the car, burped quickly, then fell asleep again once the car was moving.  I was one proud mama :-).

Lark was initially shy to meet her cousin, probably overwhelmed by the moment, and the focus on her face to catch her reaction.  Given some space and time to process, she seemed curious and sweet.  I took this video to commemorate the moment.  It's a little awkward, and you can hear Katie/Jeremy's conversation in the next room, but it marks the first time these two cousins played together, so I love it!

The next morning we took some pictures when both kids were in pleasant, cooperative moods.  I think this one is my favorite, and we'll have to frame it!

They seem to get along famously already!

I think Willa is lucky to have such great people in her life to grow up with.  She stayed pretty laid back in a new environment, other than some more frequent fussiness.  Katie and Sahil took over for a night so that we could go out for a date, and we saw the first movie in a theater since Willa was born.  I was so glad that she did well, but definitely not surprised, as Sahil said, they'd done this before!

I'm excited to watch the years play out and see these little ones learn and discover the world together.  Willa loves her friends!