My daughter: the party animal

It was a big weekend for Miss Penelope, she got to meet her extended family for the first time. Aunt, uncle, grandfather, great-grandparents, great aunts, great uncles, second and third cousins... 

... it was Jared's family BBQ. And it was exhausting. Not for her... she slept the whole damn time. 

I wasn't sure if, at 3 weeks, I would feel up to socializing with a couple dozen family members, but I seem to be doing okay PP wise, so off we went. I'm so very glad we were able to make it, if only for two moments. The first was being able to swim with Jared in the salt water pool. It's not often we get to do stuff like that together without one of us wearing/feeding/burping/soothing her.

 The second being Jared's father skipping/running/jumping towards the front door when we arrived. It was his first time meeting his grand-daughter and, next to my mom's look-at-baby-burst-into-tears moment, could have won the Greatest Reaction When Meeting Penelope award! That honor however is being given to Jared's grandmother, whose sincere gasp and tear filled eyes, when simply looking at Penelope, caused an abrupt meeting between my heart and throat. I think I fell in love with her as she fell in love with our daughter. 

Plus Penelope totally tried to eat her face... the laughter was real, beautiful and contagious.

We're lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderful people who love, and will show love to Penelope over the years! Plus, they're only an hour and a half away. Close enough for day trips, not close enough for unannounced drop ins ;)


Penelope was really good all day, as well as on the drive home, so we decided we'd take her to another party! My daughter: the party animal! Two really amazing people here in Kingston are moving to Sweden *sob*  and they opened their "drink our booze, take our stuff" party up to children and adults! It could have been a "bring your babe" party; there were 2 other newborns, a 4m old and a 3year old.Penelope got passed around like a football and, just like at the BBQ (when she was awake),  loved being around so many people. I think she digs the happy energy! 



So, what happens when you add together an overnight stay at the in-laws, a morning of shopping for a baby carrier, a huge family BBQ complete with swimming, a two hour drive and a big going away party? yes, exhaustion. Turns out it was just as tiring for Penelope as it was for us... she actually let us sleep, only waking twice through the night!



Apparently the secret to getting a good night's sleep with a newborn is to travel and party?