Sadly, my Aunt Maryellen passed away suddenly on Saturday, May 17, 2008. I was torn because I wanted to be in Georgia when my new baby niece was born (Tracy said I could be in the room and watch!) but it was important to be with the family at the funeral, especially to be there for my mother. So Julia and I headed up to Pittsburgh and Julia was an angel baby in the car. We left at 6:00 a.m. and made it all the way to Pittsburgh with just one stop for breakfast. Julia wolfed down her cereal and (almost) an entire banana and was content for the rest of the trip.
We found out when we got there that the viewing would be Thursday and the funeral would be Friday, so we would be in PA for almost a whole week. Although the circumstances were sad, it was nice to see all of the relatives and for all of them to see our baby girl. Julia did great and was her chatty, smiley self all week. She really seemed to enjoy meeting all of her great aunts and uncles and cousins...especially since I don't think she was put down for longer than two minutes all week.
Mom rode back to Tennessee with Julia and me so that we could drop her off with David while we made our way down to Georgia for the happy part of our trip--to see baby Olivia Carolyn May Land, born on May 21, 2008 ( =
Shortly after we got back from Pittsburgh, Julia starting sitting on her own for a few seconds at a time...until May 28th when she was steady enough to stay up long enough to reach for a toy and grab it. By the next day, she was happily playing with her toys on the floor for up to thirty minutes at a time. It's so strange how quickly they catch on!
