Our whirlwind US tour now brings us to Ohio for Penny's baptism. Penny survived with flying colors - actually made it through Mass and then the baptism without crying. She did find some of the comments during the homily very inspiring, though, and added her own thoughts in her loudest voice. She does enjoy yelling a fair amount. You can see my brother John, in the role of godfather, and my grandfather (who baptized me back in the day). I was so glad Grandpa was able to perform the baptism - his vision makes the reading challenging these days, but he did a great job. 
Penny's godmother couldn't make it, but my Aunt Rose did a great job as proxy. After the ceremony, we had a good time catching up with my family (we had a few out of town guests come by!) at a little reception my aunts put together. Penny enjoyed playing with the cousins her age, whom she hadn't seen since Christmas, then curled up in her carseat for a quick nap. It was a very full day - lots of exciting people and sights to take in.
We have a little less than a week left here in Ohio before we head to NYC for a little more time with Dan's parents and then down to Grenada for August and the start of classes. In the meantime, Penny is teaching my sister how to work her new iPod Touch, bringing smiles to the folks in the oncology ward during Mom's chemo appointments and generally having a blast exploring all kinds of new people and places. The learning spurt she had before we came to the U.S. has indeed impressed the many grandmas, great-grandmas and other new parents. While home, she has learned how to climb stairs (a skill thoroughly used when Dan and I went to a movie and she went searching downstairs and upstairs for us). She is also eating a bit more solid food as we introduce her to cherries, mangoes, peas and other fascinating new textures. She's nowhere near her cousins in quantity of food, but we're going for variety at this point. I'm hoping to be able to stop making special Penny food and just blend up what we're eating as soon as I can.
Going shopping has been a bit of a shock. After going to the baby store in Grenada, I knew I didn't want to go back there ever. There is JUST no reason to pay $40-80 USD for a pair of shoes. I got three pairs at a store for $15 USD. I got a few sizes, though, since we're not exactly sure when she'll learn to walk. She wore some cute shoes for her baptism and has already browned the toes with her eager crawling at the reception afterward. We all did a little garage sale hopping as well and Penny should have a wardrobe to last through til next summer at least - a feat I'm pretty proud of. Yay! It'll be interesting to see how our shopping fits in the suitcases ultimately. I'm hoping I didn't get too carried away.
1 comment:
That is great she did so well throughout the baptism. That is such a cute picture of her with your sister. Penny definitely looks a lot like you. See you in a couple of weeks!
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