San Diego Uh-Oh

She didn't walk, but Fiona still had quite a bit of excitement during her week in San Diego. Some highlights, in no particular order:

• She discovered stairs: On her second day at Nonni & Pop's, Fiona found the staircase to the second floor. The first climb was a little clumsy, but after that we had trouble keeping her away. Which meant a lot of time for Mom & Dad to kneel behind her as she pulled herself up step by step.


• Toys, toys, and did we mention toys? As the only grandchild on both sides, Fiona was sure to come home with quite a haul from her first Christmas. Some big hits included the rocking horse (which she mastered on her first try, mere weeks after being unable to sit upright on a wagon over Thanksgiving), a plastic train (she doesn't wheel it around so much as pick it up and drop, although she has figured out how to stick some of the toy dolls that come with the set in the smokestack on the front) and any number of gadgets that play short melodies that Mommy & Daddy will soon come to curse.


• Uh-oh! Whenever Fiona dropped something, one of her many attendants was sure to deliver a sing-song "uh-oh" as he/she bent down to pick the object back up. Fiona also got a fold-the-flap book called What Do Babies Say? that included a baby saying "uh-oh" as he unfurled a roll of toilet paper. Fiona soon picked up the cadence, and one morning as we listened on the baby monitor as she played in her crib, we could hear her making the sound as she (presumably) dropped her stuffed animal Sprinkles.


• Birthday, take one: The big day isn't until January 7th, but Nonni & Pop couldn't resist a dry run. Check the website soon for photos of Fiona stuffing her face with cake (we had to take some away in order to keep her from a sugar high that would have lasted into the next week).


• The Zoo: Fiona made her first visit to the World Famous San Diego Zoo and had a blast. Big animals were easier to see than small ones, obviously, and Fiona was equally fascinated by the humanoid animals on our side of the fence as by the more exotic creatures, but she was full of smiles and yelps as we checked out the goats, bears and elephants. She was so interested in the animals, in fact, that we had to cut the visit short once it became obvious that a very tired baby was fighting off sleep so she could get a glimpse of the rhinos.