It was a picture perfect Thanksgiving, which is why I was quite upset with myself for not bringing a back-up camera battery. I was able to snag this cute photo of Camille and Granddaddy snuggling for warmth during a quick walk around Jeff’s neighborhood.

But then my camera died. I brought extra lenses. But no extra battery, and no charger. How could I let this happen?? My first chance to photograph Miss Stella, and I really blew it. Not to mention the fact that I have no pictures of the rest of my family from this Thanksgiving. Real bummer.
But, despite that malfunction, it was a great trip. Stella is SO CUTE. And so tiny! My heart just melted when I saw her and I was in love. I didn’t get to hold her a whole lot because somebody was a little jealous. I don’t think it would have been so bad if we hadn’t been trying to keep Camille away from Stella because of her cold. If Cami spotted me with her, she’d run over and immediately be intercepted or I’d jump up and try to move Stella away. This understandably hurt her feelings. That’s okay, I didn’t mind handing Stella off to any of the many eager arms and giving my baby extra cuddles to make sure she felt loved. I still love holding her too.
I did bring my video camera though, so I at least have some kind of record of our holiday. Here’s some video of Stella Bella, followed by some clips of Camille at the playground with Michelle’s niece and nephew (who were so GREAT with Camille!)

World’s Smallest Sneeze and other Thanksgiving Day Excitement from Ginger on Vimeo.
The trip went really well except for sleeping at night. Miss Camille would go to bed perfectly, but wake up at some point in the night very upset. We’d struggle to get her back to sleep, and she’d still wake up between 5 and 6, ready to go.
Friday night was the worst. She was sleeping in the pack-n-play in our hotel room, and woke up around 1 a.m. crying. She usually cries a combination of “Mama-Daddy-Mama-Daddy,” but not this time. I don’t know if she had a bad dream or what, but she started sobbing and yelling the name of every Sesame Street character she knows. It went something like this:
“Melmo! Bi-Bur! Na-nee! Burt! Ooki! Go-go! Melmo! Melmo! Melmo! Melmo!” (Translation – Elmo, Big Bird, Ernie, Burt, Cookie, Grover, Elmo, Elmo, Elmo, Elmo). She doesn’t watch the show very often, but she has several books and LOVES all the Sesame Street characters. Apparently, loves them a whole lot.
I laid there in bed thinking, “Well, I’m not going to get up and go get her because she’s not calling for me.”
But it went on for a while and I knew the puppets weren’t coming, so I put her in bed with us. And she screamed so loud I knew we’d woken all the hotel guests. She finally settled a little, and then started pushing my nose and saying, “Mo” (her version of “nose”). We’ve been teaching her about body parts, but that was not the appropriate time for a review.
Then, the smoke alarm started chirping at us. Thankfully not to alert us to a fire, but to the fact that it’s battery was low. I tried to ignore it, not wanting to get Camille stirred up, but the noise was like fingers on a chalkboard. Finally, when Camille started crying again anyway, Lee unscrewed the alarm and removed the battery. And it kept chirping. So I threw it under the bathroom sink. I could still hear it, but at least it was faint.
Nana and Granddaddy were in a room across the hall, and said we could bring Camille to them after 6:30. I was tempted to knock on their door, say “Konichiwa,” hand her over and remind them that it was at least 6:30 in Japan.
After about an hour of all this, Camille finally went back to sleep. I don’t know what it was about that hotel room that kept her up – probably just the unfamiliarity of it all. But enough time has passed now that I think the whole Sesame Street thing is pretty funny.
I am thankful for my family. And Camille is thankful for Elmo.