Making a House a Home...

I think, after two weeks, that we have definitely made this new house our home -- and we love it. The house absolutely "fits" us and gives off such a calming/soothing effect every time we walk in the door (especially now that all of the boxes are out!). Putting together a new house is like doing a puzzle though -- one of those puzzles where all the pieces are the same shape and hues of the same color and there are extra pieces that you aren't supposed to use. It's tough. There are new spaces that aren't the same as the old spaces, there are spaces that you used to have that you don't any more... But, I think we rose to the challenge and made this look and feel like OUR home. And, maybe someday it will be our home. We'll have to wait and see what the next year holds for us before we know the answer to that one.

The kitchen passed the "Sunday Cooking Marathon" test yesterday. Scott and I were both able to work in the kitchen for several hours cooking our meals for the week (and Millie's meals) without tripping over each other. We were able to put our kitchen cart back into use (it had been in storage in the past two houses due to lack of room for it...) and that helped a lot with opening up counter space. We did find out this morning that you'll blow a fuse if you run the microwave and dishwasher at the same time -- oops! There are a couple of other small quirks to the house, like placement of light-switches (the backroom ones are especially tricky), necessary sequence of opening drawers, doors, and cabinets, the "garage"... . All-in-all though, it seems like a very reliable house.

The neighborhood is great too -- lots of kids out and about, lots of dogs for Millie to watch, and just plain friendly people. We've met quite a few people on the street already and we even had a couple of young girls bring us cookies and brownies last week! We also got our flyer for the big block party this week too. The party is at the end of September and we've been told it is quite a bash! It's just like being in the Midwest again :). I'd say the biggest thing we miss about the old house is our old grocery store! We have the same chains here in Fairfield, but for some reason the Nowalk Stop and Shop was different. The lay out was easier to navigate and they carried all of our staples. We've had a hard time finding everything we need at the stores here. Which means we switched chains to Shaws. It seems to be working out, but it's not the same ;). (There's a reason I work with people with autism -- I can relate to some of their idiosyncrasies, like a need for sameness!)

We've been walking LOTS. Scott is walking to the train station everyday and taking the train to work. While I was off and still unpacking, I walked Millie to daycare and last week I even walked to work 2 out of the 4 days! It's been very nice to trade in my car commute for a foot commute. I still have time to decompress and go over my day after work, but I don't have to deal with traffic! I get in a good 45 minute walk by myself and then another 20-30 minute walk with Millie (depending on how tired I am at the end of the day!). Much more fun than going to the gym and using the treadmill! If I walk to work, I can get in about 8.5 miles a day -- not too shabby!

Millie continues to enjoy exploring the new house. She loves to stand at the bottom of the stairs (where there is a gate...) and given the opportunity, she will climb them (followed closely by me or Scott of course), she still likes the backroom and loves to empty her bookshelf, she likes crawling on the deck and really likes her bedroom. Her room actually looks great and is nice and big with plenty of space to play. We were able to put out Scott's old child-sized rocking chair and Millie LOVES to sit in it. She quickly figured out how to make it rock! Her Fred Bird and Detroit Bear sit in the rocking chair when she isn't there, but neither of them are special enough to join her while she's rocking yet. She throws all stuffies overboard!

Millie has been practicing her standing skills this week -- slowly standing up from a squat (not holding on to anything), hanging out for a while, and then slowly going back down to crawl on to the next activity. It's fun to watch her get better and better everyday. She hasn't tried any independent steps yet, but she does like to walk around holding onto someone's hands. As always, Millie loves to play outside and we are starting to have quite the collection of rocks in the house as she likes to dig them out of the dirt and carry them around with her. She'll come in handy at both grandparents' house! Millie has also been helping Scott put together pieces of furniture -- usually by sitting on said furniture :). She quickly notices each new hanging we put on the wall or nic-nac we put in a room. She's taken to waving at everyone and everything, particularly the neighborhood dogs, her stuffies, and the trees. She also waves to each new room that she walks in to in the morning -- as if to say "good morning world, here I am!" Too cute.

We decided to give Millie one of her birthday presents early. We got her a water/sand table and I wanted her to be able to enjoy it before the weather gets too cold. So, Scott put it together today and she took it for a trial run :). No sand yet, just water, but at this point, I think that's good enough for her! She enjoyed splashing around in the water and playing with her ducky and boats. She did a great job standing and playing by herself, though the toys were hard to reach at times.

We've enjoyed having the long weekend to get things finished on the house and to just get back into our normal weekly routines. Hope you enjoyed yours as well! Enjoy the videos and pics! We'll post a video tour of the house soon! (guided by Millie of course...)