2009 - what a year!�� I became a mother and an aunt, James graduated from BU and Emmett hit some major milestones.� I think most of my immediate family members regard 2009 as one of - if not THE - best year yet, and I could not agree more.

Emmett's first Christmas was great.� We headed up to Maine for Christmas Day with James' family and then back down to Boston to meet my parents and sister for Christmas round two.� Needless to say, Emmett got a lot of good loot.

[caption id="attachment_1112" align="aligncenter" width="539" caption="Emmett's first Christmas, in Maine"][/caption]

New Year's Eve was pretty quiet.� I co-hosted my company's Internet marketing podcast in the afternoon, which was a lot of fun.� Then James, Emmett and I spent a relaxing evening at home that included some yummy Thai takeout, a cozy fire, watching the ball drop and drinking champagne at midnight.

Perhaps the coolest development of the past couple of weeks, however, was the fact that Emmett took his first steps (literally fewer than 24 hours after my parents went back to New Jersey after Christmas)!� In fact, in less than a week, he's become a real pro.� Check out a video of some of his first few steps below ...

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFTYofjMDSI&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

Now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays are over, I have to focus on my next big project -- Emmett's first birthday party!� Considering it's only 2 weeks away and I still have a lot to do to prepare, I should keep myself pretty busy.� I'm getting excited though; I just bought some pretty awesome themed decorations online :)

Check out the various Baby Lump photo albums on 2009 at http://www.flickr.com/photos/littlebabylump/sets and videos at http://www.youtube.com/pamelump.

Cheers to 2010 and to more milestones, happiness and love for Baby Lump, and thanks for reading along in '09!

Happy New Year from LittleBabyLump.com!

Happy New Year, everyone!� We had our fingers crossed that I'd give birth before midnight last night so we'd get a tax deduction for 2008, but alas, Baby Lump apparently wasn't ready.� Instead, James and I spent our New Year's Eve evening out on a nice little dinner-and-a-movie date.� We opted for some Italian fare at Papa Razzi in Boston's Back Bay - where we caught a bit of the First Night parade - and then saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (a long one, but we liked it!) at the theater near Fenway.� We were even back at the apartment in time to watch the ball drop.� I hope everyone else's New Year's plans weren't ruined by the Boston snowstorm - I modified my New Year's outfit by wearing a dress with tights and my bright red galoshes (picture) because of the snow.� It was quite a fashion statement :o)

[caption id="attachment_505" align="aligncenter" width="511" caption="James and me before our New Year's dinner-and-a-movie date."][/caption]

We may not have had a real baby to join us in celebrating the New Year, but we did have a baby to hang out with on Christmas day.� I mentioned before that my oldest sister, Adrienne is also pregnant.� Well, since we didn't want our unpregnant sister, Lauren to feel left out, Adrienne bought her an instant infant ("cute as a friggin' button, with all the fun and practically none of the poop") this Christmas.� Needless to say, Instant Infant got a little curious as he was checking out the apartment on Christmas day ...

[caption id="attachment_501" align="aligncenter" width="741" caption="Instant Infant welcomes diaper changes and even helps with the dirty dishes!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_502" align="aligncenter" width="672" caption="Instant Infant enjoys hanging out in the bathroom, likes sports & apparently is not afraid of heights."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_503" align="aligncenter" width="455" caption="Instant Infant already comes Web-savvy!"][/caption]

Oven Timer: 38 weeks, 3 days