Merry Christmas Eve

I haven’t really been in the Christmas
spirit lately (crazy, I know), but we just had a lovely
Christmas Eve that put me in the right frame of mind. Grandpa
and Grandma came over for dinner, I cooked a delicious dinner
(if I do say so myself) of soup, salad and bread, with lots of
cookies for dessert, of course. Lex and Eve opened presents
before dinner and enjoyed their new things. Eve now has her
very own hand knit stocking (yay, thanks Grandma!), and Lex is
loving his front loader and coloring supplies. It was such a
nice, happy family evening. Merry Christmas to all and to all a
good night!

Week of milestones, day of firsts

Eve has had a very busy week or
so. Just recently she has perfected her crawling, pulled up to
a kneeling position (first on the hearth, then elsewhere),
pulled up to a standing position (first on the rocking chair,
then elsewhere) and started cruising. Just today she pulled
herself up to a standing position in the crib, which made for
difficult naps. Once she figured it out she just kept standing
up. Unfortunately she hasn’t leanred the sit down part just yet
and so she wailed until I rescued her, or else slipped and fell
face first into the crib railings. Neither are very elegant
solutions to her standing up predicament :) Just tonight, with
my grandparents watching, she went from crawling back to
sitting. First time for that one too. Also within the past week
or two she has started saying “dada” and “mama” accurately and
consistently. She did “dada” first and would call him and look
around for him when she could hear but not see him. A few days
later she started saying “mama” and now she does this sweet,
pathetic “mamama” as she crawls towards me. She’s a bit of a
mamma’s girl at the moment and doesn’t like to be too far away
from me. It’s sweet and makes me feel loved. :) Busy week, huh?
Of course all of this new activity comes with its bumps and
bruises and she has no shortage of marks to show for her
efforts, including a semi-crown of bruises across her forehead
and a small cut on her eyebrow. A small price to pay for such
skills though, right? :) I kept meaning to document each thing
here, but the milestones were coming so fast I couldn’t keep
up. Go Eve go!

Almost forgot, tonight she also
tried to crawl up the stairs. Hello 2nd baby
gate!

A few non-holiday movies

Here are a few movies from today. Just
every day life as we get ready for company.

Eve’s sippy cup shower:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAl1nzJyF4c]

Doggy doing laundry:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWiejVNuj44]

Talking with Doggy:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLOSSQPQlNs]

Lex’s imaginative play is really developing lately. It’s
fun to watch and listen as he plays with his toys and makes up
some interesting stories.

Snack time

Lex found a cup of “goldfish and bunnies” in the
backpack and managed to dump it all over the floor. Then he and
Eve sat right down to eat them. I figured, “Snack time on the
floor? What the heck, it’s Christmas!” Stay tuned for a video
of her drinking her water during this snack time.

The two of them are so sweet these days, and
extra sweet today. Right now they are upstairs, not napping,
but doing something that they both find very funny. I’m not
sure what (probably should find out) but they are up there
laughing and laughing together. I suspect he’s playing
peek-a-boo or something like that with her. It doesn’t bode
well for a nap, but it’s cute anyway… heheh… he just said
“1… 2… 3…” and then she cracked up.

Turns out they were
laughing because Eve started pulling herself up in the crib. I
walked in and she was standing up and he was peeking at her
through the bars. Both were hysterical. Then she fell over and
hit her face right into the bars. It’s been a tough week for
her.