Christmas Clip

Here is a clip from Christmas Day - Delanie opening one of her many presents under the tree! For us, Christmas began a little after 6 am, when Delanie woke up. She was quickly fed, then we began opening presents. First off, let me say, being able to experience our first Christmas as parents was truely a wonderful, memorable experience. There was nothing like the feeling of watching Delanie's excitement and wonder as she progressed through the day. And, although she doesn't quite "get it" yet, Dave and I were still very excited to sneak around and play Santa after she went to sleep the night before.

Of all the gifts she opened, Delanie was most drawn to the books. She loves all books! She is so funny now, because she actually will sit down and "read" books, only occasionally nibbling on the binding. She uses lots of inflection in her voice and just talks nonstop, glances at pictures before turning pages. She is so fun to watch when she really gets into a book (this trait she gets from her Dad, not her mother!!).

After presents, we were able to take a nice walk with the dogs at some trails at the high school. Those poor dogs! The walk was their only gift this year, other than what Mamo sent them! But, they were as content as ever. We had pot roast for an early dinner, played with toys some more. We drove out to a cool light display - the homeowner synchronized all his lights to a local Christmas radio station. We sat out on the grass and got lost in the beauty of the Christmas lights for a while. Once we got home, it was an early bedtime for all.

A big thank you to all our generous friends and family - it took until mid-afternoon to open all of the presents we received! We had such a wonderful Christmas as a family, but missed everyone we did not get to see. Christmas celebrations will continue until mid-January, as our plans to see family spans over several weekends.

We hope everyone was as blessed with a wonderful Christmas Day! We look forward to catching up with so many people in the coming days!

Christmas Day

A picture of me in front of the Christmas Tree

A picture of me crawling AWAY from the Christmas tree! Thank you Caleb for the bib!

Here I am reading one of the many great books I received... I love books!

I enjoy playing with my new Care Bear's nose! He is as big as me!

Christmas Morning

Here is a picture of Daddy and I coming down the stairs on Christmas morning.

I started the morning by exploring in my stocking of course!

Dancing with Daddy in our pajamas!

This is my face upon opening the gift from Great Aunt Kathleen!! The stuffed dog did not make the best first impression, but has since grown on me!

First Presents!

The first of what will likely be a string of posts of Delanie's first Christmas! We opened gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Blatchford and Aunt Kate on Dec 22. Delanie loves paper - newspaper, tissues, etc - so opening gifts wasn't a huge stretch for her!

Dancing Queen

On Friday, we had a small open house for close friends and family. Here is some video of Delanie and Mommy warming up before guests arrived!

How Time Flies!

December has been a busy month for us, thus far. We have been rushing to get Christmas shopping done when we are not getting the house ready for some renovations or attending one of many events we seem to have this month.

That said, this will be another "short but sweet" post from us! As you saw in our last post, Delanie is crawling! And, as you can tell by the pictures, every piece of furniture, every pillow, every storage bin has now become a barricade to keep her in one area. The whole "open floor plan" idea was obviously not developed by a stay-at-home mom of an 8.5 month old!

Delanie is really developing a humorous personality now! She makes silly faces all the time. She is currently enthralled with sticking out her tongue and making mumbling sounds. She also loves to make the messy motorboat sounds that result in peas all over the person feeding her - usually Mommy. She takes her socks off EVERY time she is in her carseat, and proceeds to chew on them and make noises through the material. Just today, she has learned how to click her tongue, so laughs at the noise it makes.

Last weekend, we went to a beautiful wedding. Delanie did lots of dancing with family, and outlasted most of us by going the whole day without a nap! She loved watching the other kids play on the dance floor!

We are turning the bonus room into a more kid-friendly playroom. We have been
clearing out the room and painting before a contractor could put in some built ins. The room is starting to come together now, but I think our timing was off, because we still don't have the tree up!

On The Move!

Delanie began crawling on Friday! And boy, can she move! She is fascinated with a floor lamp in the family room, which she grabs hold of and tries to drag across the wood floors. She also loves Daddy's toys - electronics, remotes, newspapers, etc.

8 Months Old!

As I stand here typing this blog update, I think about how many new things I can do since I last updated my blog...

I am really really close to crawling now! I am very excited about the prospect of moving FORWARD, as I seem to be able to go sideways, backward, and even do a 360. Mommy and Daddy keep demonstrating for me. But, part of me also would just rather start walking, as I have learned how to balance on my feet and hands, I just can't get fully upright yet.

Mamo sent me a beautiful quilt she made for me. It has all these brain-boosting colors that are fun to look at! This weekend was a busy one, though, so the quilt didn't get too much use. We had lots of errands and chores to do - apparently Daddy thought it was time to baby-proof the house (and ruin all the possible fun I could have with the contents of the kitchen cabinets).

I am starting to get the hang of chewing food, so Mommy makes me try practically everything on her plate. The past two weeks have included blueberries, asparagus, bread, bananas, cherries, peas and graham crackers.

Mommy and Daddy told me I had to put new bath towels on my Santa list - this picture is evidence why. I am just too big for the infant towels, and it is too cold in December to air dry! I still enjoy my naked time, its just shorter than it was in the summer. As far as my Santa list, I keep trying to think of stuff I want besides newspaper.

Another new trick I have learned is taking off my socks. I especially like to take both of them off and chew on them in the car. The other day, when Mommy and I went grocery shopping, I pulled one off in the parking lot and threw it on the ground (I figured we could pick it up later). Well, Mommy didn't notice until we got to the Bakery. So, we put all the groceries back, ran out to the parking lot and retrieved my pink sock. We went back into the store. By the time we got back to Bakery, I was back down to one sock
again. Mommy should have learned the first time!

Its almost time for me to go to bed (which is a whole new experience now that I can sit up on my own, btw). I want to close out with this picture of me in the sweater Granny bought me. I love how warm and cuddly this pink sweater is, and I really like the extra room at the top of the hood, it makes me look like one of Santa's elves (or a baby unicorn)!

Love to all and happy holidays!

Laniebug