Lazy vacation days

We're all on vacation this week, so we're spending some lazy afternoons at home.
No better place for me to do that than my great pink chair.

It's perfect for lounging with a drink,

and texting with my peeps!

A new place for me to play and learn

Starting next week, I will be going to the same 'school' my sister goes to. Since she's bigger than I am, we won't be in the same class; I'll be in the toddler class. Because I've been so clingy to Mami lately, and because Mami wanted me to get used to where I was going, we spent some time in my classroom this morning.
I got to play with lots of neat toys they had there.

I even met a new friend or two, although for the most part I was pretty shy.

OOOHHH LOOK, they have books! This is a good sign!

I was very interested in their selection.

Funny enough, the very first book I picked up and read was this Elmo's Colors book, which just so happens to have been Resli's absolute favorite read when she was in this classroom! (Given the wear and tear on the poor book, we have reason to believe it's the very same copy too.)

I made myself good and comfy and got some good quality reading time in.

Then came the second best part of the whole morning. (Blog fans, those of you who know me know that my two favorite things are: books; and . . . FOOD!)

Yep - SNACK TIME!
It was a bit of a challenge to stay in my chair, but I did pretty well. Except for the fact that I had grapes and goldfish and everyone else had Cheerios and I wanted Cheerios too.

(Mami has already promised to pack me Cheerios for my first day!)

Overall, it was a successful visit. Mami left the room once just to see what would happen and I actually was ok until I saw her through the window and then had a bit of a nervous breakdown. But maybe when she leaves me there (>>gasp!<<) I will actually have fun and not fall apart completely. And with any luck, Mami won't fall apart completely either. Think happy strong thoughts for us on the 5th!

In the midst of the holiday excitement,

I turned 14 months old!
Daddy brought me a sign to prove it.

Hooray for me and my 14 months on this planet!

(That picture up on the right is also useful to see if I'm getting strep throat, like Mami and Daddy have. So far, looks good!)
If only this sign were a book I could read...

Can you believe how fast I'm growing up?!?

Bonding with Nana

As you probably recall, I'm smack in the middle of a stranger danger phase of my life. I don't want anyone that's not Mami, Daddy or Resli coming near me. So the last few times Nana has come to visit, I haven't wanted much to do with her.
This visit, though, she discovered my Achilles' heel: READING!
She got me a great book about babies with pictures and everything, and I couldn't resist!

I didn't get so crazy as to sit in her lap or anything, but I inched closer and closer as she read to me...

Perhaps by the next visit we'll be on cuddling terms.

What a fabulous Christmas day!

I don't remember much about last Christmas since I was only 2 months old then. So when I woke up Christmas morning to discover presents under our tree, I was suprised!

At first I was more interested in eating the ribbons than opening the gifts,

but Daddy helped me open stuff. And every time I opened something new, I wanted to put it on. At one point I ended up with several layers of clothes!

When we went to Grandma and Granddaddy's later, Resli helped me open my presents.

(Sometimes she even let me play with them too!)
I had a great day, Merry Christmas everyone!

(Aren't I adorable?)

Hanging our stockings by the chimney with care

Before we went to bed on Christmas Eve, we had to hang our stockings up. First, I got to open my stocking that Nana gave me (since my stocking from last year said "Baby's First Christmas"!). Resli helped me.

Then we found the stocking hangers. (We don't have a mantel. And besides, we live in Florida, our fireplace is pretty much all for show anyway!

Then we figured out how to hang the stockings up.

And then we rushed off to bed to go to sleep so Santa could visit!

More Christmas lights!

Daddy took me, Resli, Granddaddy andGrandma to see more Christmas lights the other night.

There were lights EVERYWHERE!

And Santas, and stars...

And even a sleigh to ride in!

It was a great happy time!

Daddy's all well and good, but ...

I miss Mami. Can you tell?

What does Santa say?

I know lots of animal sounds, like what a dog and a cat and a duck and a cow and an owl say. But I've learned a new one too, in the spirit of the season.

Season's Greetings!

Make a Smilebox postcard

More Christmas lights than I've ever seen!

Tonight, as a special treat, we went to see the Christmas lights at the hospital where I was born. (I don't remember going last year as I was only about a month old, so this was like a brand new experience for me!) [see Resli's blog for disclaimers regarding poor photo quality]

It was really dark, and kind of hard to see where you were going some times, but there was lots to explore.

I was fascinated by the walls of little colored bulbs!

"Winter" in Gainesville

It was a little chilly in Gainesville today, so when we went outside to help Daddy put up the Christmas lights, we had to get bundled up! (Don't laugh, you northerners, this is, like, as cold as it gets here!)
Mami insisted I wear this hat. I tried to tell her it was too small - just look at my cheeks! - but she put it on me anyway.

But once she turned her back, I showed her!

So there!

But then I relented, at least for a while. Long enough to hang with Resli and her hat. She even let me share some of her sidewalk chalk.

That way, we could both draw in the driveway.

Of course, most of the chalk ended up on me. (Be glad there were no pictures taken before we cleaned my face and mouth!)

LOOK! Daddy's way up high on a ladder!! What's he doing??

I better cop a squat and see how this all turns out.

It turned out very well! We now have lights on our house and we're the most festive house on the block!

Getting in the Christmas spirit

Now that we have our tree, we spent the afternoon today getting all the Christmas stuff out and decorating the tree and the house.
I really liked this Christmasy bear (although, hmmm, he seems to have disappeared in to Resli's room...).

But then Mami and Daddy opened the boxes of ornaments.


Oooohhh, look at that!


Daddy showed me some of the pretty ones. This one says "Baby's First Christmas" so it's a little outdated, but we hung it up anyway. (It could be in honor of my new cousin Atticus, except it's very pink...)

Daddy helped me hang them too. We do good work together.

What? No balls allowed on the tree?

Well, and then it just got silly. Daddy wore his gatorhead (still celebrating our great victory yesterday, and the fact that we'll be playing in the championship bowl in Miami!), with reindeer antlers on it. Silly!

Everyone knows the antlers look better on me!
(I wore them last year too, remember?)

But in spite of our silliness, we ended up with the prettiest Christmas tree ever!