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!

Welcome, cousin!

My cousin Atticus was born late last night, which means I now have my first first cousin. Welcome, Atticus! I can't wait to meet you!

The tree farm

We went to an amazing place this morning - a place where they grow Christmas trees! We went to find our perfect tree and cut it down.
As soon as we got there I took off exploring.

I found it! This is it, let's get this one!

Resli and I both liked the little ones..

But Daddy showed me some others and convinced me that bigger was better. You can play hide-and-seek with the big ones, you know.

And then with a little perspective from Mami, I was able to spot the perfect tree!

Now we have it at home and we'll decorate it soon. Check back for updates!

I love yogurt!

Ah, the joys of self feeding

I'm actually quite adept with a spoon and fork (if someone else puts the food in place of course), but I prefer the finger food approach.

Which also means, of course, that I end up with carrots in my hair, banana on my right cheek and a few crumbs by my left eye. But I'm still pretty cute, huh? :)

Time keeps on ticking ticking ticking...

... in to the future! And it seems like the months just race by. In the midst of Thanksgiving and all of that, I passed another birthmonthday - I'm 13 months old now!
Oooohhhh!

Like any good 13 month old, I'm always busy and always on the go.

OK, gotta go back to pretending to feed myself and my family now.

I just wanted to be sure you knew I was still growing. More from me soon!