10 Months

She's just not a bitty baby anymore.  Of course she is still tiny, she can still fit into some 6 month clothes, but she is getting so...mature!  Not only is she gaining is physical skill and ability, but he little personality is starting to shine through, too.

AnnieBananie is an amazing crawler.  She is fast and adept, and is really enjoying her time experimenting with "off-road" crawling.  Over top of legs, pillow, piles of new presents...all fun challenges.  She can also get up the stairs at Gommy's house with some speed, but that activity most certainly requires supervision.  Some days I'm really glad we live in a one-story house.  She pulls up on everything, mostly my pant leg, and doesn't need much support for standing.  As long as she has one hand for balance purposes she can play standing up.  We've even seen her stand completely independantly for several seconds before sitting down.  She can cruise but doesn't seem to enjoy it.  She needs to be really motivated by something on the table to cruise over to it, otherwise she'd rather get down and crawl to her destination. 

She is also beginning to display he opinions much more frequently.  The other day she started yelling from her high chair when she saw the berry containers come out of the fridge.  She kept yelling until she felt she had been served enough.  Kinda funny!  She yells at Sam when he steals toys.  But she is also laughing more and picking out some favorite toys.

One of the strongest opinions she is showing these days is her preference for Mommy.  This is a relatively new thing, and it is more intense when we are or have house guests.  I think that the constant presence of other adults make her feel all the more need to return to Mommy.  Of course it doesn't help the situation that she still associates me with food, but she prefers me when tired, too.  I'm really hoping that this doesn't turn into a full-blown separation anxiety!

She is a sweet, sweet girl.  She likes to have her back rubbed, especially when she's tired.  Her cheeks are adorable and her smile is precious.  She laughs her tiny little giggle when you nibble her neck or blow on her belly.  Sam is still the light of her life. 

Her list at 10 months...
Likes:
-Having something in her mouth
-Feeding herself
-Mommy

Dislikes:
-Being bundled up for cold weather (oh, my tiny Texans...)

Hair Cut

We just didn't have time to get it done before we left.  Papa just couldn't handle the sloppy length hanging over his ears.  Fortunately, he can fix such things...which Sam found funny and entertaining.  So much better than Sport Clips!

Sleighing

Last year, within two hours of arriving at our Christmas destination, Sam enjoyed some pool time with his Papa.  This year, 1000 miles to the North and 50 degrees to the South, within two hours of arriving at our Christmas destination Sam was playing in the snow with his Papa.

He was very excited about the snow this year.  Of course there is snow in all of the Christmas stories, so I'm pretty sure that in his mind the two are linked.  We had packed the snow suit, which he fell in love with when we tried it on about a week ago.  Fun story: the snow suit is 26 years old and first belonged to Daddy.

Fortunately for Sam, Papa was more than willing to bundle up and head out into the little bit of snow that was left.  They wanted to get in their sleighing, as Sam calls it, before the snow melted.  As I write this now I am watching the last few flakes of a sizable snowfall settle into the back yard, so it looks like they may get another shot!  Good thing they had so much fun!

In addition to teaching him how to sled, they practiced making snow balls (and throwing them at Uncle Matt), and when asked, Papa taught Sam how to make snow angels.

Merry Christmas!

It's been a busy day around here...more to come!

Breakfast With Santa

I left this out of the last post because I was waiting on the pictures to arrive in my inbox...

Once again we ventured to the church that hosts Sam's preschool to meet the Jolly Old Elf.  They served us pancakes (Annabelle's first, and I think she's in love), bacon, oranges, juice and coffee.  Sam made a few little crafts, and then we met the big guy. 

Sam had no hesitation this year, walked right up.  He was shy, but goal oriented.  He very much believed that he needed to meet with this guy in order to turn in his Christmas request.  There is no doubt that he believes Santa to be true.  Last week Chris mentioned that he wanted to ask Santa for something for Christmas.  Sam told him he couldn't have it because he didn't talk to Santa at the breakfast. 

Santa's local elf was listening carefully, and fortunately his request has not changed over the past three months.

Annabelle was fine with the visit.  Once again, completely unphased by all that happens in her crazy life.  She made no requests, but I think Santa will remember her as well.

'Tis the Season

Wow!  Its only the 13th (Happy Birthday, Molly!) but we have already squeezed in a ton of Christmas fun!  We have never had this many parties and activities to attend, and we are not used to being this busy.  But we are having lots of fun!  And since my 3-year-old is totally into all things Christmas this year, we are eating it all up.

We started things off the first weekend of December with Chris's office party.  I met a lot of new people, his office has really grown in the past year, and we enjoyed some nice steaks.  The next day I saw a performance of The Nutcracker with one of my girl friends.  Can you believe that it had been 7 years since I have seen a live performance?  Back then Chris actually went with me...ahh the joys of dating.

Last weekend was more kid-friendly.  Sam had a blast at the kids Christmas Party at church.  Bouncy house, petting zoo, cookie decorating, crafts and playground.  That evening we ventured to the other side of our neighborhood for Lights In The Heights.  This annual block party involves decorated homes, bands on front porches, cookies and parties.  Some friends live on the route so we had a welcoming home base as we walked around and found friends.  Sunday afternoon we attended a much more low-key, but no less enjoyable, block party just around the corner.  Gotta love a mom who puts a tray of chicken nuggets mixed amongst the spread of baked brie and shrimp cocktail.  "This way you don't have to feed your kids dinner when you get home!"  I love you.

We all helped to decorate the tree this year.  Sam took great pride in placing the non-glassy ornaments around the bottom.  Annabelle enjoys removing them and tasting them.  Sam has taken his job of replacing them on the tree very seriously.

Sam and I have done a good deal of baking, as well.  He is very interested in helping, but thankfully only for short periods of time.  He wants to try every shape and color of cookie, and is learning that they are privileges and not rights.  Hard lessons.

We have also been reading a daily advent devotional with Sam each night.  The children's ministry at church sent it home, and its great.  A short paragraph, a bible verse and a sticker.  He looks forward to it each night.

So yes, we've been busy.  But December isn't over yet...I have at least 4 more parties on the calendar before we head out of town.  One of those is Sam's preschool class party - should be fun!