Merry Christmas

I didn't take a lot of pictures of our official Christmas celebrations, but we had a marvelous Christmas. So happy, so peaceful, so perfect. This whole holiday season has been so good to us and for us.

We opened new pajamas, enjoyed a pizza picnic, and watched The Forgotten Carols on Christmas Eve. Kinley loved it as much as I did; Justin really liked it; Tanner tolerated it. After the play/movie, Kinley and I serenaded the men of the family with a multitude of Christmas carols. My little angel princess has a great voice!

To get to our bedroom, Kinley and Tanner have to pass right by the livingroom, so we shut them in their bedroom on Christmas Eve and gave Kinley a phone to sleep with. She was instructed to wait until 7:30 before calling my cell phone. Once she called us, we would turn on the tree lights and the Christmas music before they scurried down the stairs. As luck would have it, she and Tanner didn't wake up until almost 8! Justin, Crew, and I were already wide awake and waiting impatiently!

When what to his wondering eyes did appear? What is this Christmas magic?Someone told Santa about Crew's love of smarties.
"To infinity... and beyond!"
Kinley's favorite present was her brown stuffed horse. She named him "Mint".
Merry Christmas!
We love our beautiful children. They love us... and their glorious Christmas haul of gifts.

My wish-I-could-go-back-and-redo moment of the morning:
Giving Tanner his Buzz Light Year gun. It was the only thing he really wanted for Christmas, all he has talked about for a month. We knew that the success of Christmas morning was riding on that gun! We had, very fortunately, secretly purchased two when we were in Disneyland. I thought it would be funny to let Kinley open hers first and send Tanner into a tailspin. I almost did it, but chickened out at the last minute. Wouldn't that have been really mean/hilarious?

Candy Man

Justin took Kinley and Tanner to a BYU basketball game while I stayed home to wrap presents. The naughtiest boy I know stayed behind to relieve our tree of candycanes."Hmmm... this doesn't taste quite as delicious as I had hoped.""Whoa, dude, thanks for taking off the wrapper. I'm much obliged to you for the stogie. Peace out."

When Good Boys do Naughty Things

I had been whacked in the head with different toys four times in just a few minutes. He ignored my firm "NO" every time. I finally trapped him on the bottom stair in timeout. He was deeply offended.

The Screamer

Crew has become unbearably loud lately. He screams at us constantly, though I am his favorite victim by a (very) wide margin. Justin blames me because I tolerate it. I'm sure he's right because the mini-monster doesn't yell at people outside of our family. He's as sweet as sugar to the neighbors, gentle as a lamb (unless you are a baby smaller than him, of course).

Sigh...

I don't mean to put up with it, but I have compassion for his plight: It must be so difficult to have so many things to say and no words with which to say them. I can't count on his siblings either; Kinley and Tanner are bigger softies than I am, catering to our darling diva. Justin is more firm, but he's inhibited by the houseful of spineless enablers around him.

The Bitty Beast can dissolve my nerves instantly by screaming in just the right tone.

I scream back sometimes. "Stop yelling at me!" I yell. It's surprisingly ineffective.

Pee-Wee Potentate

I think Crew was an emperor in a former life. He has enslaved me as his official food taster; I guess you never know when someone is going to slip poison into your spaghetti. He is quite insistent.

Big and Tall

Critter pulled himself to standing by the couch this morning all by himself! He is stiff-legging the effort and we need to work on having him bend his knee to use his thigh muscles, but this is excellent progress!! My expectations of when we'll have him running laps around the house has been changed dramatically by the miracles of these last several weeks!

Conductor Crew

We take the kids to one choir performance and they think they are mini-maestros. Especially this one.

Crew Conducting @ Yahoo! Video

But let's be honest. Who can help themselves with the Hallelujah Chorus?

Ta Daaaaaaa!!!

When it clicks, it CLICKS.

6 weeks ago:
Crew couldn't crawl.

2 weeks ago:
He could crawl but couldn't quite get himself up onto an air mattress that had been placed on the floor.

Today:
My baby mountain goat climbed my entire staircase unassisted. Three times.

Will Climb for Stormtroopers

Yesterday I was on the phone with a friend when I turned around and found this:Crew really really wanted that stormtrooper!! We've been working on climbing skills recently and he navigated the bottom step all by his wee little self for the first time! Go, baby mountain goat!

Amped

Crew has a very electrifying personality. Of the static variety.

Apple Fest

This was one of the first moments when Crew was thinking about becoming an eater. He demanded that Aunt Mardie let him try his jaws at an apple, shocking us all. Don't worry; it was germ-free, peeled for his ease and convenience.

The Happy Eater

Peace and sanity reign at mealtime. At last. I love happy eaters and this is our very happy eater!
"Wanna see my A.B.C.* food?"
"I said MORE!"*A.B.C. = Already Been Chewed. Just in case you didn't have gross friends or siblings growing up.

"More Please!"

Meet our baby goat. He is signing "More!"

Ahh... he eats. Life is good. Life is very very good.

Eatin' Eatin'

Crew continues to progress with his feeding this week. I can't even explain the difference in the dynamic of our home. I put food on his tray and he doesn't fling it across the room in a fit of rebellion. He wakes up asking for food by signing "more" and reaching for the kitchen. He follows me around if I am eating something, demanding that I share. I'm not at all convinced that his hunger cues have magically activated to full capacity, but if he is only eating for the sake of social participation and his own amusement, that's enough for me!

Keep it up, little piranha! This just has to be enough for you to grow on!