Lydia Walks!

Lydia finally took two steps without holding on to anything, and it was completely by accident. She's been more interested in standing and cruzing along the couch lately, but definitely was not interested in letting go with both hands.

Here's how it happened. Yesterday evening, I was watching her for a bit while she was playing. She got her little chair and sat in it for a minute. Then, she got out, scooted over to her musical toy, stood and started playing (she prefers to stand to play it and see the lights). She then pushed it over toward her chair and moved so she could sit in her chair and play (pretty sharp, I'd say!). Of course, while she played, she pushed it away, so she would alternately stand and sit. Eventually, she pushed the toy far enough so she couldn't reach it after she sat down and stood up again. She looked at it, wiggled a little, then took two quick little steps and made it to the toy! Yay! I didn't get to see Stephen's first steps, so this was lots of fun for me.

She's also been very happy this week. I wonder if she's excited about how much more mobile she's getting. She's also able to say a few somewhat recognizable words. Thank you is "kain-koo" and she says it whenever anyone gives something to anyone else. Ma-ma and da-da are more clear now. She expresses her preference for one of us to put her to bed - very clearly I might add.

My little girl is growing up.

Papa Funny

Here's a funny on my father-in-law ("papa" to Stephen). While we were at the cabin in Myrtle Beach, papa was on the couch taking a nap and Stephen was sitting at the foot of the couch watching a cartoon. A commercial for something came on ("magic sand?" don't remember) and Stephen said "Can I have that papa?" While still asleep, papa grunted "uh-huh" and shifted a bit before continuing to snore.

I'll give him this - his reflexes are very strong.

December Pictures - All

I think I'm going to give up and just post the link to Shutterfly of our December pictures. Maybe Kristy will pull out her favorites later, but this is a fun few minutes anyway.

While it was fun to see so much family and be a part of the Christmas Morning thing in Greenville, I think we're going to find a way to be at our own house starting next Christmas. It was lots of traveling and we'd like to get the kids used to having fun Christmas morning traditions at our own house.

Starting on Christmas Pictures

Greetings all! The time off over Christmas break was great. We went with Kristy's parents to Myrtle Beach State Park until Christmas Eve, then drove to Greenville. The kids had a great time and got almost more loot than we could haul home (good grief!). We're working through the pictures and will be posting them soon. One comment as I'm going through the pictures - apparently Stephen took a bunch of pictures with our camera. This is not that bad in the digital age when film is free. Among the over 100 pictures likely by him I found:

• 31 of the TV with some show on (mostly Diego and Loony Tunes)
  
• 29 of the TV while off
• 8 of the couch (various angles)
  
• 7 of carpet
• 7 of a close-up of Stephen's face
• 6 of Lydia sitting up in her crib
• 2 of a jar of pickles in the refrigerator
• 1 of daddy's bedroom shoes
• 1 of mommy eating a carrot

No, I don't plan to post these. Not even the pickles.