My First Christmas Continued...

Christmas was such a big deal, it deserves two posts.  Here are some more pictures:

Formula high.

Nice and cozy with Great Grandma.  They can be hard to find sometimes, but those super-duper comfortable positions are out there for the taking, it just takes a little bit of work.  I have to admit, though, it does help when there is a Great Grandma involved. 

Uncle Nate and Merry.  I've decided this family is a little dog crazy.

We visited my Aunt Becky, Uncle Nate and cousin Zack a couple days after Christmas.  You could say that this is the old gang of actors and actresses partying together after the success of our smash hit on Christmas morning.  At least it must have been a smash hit, because everyone that was in the audience came along for the ride as well. 

Hanging out with my cousin Zack.  He told me the funniest joke while we were sitting there.  I couldn't understand it since I don't understand english yet, but it was funny all the same.

This is at the Christmas party for Aunties Bookstore, where mommy works.  I'm pretty sure every person here held me that night, save 1 or 2.  It's hard not to feel loved when there is a new set of hands spread out towards you every 15 minutes.  Kenna, who is holding me in this picture, is really good at holding babies.  It is amazing - she was able to comfortably hold me with one arm while fending off would be baby-holders with the other.

I love hanging out with Mommy.  When I cry, she is there to comfort me, when I am hungry, she has a bottle ready, and when I... you know... she is there to change it.

I made these mugs for my family.  Everything is hand-painted, very high quality.  My parents helped a little, but the major work - the handprint - was all me.  

So, putting a handprint on a mug is no walk in the park.  It happens so unexpectedly, you're just sitting there minding your own business and suddenly you feel this thick goo all over your hand.  You look at your hand to see what is wrong only to find that your hand is now blue!  Seriously, your hand has just changed color!  Very dramatic for a 2 month old, and I promptly let my parents know it.

So, I am realizing whoever took these pictures has forgotten about the most important part.  Honestly, there really are  handprints on these mugs, I'm not making this stuff up.

Snowshoeing on Grandma and Grandpa Stewart's acreage.  Very cold and very beautiful! Isaiah did not accompany us on this trek, sub zero temperatures did not seem to be an ideal environment for a 2 and 1/2 month old.  Maybe at 3 months.

Another gorgeous scene.  It is moments like this that make me grateful I am not a fish.

We were accompanied by 5 wonderful dogs on our snowshoeing journey.  They all stayed pretty close to us, except for Skye, who was somewhere within a square mile of us.

Grandma and Grandpa Stewart bought these amazing felted mobiles that are very colorful, and being a connoisseur of bright colors myself, I was instantly taken by them. 

Ah, surrounded by family and by presents.  One of the coolest things I got was the silver sparkly thing I'm holding here, which came on top of one of my presents.  It's like a present on top of a present.

This is Daddy's cousin Jenny, who I met for the first time in Moses Lake on the way home from Seattle.  She is also a member of my extended "Aunt" family

Daddy's Aunt Jolyne.  We've hung out before, and obviously we have a great time.

This is one of Jenny's kids, Lynsey.  For being so young, she sure knows how to hold a baby, I couldn't stop smiling.  

My First Christmas!

Well, I've decided Christmas is pretty cool.  The highlights?  Bright, colorful lights, lots of family who love me, similac sensitive stomach formula (the good stuff), being held, diaper changes, sleep, and being rocked, among others.  I'm not sure why everyone makes a big deal about the presents.  You open them up and woohoo!  Wrapping paper, cardboard boxes, hunks of plastic and wood in various shapes and sizes (I think they called them "toys"), clothes - what am I going to do with all this?  Just give me more of that similac and rock me to sleep, that's what I say.  I can't even open the presents anyway.  I wonder if I will ever get excited like everyone else about these presents...

In the arms of Aunt Becky.  Notice I am wearing Christmas clothes in recognition of the season, I really consider myself quite fashionable.  Nowadays I will only wear an outfit 3 or 4 times before I consider it dated.  Fashion is constantly changing, and I do my best to keep up.

This is my first major role in the theater: Jesus Christ.  Pretty good first gig, huh?  And at 2 months nonetheless.  I found it challenging to portray such a complex figure as He who is God and man at the same time who came to win over the souls of all mankind from the grip of sin and death through His own death and resurrection, but I think I did pretty good.  In this capture, I tilted my head slightly up and to the right for dramatic effect.

Laying on my new very hungry caterpillar blanket.  I can relate with this creature because sometimes I too feel like I could go on eating forever.  But then I usually fall asleep after a few ounces.

This is our Christmas tree.  I've spent many wonderful minutes looking at those colorful lights, which is amazing considering my attention span.

Christmas night with Mommy, Uncle Dan, and their cousins Lacey and Chelsea, who we will just call my Aunts.

Uncle Dan feeding me.  I could tell it was his first time feeding a baby, but he did okay.  I went easy on him.  I'll give him a more memorable experience with his first diaper change.

Danny is holding me in this picture on Christmas night.  Despite all the excitement of opening presents, I decided to take a nice nap.

This is a hat that Grandma and Grandpa Reiswig gave me.  I was kinda bummed because when they put the hat on me, everything went dark and I heard everyone laughing.  By the time they took the hat off of me so I could see what the big joke was, everyone had stopped laughing and the moment had already passed.  Oh well, I guess it was pretty funny, whatever it was.

I'm being held up for everyone to look at again.  Hope I don't have a formula mustache.

My parents, Uncle Dan, and I on Christmas night.  I've come to accept camera flashes as a normal part of life.

Kit taking a turn holding me.  It is an odd thing, I seemed to smell a hint of fish and gun powder when I was around him.

Cowboy Up!  Except this is no horse, I'm bareback riding a DINOSAUR!  Meet my new pet, Kota the Triceratops, who was given to me by my Grandparents and Great Grandpa.  I have to say, they set the stakes pretty high for my parents as far as pets are concerned. 

Well, I've graduated from my pastel blue puppy suit into a fuzzy, hazelnut brown reindeer suit.  I guess that's a step up.  It could still lose the cute ears.  It's all good though, I'm being held by Aunt Lacey.

Here I am playing the star role of Jesus again.  Zack is playing Mary (he insisted), dressed in Joseph's clothing, which i guess means Grandma is playing Joseph dressed in Mary's clothing.  My Aunt Becky is an angel, who seems to be saluting something off in the distance (not in the script).  Overall the performance went off very smoothly.  If you want tickets, I'm sorry, you'll have to wait until next December, when I anticipate a riveting sequel will take place.

Mommy with peanut M&Ms, one of her stocking stuffers.  Mommy loves peanut M&Ms, Daddy hates them, as seen in this picture: Mommy is excited and Hailey is entranced, Daddy is nowhere to be found, and I'm off rummaging through the cupboards somewhere trying to find a little extra similac.

Remember that guy in red and white I warned you about?  Well, he showed up again, and right in the middle of Grandma and Grandpa Reiswig's house no less!  One week he is in Spokane, and now he is in Edmonds - this guy gets around!

I set Hailey on Santa to check him out and make sure he is okay.  She wagged her tail, which is the secret signal that everything is alright.  Actually, she wouldn't stop wagging her tail, which is not standard protocol, but I'm guessing that must mean he is really really alright.

With Hailey's secret signal, Santa's jolly nature, and his plump, soft belly, it seemed befitting to go ahead and sit on Santa's lap.  Zack came with me for emotional support in case things went sour.  It actually went really well though.  This feeling overcame me that he would give me anything I wanted!  I tried to say "SIMILAC SENSITIVE STOMACH FORMULA" but was only able to mutter "eahh!  ooooww!"  Darn it.

Santa did get me some cool stuff, and I got some formula later to boot!  I love Christmas!

Going solo on Santa's lap.  I love this guy, I hope I get to see him again someday.  He is really nice and happy, I was only on his lap for a minute or two and felt like I've known him for months (i.e. my entire life)!  In fact, he sort of reminds me of Grandpa... funny huh!

There's that fish and gun powder smell again.  Ya, that's definitely Kit.

I guess all this stuff is mine.  Not quite sure what to do with it, although that very hungry caterpillar is quite comfy.

My hair has been attaining new heights lately.  In fact, with my hair done just right, I'm pushing two feet!

Some Really Cute Pics

Here are some pictures from the weeks leading up to christmas.  We've had lots of fun with family, friends, church, and celebrating Mommy's birthday - enjoy!

When I can finally reach that darn bird, he won't know what hit him!

I don't know anything more adorable while burping

Man, formula highs are great.  One minute you're all tense and hungry, then you start getting all relaxed, and before you know it - pow!  You're on your back dreaming of dry diapers.  I prefer the similac, and don't go for the regular stuff - get the "sensitive stomach," that's where it's at.

Grandma holding me close.  People keep doing this thing where they pucker their lips up and then place their face on my head.  It's pretty weird, you'll never catch me doing that.

Helping Mommy blow out her candles on her birthday.  I'm pretty sure I got that first candle closest to us.

Here I am sporting my John Deer boots, complete with traction grips on the bottom for the two month old walker.

This is me with J'aime, the youth director at our church.  I felt the urge to put on a show and smiled for about 10 minutes straight!  Ya, I drew quite the crowd.  Daddy is currently working on a way to fit in paid admission with my smiles, he promised me a 10% cut.

This is the gift I gave to mommy for her birthday.  Okay, I know I'm not making the cutest face ever, but you would be grimacing too if you were holding something 4 times bigger than you!

Yes, I am smiling much more now.  Mommy and Daddy call my cheeks my "smile buttons."  I didn't want that to get out, but when someone rubs them I just can't help it, you know!?

More smiling for Grandma and Grandpa Stewart.  I am also talking a lot more, although I don't think anyone understands me.

Mommy cuddling me in a coffee shop.  I'm already liking the aroma of that coffee!

Mommy's birthday.  I thought my similac sensitive stomach formula was good, I think that ice cream cake just may have been a little better.

This is my neighbor Olive.  She came over to give me a Christmas present and we hung out for a while.   For those soccer recruiters reading this, if I was positioned vertically in this exact same pose, it would be perfect form for kicking a soccer ball.

I tried to open my present myself, but after several failed attempts of bumping the package with my hand, Olive came to help me out.

Salem and I are very similar in two ways: our weight and our affinity for really soft surfaces.

Grandparents are wonderful things.