Christmas 2011

It's been requested that I post, and, we discovered we can get decent internet out here, so here I go!

We are having a lovely time at the cabin: 

Tired waiting for lunch.

Little Snow Bunny

Walking through the snow

Sharing grapes before bed.

It's been an odd Christmas, so much time at the cabin feels a little isolated for the holidays, but it has been nice to have so much time to relax and spend time together.  We've watched Christmas movies, played with dolls and stickers, had lots of tickle fights. Rory loves to play "Ring Around the Rosie" and will say "More Rosie?" in the cutest voice when we're done.  She uses the same voice for "More cookies?" "More watch?" and "More hot chocolate?". 

She's doing a really good job with the wood stove. It's set up on a bricked area, and she'll take a step onto it and say "careful, careful" while she walks around it. Then she looks at us and says "Jump?" and we give her permission to jump off (which is a step down with a little extra enthusiasm).  She watches us build the fire and says "fire hot" very solemnly. 

Her vocabulary is really expanding every day. She says "diaper diaper" for diaper changes (she likes to double words occasionally: Daddy Daddy is another favorite), she's gotten Gracie's name down (instead of just "puppy") and tells her to "hush" when she barks. I can't even count the words she knows anymore. From food to activities to people to toys and items, she's really good at communicating. It's not often we don't understand her, although she still enjoys her silly baby talk (and she and Ryan will communicate in gibberish occasionally). 

She also can almost jump, and has been practicing. She squats down and the stands up really fast on one leg and throws her arms in the air. It's adorable. She's also very affectionate and will give hugs and kisses and say "I love you" without it being said to her first. She has no problem refusing kisses, though. "No kiss."

Ryan and I are having a nice time too. It's been awhile since we've had so much time together, and we're playing lots of Texas Hold 'Em (I cleaned him out tonight, he won last night) and watching Cheers and Dexter. 

I'm excited to start planning for the new year. I really want to plan out some things and set us up for success in our health and budget. 

Happy Holidays to all of you!