My Second Christmas

No, we didn't go warp speed through the year, but I did have two Christmas's. My Nonni and PaPa arrived with Aunt Trish a few days after Christmas and we started the celebration all over again. PaPa brought a sled (well SUV) full of goodies (all which make noise) for me and we got started early on Friday morning.

Can you believe it, all these presents for me? I am truly a blessed little girl to have such a loving family.



I'm definitley getting into this present thing. It's a good thing to because my birthday is just around the corner. Here I am inspecting the latest toy that makes noise.



With the onslaught of gifts and mom knowing PaPa and Noni so well, I only got a few toys from mom and dad. A set of blocks, some books, and the biggest surprise of them all...a wagon! (Notice how none of these toys make noise.) The wagin has become my favorite indoor toy. It has cup holders, which I use for both juice and my snacks. I never travel empty. And, I always have a friend with me. Whether it's Ted E. Bear or my cousin Chanie, I hardly ever ride alone.

My First Christmas

 

Wake up! Wake up! It's Christmas morn. Actually, how is this different from any other morning in my life, I'm always up early. We celebrated my first Christmas at Granddad's and Nana's and had a wonderful day. It was filled with lots of lovely presents for everyone and I even learned how to open those pretty packages with a little assistance (someone has to get a corner started for me).

But I think the things I liked best were the new foods that I got to try out. My first sip of orange juice (clearly my favorite), rice chex, christmas cookies, and more. Despite the cookies, milk is still a no go for me. We'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks.



I also gave my mom the biggest Christmas present of all. I took my first steps on Christmas morning. Three in all from the ottoman to the big stuffed doggy on the floor. Mom got so excited and yelled to everyone that I freaked right out and sat down. Hopefully, more steps will follow later.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

The title of this post is fitting in more ways than one....

Yes, I love our Christmas tree, the lights, the presents that are now under it with their glittery bows, but most of all I love the low hanging, non-breakable, ornaments and the Christmas music. Mom plays Christmas music all day long and I sit by the tree and rock back and forth while humming and admiring the pretty things in front of me.





Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree also happens to be my favorite song. If any of you have been to Hallmark, you'll know the tree, jingle-bell penguins, and snowmen plush, singing, lightup toy that they have this year. Well, mom (in one of her weaker, non-thinking moments) bought this for me. It sits on the floor and I dance with the penguins while they sing, about 50 times a day. Mom should know the words to this Hallmark version of the song, but surprisingly or not so surprisingly to some, she still doesn't sing it right.

My favorite decoration of all though is snowmen. I have a fascination with them. I love the snowman that is on my Hallmark toy, Dad in one of his weaker moments bought me the Starbuck's snowman, and I love the snowman on our kitchen table. I enjoy eating with him every day. And yes, Jimmy Durante's version of Frosty gets me laughing when I hear it in the car. I can't wait till we get another real snow and mom and dad can build me a real snowman all my own.

Is it Cramped in There?

Today was a big day for me. I went to the Dr. with my mom and dad and saw my new baby brother or sister on the monitor. I tried to reach out and touch him/her but dad held me back. It looked like it would be awfully cramped in there, I honestly can't remember myself. So, when we got home, I thought I would try out some tight quarters of my own. I lasted only about 10 minutes before I got tired of running out of space to move. My poor baby brother/sister has another 6 months of this!


But in the end, he/she will be free and ready to explore the world with me! (I got out of the cabinet all on my own, a new accomplishment and a welcome one for mom. Though she still watches me like a hawk when I'm in there.) Mom keeps telling me it will be awhile before we can truly explore together, but I just can't wait!


A note from my mom:
Yes, this is no joke. We will be increasing our family by one in June/July. From the sonogram, it appears as if the next baby Rankin will arrive on 7/4, but we're placing the big event anytime between 6/20 and 7/4. Ainsley loves children so this is very exciting for her, and of course us as well. Apologies for the lack of sonogram pictures, the printer was broken and besides we have no scanner. And yes, in any future post the baby will be baby Rankin. We're going to be surprised again. Sorry for the suspense.

As a family we continue to pray that this baby would be as healthy and happy as Ainsley and that my pregnancy and delivery would go just as smoothly as the last one. We would appreciate any prayers you could offer up along those lines. God has blessed us greatly!