Handmade Christmas

This was a fun Christmas for the Riccis.  We went to my in-laws for Christmas Eve, spent Christmas day at home with my mom and brother, and traveled to celebrate with my dad and sisters on the 26th.  McKenzie, of course, loved opening gifts, and Kaia liked to chew on wrapping paper.

This year we started a new tradition.  Santa made wooden toys for the girls to find on Christmas morning.  Mrs. Claus helped too (i.e. painting giraffe hoofs at midnight on the 23rd).  We couldn't wait to see McKenzie's reaction when she first saw them.  Unfortunately, the new giraffe and horse were overshadowed by the small bin of candy that Santa left.  Eventually, though, she noticed the wooden playthings and has since been taking donations to fill her giraffe's belly.

It's going to be really fun each year when they find a new, handmade toy under the tree.  It will be even more fun when they realize who Santa is and will be able to appreciate the thoughtfulness of each gift.  Our hope is that someday their own kids will play with these well-crafted pieces.  But that's a long way from now, our girls are never going to grow up.

In case you missed it on Facebook, here's a quick peek at our Christmas morning festivities.

Two Thirds of a Year

Today Kaia is eight-months-old.  Eight months!  Wow.  She is growing and learning everyday.  She continues to be the ever-happy baby and give the biggest, best smiles.  She can do some other new things too:

• Crawl!  She's on the move and my life just picked up the pace a little.  As soon as she hits the ground she is off and moving to the nearest exit.  I guess the kitchen is an intriguing place to crawl around.  Maybe because she's never seen the floor in there before. 

• Eat.  She's a great eater and loves to feed herself.  Cheerios are a favorite.  She picks each one up with her tiny fingers, bites it in half, chews it, then pops in the other half.  She learned that from me;  I like to really savor the flavor of my favorite foods.

Babble.  She is just as noisy as her big sister.  In addition to oohing and ahhing, she says dada, gaga, and baba and makes lots of other interesting sounds.  The other day she sounding like a honking goose.

Imitate.  She doesn't do this much with me, but she does with Dustin.  He will say, "dadada" and she'll repeat, or he'll stick out his tongue and she'll do it back.

Stand.  She is still pretty unstable, but she loves to stand holding onto someone or something.  

Take a bath in the big tub, sort of.  She still sits in the baby tub, but she's in the big tub with her big sister.  She splashes like crazy and would stay in there for hours if I let her.

Meeting Santa

We want to get pictures of the girls with Santa every year.  This year we found a place to take them for FREE that promised and "non commercialized experience."  Sounded right up our alley.  What we weren't thinking about what how many other people wanted to go down this alley too.  We waited outside in a line for almost two hours to see the big man.  A week prior to this McKenzie had informed me that she had absolutely no intention of going anywhere near Santa.  Something like, "No wannu."  However, after hearing that her cousin, Lily, sat on his lap, she began to look forward to the opportunity.

When we started out in line she was excited, by the time we reached Santa she was terrified.  Kaia started as a bubbling, happy baby, but by the time we reached Santa we had to wake her to sit on his lap.  She was a little dazed and confused.  We snapped a couple pictures and ended up settling for one with the girls, Santa, and Daddy.

Maybe we'll have better luck next year.

Hide and Peek

McKenzie and I played a rousing rendition of hide and seek the other day while out enjoying the unseasonable warm weather.  Can you spot her?

Camo Kenzie.

This looks bad, I know.

This one is pretty good, actually.

chillin'

Sisters

Kaia is sitting up so well now that she's able to defend herself a little better when Big Sister attacks.



Note: the name of the book Kenzie is trying to read is Zoe's Gift.  That's what she keeps saying.

Roller Baby

Six months old and she's on the move!  Kenzie was a mover, but I don't think she got across a room as fast as Kaia.  Kaia rolls around, babbling da da da the whole way.  She is great at entertaining herself.  She has mastered the ability to push herself around with her arms and she's beginning to put her knees into it.  In a matter of weeks she is sure to be crawling.  With two on the go things are definitely getting more exciting around here.  The blanket on the floor has become more of a suggestion than a rule.

Here are some snapshots, all taken in about a ten minute period (in this order) to show you how she's getting around.

Milestones

September was a busy month in the Ricci household.  Dustin's school year started, I went back to teaching a couple of nights a week, we attended three weddings and three birthday parties, Kenzie got hand-foot-mouth disease (no it doesn't come from farm animals!) and the girls reached some important milestones.  I can't believe that October is here already and a look at the calendar tells me things won't slow down around here until mid January at best.  No stress, though, because these are the things that fill our lives with so much joy.  This is the life I  dreamed of long ago and it amazes me everyday that I get to be a mom.

She always falls to sleep with these two fingers in her mouth.

Kaia is growing faster than I ever remember with Kenzie. She is incredibly active and noisy.  She wants to get her hands on everything, and, once in her grasp, wants to get everything into her mouth.  She is so intense when she has her eyes set on something, it's clear that she is not going to give up until she meets her goal.  She has once rolled from her back to her belly and when on her belly she can push herself up with her arms.  She drinks from a bottle now (when I'm away) and had her first taste of rice cereal last week.  She still gives the biggest and brightest smiles to anyone who pays her the slightest bit of attention.  I'm sure that she has made the day of many older ladies at the grocery store.

McKenzie has gotten the hang of this whole potty thing.  She still wants the reward of watching Barney and Friends after each pee (and it's a must for #2), but I figure she won't always need that crutch so we're taking what we can get. If Kenzie hears the beginning of Barney she immediately begins undressing.  We just hope Barney isn't a part of pre-school; then we might have some 'splainin' to do. 

What?  You don't have a potty in your living room.

McKenzie also said goodbye to her beloved Binky recently.  It's been a tough couple weeks but we are really hoping that we did the right thing.  The Binky Fairy took her broken Binky.  She will fix it and give it to a little baby who needs it.  Kenzie got some gummy worms in return.  She's been trying to avoid going to bed and has a had a few nap-free days recently.  I feel like a mean mother.  Dustin and I keep reassuring each other that this is the right thing and that she'll be okay, but it doesn't make it any easier.