December was a big month for you little one! I thought we might get a little break since you learned to crawl during month 6, but I was wrong.

This month started off with a trip to Lake Tahoe with Meme and Pa. I was VERY nervous about how you would do with the drive, and staying somewhere else other than home, but you were such a good girl! The drive was so easy (you never cried) and you slept like a champ the entire trip, just like you would at home. Just goes to show Mommy, that you are much more flexible than I give you credit for!

Here is a picture of you an Pa playing Peek-a-Boo:

Up at Lake Tahoe, you had such a great time with your Meme and Pa. You even started “yelling” whenever you wanted your Pa’s attention. Whenever you Pa was in the room and didn’t have his eyes on you, you just couldn’t stand it. So, you would start to make a sound that sounded kinda like a grunt and “ahhh” mixed together, until your Pa gave you his complete attention. Since this trip, you do this ALL the time. Mostly to strangers. Especially in restaurants. You can’t stand for people to sit at their tables and not look at you. Right before Christmas, I caught you yelling at your Rudolph stuffed animal because his back was to you. You little stinker!

On the 5th we went to Cobb’s Christmas Tree Farm and got your very first Christmas tree. The next night we decorated it together as a family. It was so beautiful. And you got your very first ornaments for the tree.

Our family at Cobb’s, standing next to our tree:

Here is our tree all lit up:

On the 9th, your second bottom tooth came in. You were such a good girl the whole time, I can hardly believe it!

Here is that second tooth:

Then, on the 10th, you said “Da Da” for the first time! I got you out of the crib one morning and put you on the changing table. You looked right up at me and said “Daaaa Daaaa”, and gave me the biggest grin. You were so proud of yourself little girl! You were stuck on that word for WEEKS before you finally moved on to another one! You should see the way your Daddy just melted every time you said it. You really know how to work him already, don’t you? Smart girl!

Also, one of my favorite things you learned to do this month was giving kisses! Sure, they are wet, drooly little messes, but we love them just the same. We ask you for a kiss, and if you are in the mood, you will lean towards us with your mouth wide open and give us a big, wet one. We LOVE it, and ask you for a zillion kisses a day. Eventually, you get tired and want to play with your toys, so we have to give you a break. But, if it we up to me and your daddy, we would just sit around and get wet baby kisses alllllll day!

Here you are a few weeks before Christmas crawling and finding your presents. Kids have a sixth sense for which present is theirs.

One thing that happened that wasn’t so happy, was you got your first illness. On the 21st through the 24th you were VERY sick. You had diarrhea, lack of appetite, a low grade fever, and a bit of vomiting. Mommy was so sad. I wished I could take it all away. I prayed many times that God would make you better and I would be sick for you. You slept tons while you were sick, and Mommy slept very little. I was worried about my little stinker! Unfortunately for Mommy, on the 24th your Papa’s family came for Christmas. There were about 25-30 people here, and Mommy had to have the house clean, and homemade pizza’s and beirocks for everyone. So, it wasn’t the best time for a family illness, but we made it. You are such a little trooper.

On the 24th, you started using your walker forwards:

On the 25th, Christmas day, you started getting yourself into a sitting position. Which made it nice for opening all your presents! On Christmas morning, we got up, and looked at our Christmas tree, then we headed to Mamaw’s to open gifts. There were so many! You were not nearly as interested in the gifts as you were the bows. I think you tried to open a total of…..hmmmm….one present. After that you were bored, so Mamaw and I ended up opening the rest. However, you did like the toys.

On the 27th you started waving “bye-bye”. You don’t always do it on command, but it is so cute. Everyone loves taking ten minutes to leave because they are trying to get you to wave to them. The real problem is, that they don’t want to leave, they want to stay with you forever! Can’t say I blame them!

Also on the 27th, your Daddy’s whole family came for Christmas. Their were about 15 people in and out of the house at different times. They stayed until the 31st. We had such a blast. You got to meet you Uncle Frank for the first time. You weren’t too sure about him at first, but he won you over in the end.

During that same time you had a fun time laughing at Mommy. Especially when it was time for a drink of water!

On the 11th you started trying to pull yourself up, but you weren’t successful. But finally on the 29th, you got it all figured out! You were so proud of yourself when you finally stood up. I couldn’t believe how big you looked standing up by yourself. Mommy was actually kind of sad. You seem like such a big girl now.

Here you are standing after pulling yourself up:

Just as proof that you’re a big girl, here you are taking over the business in Daddy’s office:

Daddy and I have taken a vote and decided that you can’t grow up anymore. You have to stay right where you are now. Ok? We love you sweetie peetie! xoxox