Santa!

On Saturday, December 15th, it was the annual Children's Christmas party at my work. This provided us with the best opportunity to introduce Erin to Santa. First, though, we got her all dressed and fancy in her peach fur coat and hat. Todd is very proud of it because he picked it out.


We were a little early and had to wait in line. I've heard so many horror stories of children being afraid of Santa. I didn't think Erin would cry, but I really didn't know what to expect. It was more a photo opportunity than anything, and we got some cute ones. Erin was definitely more interested in Santa's beard than anything else. I guess next year will be the real test.

Learning to crawl

Erin & the pacifier

Since she was very little, Erin hasn't had much interest in a pacifier. We try periodically. Right now, she's far more interested in it as a teething toy.

Erin can hold her own bottle

I think we're still a long way from her being able to feed herself (she still doesn't sit up on her own that well), but it's a step in the right direction. She also can't hold a bottle that's too full. This is just her 1 ounce with added antibiotics. Baby steps!

Snow day

We got our first big snowfall of the season on Saturday, December 1st. We decided to lay low that day, but on Sunday, we ventured out. After spending a whole day running errands, Erin was sick and tired of her car seat, and even more sick of waking up in new and different places. Of course, when we finally got home, we couldn't leave well enough alone. We got Erin all bundled up in her snow suit, and headed out to the middle of our cul de sac, where they plow all the snow into one big pile. It makes it look like we got a lot more snow than we did.


Erin really wasn't so sure about what was going on. Her snowsuit is a little big on her, so she can't sit as well as she usually does and she can't really move her arms very much. So we had to make do with just lying her down on the snow pile.

We tried to get some cute pictures of her propping herself up in the snow, but she face planted the first time and I wasn't fast enough to get a picture. The poor girl had snow on her nose and was quite upset about how cold it was. At least we didn't have to worry about her trying to eat it!

Our neighbor spotted us outside and was kind enough to offer to take a family picture. Too bad Erin isn't smiling, but I think the confused look suits her. :)

Erin was finally able to lie down and just enjoy it. She looks so peaceful in this picture, and I just love the red nose and cheeks. We didn't have her outside for more than a total of 15 minutes! It may be something like torture for her, but I think the pictures are worth it and I think she'll like them when she gets older!

A few non traditional firsts

Todd & I were looking back over Erin's older pictures today, marveling at how much she's changed. Here are some of her non traditional firsts from the last six months or so.

This is the first time at the cabin, where she spent most of her time sleeping on one or the other of us, unless it was night time, in which case, she was wide awake.


Erin's first Twins game. She was 4 weeks old:




Erin's first trip to the zoo, and her first trip to the Bird Show, all rolled into one:

Lastly, here are some pictures of Erin at her first Holidazzle parade. We went to go see Daddy on the Target float.

Going places

Erin is starting to army crawl/creep reliably, though more often than not, she'll roll to get where she's going or else she winds up going backwards! She's even gotten the real crawling motion down, but can only do it backwards, and has only done it once or twice. We find ourselves moving her a lot to keep her out of trouble. We can't quite baby proof (at least not the stairs) until we get some work done, so we have to keep an eye out! Here are some recent pictures of her trying to crawl!