Anika, where are you?!

The Christmas holiday was more like a Roman holiday with festivities extending through the weekend. Santa Claus made not one, but TWO appearances--and there were about twenty pounds of cheese consumed in five days thanks to cheese FUNdue, lobster mac-and-cheese, hor d'oeuvres, pizza, cheese fondue again--even the stuffed mushrooms had cheese in them and on top of them. (Thank you to the Whole Foods cheese expert for teaching me that both grueyere and emmenthal are types of Swiss.)

Grami made the best meatballs (no eggs included!) and a tasty-before-you-serve-it avocado Christmas tree. Grampi did an incredibly special recording of songs like "Smile," "Edelweiss," and "You'll Never Walk Alone." Nana and Grampi--and Auntie Eileen--gave a goregous heirloom-to-be rocking chair and "The Very Smiley Snowman" to read in it. Grami and Grampi added to the rocking fun with the Imagine Me book series (pop ups AND removeable masks in all the books!). Thanks to Auntie Bonnie we are also rockin' to the beats of "Puff the Magic Dragon" - reading and listening to the CD that comes with the book at the same time!

Our primary present to Isabelle this year was a globe we bought in Rome this summer. It may seem obvious, but... all the globe locations are in Italian--and that's why we wanted it. I don't know when the idea came to us to collect for Isabelle globes in various languages, but this was the first time we were on the hunt. We found one at a small university book shop where the student behind the counter had to climb up a ladder to retrieve the dusty globe box from the top of the book stacks. It was an illuminating desk globe. A pretty crappy lookking thing when I looked more closely. Plastic. All plastic. But not for long! We brought it to Bird's Furniture in Falmouth -- and with the plastic globe in one hand and a drawing of a cherry wood base in the other, Larry (an extremely talented woodworker) created the most beautiful wooden floor stand and latitude/longitude markings. Daddy changed the plug, and that finished the job.

We had three Christmas trees up (my favorite: the kids' one topped with an Elmo puppet), and so you might think that assembly was our thing this year. But, no. There were several gifts Isabelle opened and loved playing with (pots and pans, play veggies) that had us muttering, "Wow. This would be so great IF she had a kitchen." In fact, she does have a kitchen (a red retro one), but it's in a box in the garage. Pathetic.

After 5 days with cousins Anika, RJ, Lexi, Elli and Ethan, Isabelle is still getting used to a quiet house. This morning, as soon as she got up, she began calling for Anika: "Dan--i-ka," "Dan-i-ka." Tonight, when we came home, the search became near frantic. Watch what happens outside the bedroom Anika had slept in:

Kitty Gets A Ride

Wow!'s life certainly is full of adventure! Wherever Isabelle is, Wow! can be found close by. When she's in the tub, he'll lean over the edge and lick water off her fingers. When she's fingerpainting he's happy to provide a furry canvas, and his white hair often ends up splotched with red, blue and green. When Isabelle is sleeping, Wow! will snuggle in close, purring so loudly that we have to move him to keep her from waking. And when Isabelle is playing, Wow! gets right in on the action. Here he is--somewhat reluctantly--playing the part of dolly:

Book"S"

The pronunciation of "book" has changed yet again this week! From "boooo" to "booooK" to "booKss" -- yeah, plural!

... and then some!

That's the answer to... The Marion Christmas Stroll: Was it everything we expected?

We had a phenomenal day with Nicole, Eric, Danielle, Toc, Kristen, Ali, Katie, Mike and all the kids! Although we missed Santa's big arrival by boat (we couldn't pull Isabelle away from Nicole's amazing shrimp bisque!), we caught him before he took off on the clydesdales. Isabelle started the day having a nervous breakdown everytime one of the dogs came around, and ended the day chasing after every dog she laid eyes on. Ah, progress! (I was always afraid of dogs growing up, and I'm trying really hard not to pass that on to her... I figure if my Mom could do it with swimming, I should be able to do it with dogs!)

Isabelle--as Baby Mrs. Claus-- and Gracie--as the naked elf--were so sweet playing hide-and-go-seek with the living room curtain! REALLY playing together - which isn't so typical at this age. Maybe it's because they both rock! We captured lots of pictures and video for their weddings! Audrey Grace was precious on her FIRST stroll! We missed her Dad, Ryan, who's recovering from back surgery.

I'm now officially in the holiday spirit! Which means it's time for the pumpkin to come off the dining room table...

Hi, Shadow

"How cute is she with the shadows?" is what we say to each other. Everywhere we go, Isabelle is on the lookout for her shadow. After greeting it with an enthusiastic, "Hi, Shadow!" she makes her shadow dance and wave.

I'll Get You!

One of Isabelle's favorite games is playing chase. When she wants to initiate the game she looks over at one of us and yells, "I'll get you!" And then takes off running!



Highlights from the past couple weeks:

--We didn't realize that Wow! was out of food. But Isabelle did! She appeared next to us with his empty bowl in one hand and his entire bag of food in the other.

--After being away for five days over Thanksgiving, we pulled into the driveway, and Isabelle shouted, "Home! Mommy, Daddy, Wow!"

--INN (Isabelle News Network) is the only thing she associates with computers and televisions. So, whenever she catches a glimpse of one she points and repeats, "Isabelle, Daddy! Isabelle, Daddy!" until we call up the blog or YouTube. (After all, Mom is usually the one working the camera.)

--She loves giving kisses through the glass shower door.

--More and more often she's stringing two and three words together.

--Isabelle is very good at being in charge of the kitty... telling him what to do, and, more importantly, what not to do! Kitty on the kitchen table is cause for the most finger waving admonishment.

--Chalk, like its waxy cousin crayons, is a meal not a toy. But we'll keep trying!

--The pronunciation of "book" has gone from "boooo, booo" to "boooo" "kkkk"

--Isabelle is a master door and drawer closer which comes in quite handy, as I seem to have been born with a missing door/drawer closing gene.

Isabelle takes swimming lessons

Isabelle has been taking swimming lessons since she was 6 months old! Here is a montage of a lesson with Daddy taken in the fall (when she is just over a year old).