We enjoyed lots of fun this month, amidst all the holiday
preparations, colds, and busyness. We got to visit with our friends Zack,
Anthony, and Robert at a holiday party early in the month. We had fun exploring
at the mall while Mommy and Daddy worked on the holiday “to-do’s”. On a warm evening, we headed back to
see the lights again at Meadowlark, and had even more fun on the second
trip! And we enjoyed our very
first “Angel Breakfast” at church, complete with star pancakes, stickers, and
activities.
We enjoyed resting and playing at home between errands and
to-do’s on busy weekends. We
learned all about elves and reindeer, Santa and snowmen; and angels and Baby
Jesus. We had fun helping mommy make
cookies and gingerbread and decorate our first tree; we watched with glee as
Daddy put our first outdoor lights up; we played with our nativity set,
decorated the windows, and then had even more fun rearranging the candles in
the windows and the decorations on the tree! We also did lots of holiday-themed
foam sticker crafts – decorating ornaments and snowflakes, gingerbread men,
snowmen, and trees. And sometimes
we just ran around silly!
At school, we made lots of holiday crafts with construction
paper, from candy canes and wreaths to stockings and trees. And at our holiday party, we made fun
reindeer and wreath hats, and had fun playing with our friends.
At the end of the month, we traveled to Ohio to visit with
our families. We had fun in Kenton
at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, playing with our cousins, Uncle Mike, and Aunt
Robyn, and our friends, Miss Ann and Chloe. We explored, made tinker toy creations, and watched the
doggies and kitties (Upon arriving
back home, Katharine announced at bath time that “Christopher loves dogs every
day, all day” and “I love cats”!)
And we played in the snow for the very first time! It was such an
adventure for us all to get bundled up and take our first steps and sled rides
in the snow! And sometimes we just
ran around silly!
On Christmas morning, we took great pride in helping deliver
presents to the hearth as Katie and Sam lowered them from the loft (the tree
was upstairs this year, to keep things safe for little hands and for the new
puppy, Cupcake)! We had a lovely
brunch and lots of fun playing with our cousins!
After nap, we headed for Wadsworth on Christmas evening,
arriving just in time for the big snowfall the next day. We had a fun adventure picking out our
first “twin” sled in the morning, before heading back to the house to watch the
snow fall. What a beautiful first
Christmas in their new house! We
explored, stopping by the windows to watch the snow; played with Grandma and
Grandpa, and also just ran around silly!
We had lots of fun visiting with our cousins, Clara and
Joseph, and Uncle Matt and Aunt Linda!
We opened gifts, and got to play in the snow together before lunch. Again, we had quite an adventure
getting all bundled up, but this time, we were a little hesitant about the
snow, as it was much higher, and we got frustrated when we fell down –
brrrrr! So we hung out on the
sidewalk for a bit, while Uncle Matt and Clara helped us make our first little
snowmen, and Joseph showed us how it’s done on the sled. Eventually, Christopher ventured out to
check out the lit tree in the snowy yard, while digging with his shovel. And Katharine ventured out on the sled
with Mommy, saying “again, again”! After lunch and nap, we had wonderful fun playing with
our new toys and trying out our new art smocks and paints.
We returned to Virginia in between snowfalls and found that
there was no real snow left anywhere at home. But we enjoyed several days off at home together, getting
caught up with things and each other!
And we got to see the train display at the National Botanic Gardens in
DC, and had great fun eating dinner out on New Year’s Eve as a family, seeing all
the festive excitement, eating our very own bowls of ice cream, and seeing the
ice skaters and the pretty tree!
What wonderful memories we’ll have from our third Christmas,
our first real snow, and our trip to visit families in Ohio this year!
And goodness, we’re growing! As we look back on the year, we have grown so much. We’re 31
and 25 pounds, and we’re great climbers and runners. We love to roll and throw balls, make towers with duplo
blocks, walk in Mommy and Daddy’s shoes, and figure out how things work. Christopher
can even jump, and do some steps without holding on (although Mommy would
prefer that he did). And Katharine
is very adept with fine motor, loving to draw, make crafts, get shoes, jackets,
and other clothes on and off, and playing with stickers. We love to laugh and be silly, and are
developing a great sense of independence and creativity. We have long ago lost
count of the number of words we know and the number of words we can put
together in a sentence. We’re
starting to surprise Mommy and Daddy more and more with the things we say and
do, and are thinking about. We are
getting really good with saying “please” and “thank you”, and even
occasionally, “no thank you” and “you’re welcome”. And we LOVE to give kisses and hugs, and say I love you!
We can’t wait to see what 2013 will bring! Until then, we hope you enjoy our
photos and videos from this month.
Wishing all a New Year filled with Blessing!
Love,
Christopher and Katharine
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