Bye-bye Christmas Tree

It's sad to see it go, but the method was amusing and worthy of sharing. Enjoy...

Christmas morning

Audrey & Avery both slept all night long and woke up ready for Christmas. Iain got off duty at 8am and was home by 8:20. We read about Jesus' birth in Audrey's book and then started opening presents. It didn't take Audrey long to catch on and every time she finished opening one, she would say "more". I think her favorite present was a tube of her very own chapstick. Generally, the only moment of concern was when Avery opened a chair she got from Aunt Siz. Audrey has one just like it, except with her name on it. I think Audrey somehow thought we were giving AUDREY'S chair to AVERY, and Audrey ran to the window, sat down and looked so sad. But we convinced her that there really were TWO chairs, one for each, and she was able to move on. =) Here are a couple of videos of Christmas morning presents.

Dancing in the Living Room

Our friend Johnny and his friend Brianna came for dinner tonight. Audrey was SO excited to have company and immediately took Brianna back to her room so she could show off her "jumping on the bed" skills. After dinner, Johnny & Brianna showed off their salsa dance skills. Johnny is a master salsa-er, and Brianna has had only one lesson (but apparently she has a good teacher). =) Audrey LOVED it, and when the music ended, she grabbed my finger, led me to the DVD player and said "more" ... I hope she grows up with rhythm in spite of the genes I gave her.

Snow!

On Sunday, we took the girls to Julian (about an hour east of San Diego) to see snow! We had heard it had snowed there last week, but as we were driving and still about 9 miles out, there was no sign of snow anywhere. But sure enough, as we drove into Julian, there was snow everywhere, 4-6 inches deep in some places.

We stopped at a Methodist Church with a big front lawn, all covered in snow, and a playground in the back. Audrey started pointing and saying "no" (which is really snow). She put her foot into the snow, though, and started to cry. (In her defense, she was wearing crocs on her feet, so not exactly the most snow-friendly shoes. In my defense, she's 22 months old and would not agree to wear ANY other shoes).

So she only stood in the snow for about 3 seconds, then we pulled out the boogie board and Iain took her for a ride. Iain and I also took rides down a little hill ... it was tons of fun. And Avery was just looking around ... clearly unenamored.

After the sled rides ended, Audrey noticed the playground and had a grand time playing there before we headed back home (which, if any of you see us at Christmas, be prepared to sing "Bingo" ad nauseum for her .... Iain and I had to sing it about 20 times in a row going out there and coming home ... each time we stopped, she would point and say "bee-oh").

Friends

We've been teaching Audrey about friends, and asking her who her friends are. Avery is always the one we mention first (and here's a picture of the two of them last night). Audrey also went to an arts and crafts day at the library today, and here's a picture of her friend Finn. They met a couple of weeks ago and have seen each other a few times since then. Audrey is normally quite shy around new people, but there's something about Finn that she loves.

Crib Time

Audrey and Avery were playing in the crib yesterday, while I was sorting clothes (it's amazing that Avery has already outgrown a whole box full of clothes)! Audey was playing a game where she was showing Avery how to do things, but of course, as soon as the camera came on, Audrey was unable to show-off.

Avery had her 4-month check-up on Tuesday and she's tracking along exactly like she's supposed to. The only minor problem was that Avery had to get her immunizations, and Audrey wanted to watch ... when Audrey saw that Avery was crying because of the shots, Audrey started bawling also, saying "no no no" over and over to the man who was giving the shots. It was such a sad moment!

Audrey is talking so much now! No sentences, but it seems like she learns five new words every day, and responds equally in Spanish and English. It is awesome to watch these girls grow and learn, and we are so thankful that God has blessed us with them!

Ring around the Rosie

Audrey LOVES playing this game, including by herself. All four of us were playing, then when Iain and I left to go clean the kitchen, etc., she just kept playing. Every time the song would stop, she would say "yo-ee", which her EXTREMELY cute way of saying "rosie".