Christmas time is here

Alexa is really big into the alphabet right now, and she loves all of the "letter J's!" everywhere because of the candy canes.  She is constantly pointing them out to me, and then tells me what sound the letter 'J' makes.  She and Tyler helped me set up the Christmas decorations while Kyle worked the weekend after Thanksgiving (it's becoming an annual tradition that I set it up that weekend while he's working long hours), and she thought it was the best thing in the world.  We turned on the Chipmunks Christmas on Pandora and had a blast.  Her favorite book to read these last few weeks is "Graham Cracker" (Nutcracker).  It doesn't matter how many times I correct her, I'm wrong.

We celebrated Christmas on the 18th before we left for California.  Alexa's big present was a toy kitchen, which was a hit for both kids.  Alexa keeps making me cute meals and bringing them to me, and Tyler absolutely loves chewing on all of the hard plastic food.

Tyler got three more teeth in December--the top two the first week of December, and another on the bottom just this week.  He also loves to clap, drink by himself from a sippy cup, and now says "All done" in sign language.  He is also adorable at repeating us.  Hope was holding him and flying and every time she said "whoo hoo!," Tyler would smile and say "whooooo."  His latest thing this past week is standing up on his own (no support).  He already loves sprinting while holding our hands (seriously, he b lines it across the room), but this is a new development.

I need my puppy.

Roxy licking Tyler's finger through the gate.

Sweet 97 year-old Grandma Sweeny asked to hold Tyler and proceeded to play with his car by running it on his tummy and legs and making car noises.  He ate it up and it melted my heart.  I. Love. Her.  And I'm so glad that we get to make these memories with her and our kids.

He sucks his thumb with the same fist that grabs a hold of his blanket. Love that cute boy.

We had friends over for games on New Year's Eve and Kyle and I were on the same team for Taboo.  I was trying to get him to say "donate blood" and so I explained that it is something he did in the mornings to earn extra money before class (he donated plasma), to which he responded "working the corner."  ?!?!?! We all laughed very hard and pressed a little harder about exactly when it was that he worked the corner and to see how successful he was.

We have had lots of fun playing in the snow this month, even Roxy as you'll see in this video below.

Playing in the snow, at night, Cinderella dress over her clothes, big boots, and a big puffy coat.  Life is good.

I can hear the sound coming out of Tyler just by looking at this picture.

Too cool for Target.