Late pictures just because

I don't have tons of time to write, but here are a few pictures from the past month or so. As you can see we've been working on self - feeding. MaryP is improving significantly with both the spoon and fork, though I don't have any recent pictures to prove it. She does demonstrate that if the spoon* is too slow, using your hands or drinking the yogurt is more effective.

And here are some pictures from Thansgiving (yes, I know Christmas is in 4 days). We had the opportunity to visit my family. I haven't been with both of my brothers in several years, and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I love inside jokes and family stories you'd forgotten, and of course singing jingle bells in a minor key. I loved that when we played Taboo obscure references were used to help people guess the words - references that brought back funny memories. I wish we could have stayed longer but I should be grateful for the time we had. MaryP enjoyed her cousins B and K. My mom said a few days ago when he came to visit B was walking around the housing saying "MaryP? MaryP?" I'm glad they had a good time together too. I also got to catch up with some old friends, all in all is was a fabulous trip.

My grandparents graciously drove us to and from the airport so we got to spend some extra time with them too. (She's mad about the picture, not the people.)

Top Heavy

We finally put up our Christmas tree today. Woo-hoo! Note that the tree is looking a wee-bit top-heavy. All the better to keep ornaments out of little hands. MaryP is excited about all of the 'balls' on the tree. I love homemade ornaments and we have some from both Wood and my growing up years - maybe the tree doesn't look too sophistocated, but I love all of the associated memories!

MaryP clearly thinks box lids and baby dolls to make good tree decorations. Whatever works!