A few December Videos....

Hollis has the funniest little "gorilla crawl". She can crawl the normal way but we think it hurts her knees so she always moves like this. Our little gorilla girl can move pretty fast too!
MVI 1726 from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

Hollis saying "uh oh"....
MVI 2369 from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

And we showed Marin a video of some kids doing the chicken dance. She loved it! And we had to play it over and over for her. Here she is doing her version.We love the toe tapping at the end!
MVI 2025 from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

Santa Claus

So we went to the mall to play on the little indoor playground they have and I decided to do Santa one more time. I went back and forth a million times but decided to do it. If Marin was afraid of him and was going to cry no matter what, I would have said forget and just kept the crying photo. But with it being Hollis' first Christmas, I went ahead and did again. 

No tears. But no smiles either. 

You have to know two things about these pictures....

1. There is a choo choo train that rides around the mall and Marin had already spotted it. 

So for most of the Santa experience, she is saying choo choo choo choo. She had been pointing to Santa on her shirt the whole day wanting to see him but a train will always outdo an old man with a beard. (Until she figures out he brings her presents at least....)

2. We had just left Walgreens to get Hollis some passport photos taken. And the funny thing about that is she smiled and giggled and flirted and totally hammed it up for her passport picture. But for Santa....the frown couldn't get any bigger. Seriously, I don't think I have ever seen her frown so hard in her whole life. hahahaha! It's like she was saying, "Mom, I've already done this. Let's move on to something else."  Argh. 

Keeping a close eye on the choo choo train.....

Hollis cracks me up here.
Marin....still watching the choo choo train. 

"Choo choo" 

And....she got to ride the train. :o) 

Now she smiles. 

Hollis loved it too.
Last time she hung her head out the window and spit at everyone.
This time she did her new little wave.
We have progressed with her social skills. :o)

Cups, Cutting, and Groceries

Marin is at a really fun age! She is so curious and eager to learn and do new things. And she definitely wants to do it all by herself. A few of her new favorite things to do are....

Pouring.
I found this light, plastic pitcher at the Dollar Tree and got it with this in mind. 

She pours and pours.
We talk about the colors too.
Purple is her new favorite. :o)
I have a cute video of this I need to upload. 

Then a while back I found these Melissa and Doug food set at a thrift store for dirt cheap.
She has just now really been interested in actually slicing the bread and fruit.
It's a great time filler while I am doing dinner, lunch, dishes, etc. And she feels like she is cooking too! 

She is getting more and more into pretend play. It is so fun to watch her!
Her friend Brianna gave her a shopping cart and food for Christmas so she is playing grocery store. "Beep Beep"
And she is sitting at the table so her little sister can't reach her stuff. :o)

Some December Favorites

So I have taken around 900 pictures this month. So when I post 30 of them, trust me, I have narrowed it down. :o) I know, I know, it's a lot of pictures. 

We found this Fisher Price Little People Nativity set at a thrift store for $5!
I was very excited. The girls love it and play with it all the time. 

1. Hollis is standing up on her own all the time.
2. Those are 12 month pjs she is busting out of. Look at that pretty belly!
Her and Marin are wearing the same size now. 

Still learning my camera. Blurry. Argh. 

Walking with her  lion!

We "celebrated" Hanukkah this year by reading some books, making a birthday candle menorah, playing with dreidels, and eating some jelly donut/cookies. :o)
Our neighborhood is primarily Jewish so we want the girls to know a little about other celebrations!

These girls LOVE their Daddy. He had just come home from work. He had enough time to change clothes before they pounced on him! 

Pat-a-Cake on Daddy's head!

Burke had been tossing her around when he stopped to make sure she was ok.
She smiled and said/signed "more please". 

They love to play under the kitchen table!

Another fun game....pulling the Christmas towels down. 

As soon as Hollis hears Marin awake from her nap, she makes a "run" for her door and waits for me to open up for her. Her sister is most definitely her best friend. 

Waiting patiently for sister to wake up. 

I love her. 

She wanted to eat the yogurt herself. 

Had a ball but got a bath afterwards. 

Sitting in the booster seat like a big girl!

All I wanted was a picture with my big girl and she was so done with the camera. 

Putting the silverware away for Mom. Big helper!

Christmas in the Kitchen

We did a few Christmas cooking projects....

First, she made some gingerbread cookies for her teacher and nursing home near our house. 

She always has such a fun time cooking. 

She would laugh and laugh every time she took the cookie cutter out and saw the little man! 

Then she made a rice krispies treat holiday house. 

She had fun decorating but the candies tasted terrible!

Next, we had the gingerbread house. Uh, yeah this was a little tricky. 

And she kept wanted to eat the roof. 

Hollis got some too.