"May Your Days Be Merry & Bright"

The past few weeks have been absolutely delightful.  I can't believe we are heading toward the middle of December already.  Christmas starts so early here but yet I still never get enough of it.  From the songs, to the food to the decor and overall cheer, it's just a wonderful time of year.  I want to highlight some of our endeavors since Thanksgiving.  And, I have some cute videos to share as well.  I don't know if I have a child genius on my hands (probably not, Brian and I are both at a fairly average intelligent level), but I can say she is doing quite well with her language ability.  Perhaps it's because I'm so verbal?

Anyway, a couple highlights from the past few weeks have been play dates. I hosted a play date with 6 moms and 6 babes all younger than Carly one afternoon and it was absolutely delightful!  We had 3 girls and 3 boys and the mamas enjoyed sharing stories.  Two of the babies were only 3 days a part...so they were in comparison mode!  We hang out with Karalea/Jacob, Stefani/Lucas every week, but it was nice to add Stacey/Aria, Hannah/Fiona & Carrie/Holden to the mix.  Each person brought a snack and we had a nice lunch.  I also realized just how hard Carly is/was.  I looked at all these other babies, who just sat there content and then crashed when they got tired and thought, "oh...this is how it's suppose to be."  It's reassuring to know that I wasn't going crazy and that my baby really is/was more difficult than most.

Yesterday, Carly and I had fun making Christmas cookies at Stefani & Lucas' house.  Karalea & Jacob of course joined...and as you can see Carly was picking on Jacob a bit.  Paci thief!  These photos explain well that Carly was VERY interested in helping me frost the cookies.  Am I a terrible mother for letter her lick the frosting right off the cookie?  We will go with no. ;)

Carly is a joy to be with...I wish she would stay 9 months old for at least a few more months!  We are so close to getting those cute little blonde bouncy curls...but they only appear in the humidity.  Her hair and fingernails grow so fast I can't keep up!  I guess that means she is getting plenty of protein!  She does like her eggs!

Call me maybe?

A birth mark appeared this month...great place for it!

 Carly's cognitive development grows each and every day.  She understands at least 100 words, responds very strongly to my tone of voice & watching her think for herself is quite fascinating.  Here is a video of her responding to me asking her how big she is.

She has also become quite good at playing games.  Her favorite is to roll a ball back and forth.

She is hilarious and she knows it!  I can't believe how fun she has gotten and I have such an appreciation for her personality!