The last couple of weeks have been really fun with Emory. She's starting to interact on a whole new level. She's clapping, having babble conversations, communicating in our own special sign language, and generally just fun. She held the ear of her hat up for about thirty minutes as a way of saying, "Get this thing off me."

Below, she's having fun with all of the presents we've been getting. If they arrive unwrapped, they are fair game and she can play with them. She's mostly into the cardboard boxes and the wrapping paper, but one day she'll notice all of the cool stuff she's getting.

She actually has an ear infection and a cold, and has had some bad fevers, so I've been up alot at night with her. My dreams have gotten crazy again- like they are when you're pregnant and not sleeping well. And last night I dreamt that I was finishing up a stint as a river guide, but not with rafts- with tubes. Very dangerous. :) I also hung out with Demi Lavato (sp?) from the Disney Channel- which I don't watch. If any of my psudo-Freudian counselor friends want to analyze that for me they are welcome to.

Belly Laugh

Is there anything better than a baby laughing so hard she gets tears in her eyes? I don't think so. I'm so glad that theater degree is paying off. This is really the tail end of the laughter, too. She was hysterical. In case you're wondering what I am doing to make her laugh- it's not hard- I'm hitting myself in the face with a large envelope. :)

The Nice List

We went into to downtown Denver to see Santa today. Somebody, I won't name names, had a major poopy diaper and Mrs. Claus said the North Pole couldn't accommodate our changing needs. But once it was handled we went to meet Santa. He looked a little nervous when he saw a baby and as we handed her over he said, "Take it quick!" But she didn't cry or pull his beard once. In the end we all made it on the nice list.

On a side note, the location for the picture is the exact spot where Brent proposed three years ago. Ahhhh, memories. :)

Decorating the Tree

We're spending Christmas at home this year....home being Colorado. I think that we've been here long enough that it should count. We're starting our own family traditions, and keeping some from each of our families. Mom and I used to go get a Christmas tree from the tree farm with the Petrus right after Thanksgiving. We didn't do the tree farm this year, but we pretended in Home Depot. We found a great tree and Emory helped decorate. Mostly, she just mouthed the garland strand. Oh! And she started crawling. :)