We’re back from our trip to NC to see family for the holidays. It was very fun and we miss everyone, but at the same time it’s great to be back in our own environment. Olivia ended up waking up around 3am Christmas morning. We still don’t know exactly why. I changed her diaper and passed her over to Maurice, at which point she looked at the door and said “TANTA!” I guess Maurice’s reading of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” kind of stuck with her. She ended up going back to sleep and getting up at 7am with us to rush down the hallway to see what Tanta had brought her. She was very good this year, practicing her please and thank-you’s as well as continuing to be the epitomé of cuteness. She received a traditional wooden toy, food for her kitchen set, books, and a stormtrooper Mr Potato Head.

It took her a while to warm back up to everyone, but by the second day she had started calling Grandma Mandy and Grandma Ruth “gamma” — still not sure how we’re going to differientiate between the 3 grandmothers yet… and she even said “gah-pa” for Grandpa Rick. That surprised all of us. We’re going to put together a little album for her that has pictures of everyone soon, so we can read it to her a couple of times a week and keep memories fresh in her mind.

I cannot post all of the pictures here, because I took way too many. If you want to see all the pictures from the trip, I have placed them all in a set on Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgianelson/sets/72157622896681233/

Upon returning, we found out that Olivia will be moving into the next classroom. She’s no longer allowed to use a sippy cup at school after this move, so we’re thinking “rubber clothing” for the daycare that week. This should be entertaining… The new classroom is great! There’s tumbling gym toys and a big wooden train table with loads of things perfect for Olivia to play with. She should have a great time there, though I did think it was kind of poopy to walk in and see a warning for 6 RSV cases in the classroom. That room is like a plague soup pot full of germy goodness. It always has someone sick as a dog on it, so we’re going to have to keep our eyes peeled. RSV isn’t easy on a kid this age, but she can’t live in a bubble either.

Took a few clips we had of the snow and pieced them together into this nice little video. Enjoy!

Olivia has as of late really taken to a toy my Grandmother and Mom gave her a few months back. We couldn’t pass up taking some video and putting it up for everyone to enjoy. So enjoy!

We’re bringing back the Point and Shoot (P&S) to help capture some memories in a less cumbersome manner. We didn’t want to risk the big camera out in the snow this afternoon, so we just took the little one out for this occasion. Olivia seemed to really like the snow this time now that we have gotten her proper gloves. She was layered twice with clothes, so she was very warm. One positive note about using the “DaddyCam” is that I get to be in the shots now sometimes too. Usually I’m not in any pictures with Olivia anymore, because Maurice doesn’t know how to use the DSLR… probably a good thing, though I’ve offered to teach him the basics with my backup camera.

The only downside is that I’m not going to bother editing these other than to fix some minor issues, so the colors may be all kinds of wack. I’ve watermarked these with “Daddy Cam 3000″ so potential clients don’t think this is my real work.

A reference image to see just how high the snow was:

We got cruel and dropped her in for no more than 20 seconds, seriously. It was quick and she giggled.

The elusive photographer makes an appearance on DaddyCam…

Today we are still stuck in the house. It’s freezing outside and even with the sun out, we don’t think things will be cleared up enough for us to break out and get some exposure to civilization. No. Instead we are bunkering down in the house and playing together as a family. I snapped quite a few snapshots this morning of Liv playing in her PJs with Elmo. We had a tough time keeping her away from the presents under the tree. I think she’s as jittery as us when it comes to the cabin fever.