Hi everyone! We're in the midst of the holiday season, and are so excited to watch Emily enjoy her first Christmas. She's still too young to understand Santa, and her first encounter with him wasn't too positive, but that's ok, it's just a THRILL to have our own little girl to share the holidays with.
The Christmas Parade
So, instead we took Emily to a local, small town Christmas parade, which she really enjoyed. Folks in the parade threw candy at the crowd, and kids scrambled to grab whatever came their way, some tightly gripping plastic bags to hold their stash.
What fun to watch the kids and cars go by! 
This little girl passed us twice, staring at Emily each time. These Chinese girls know each other immediately.
A much celebrated school, where hopefully Emily will go!
A self proclaimed Christmas mule.
Christmas at the Library
Here's Emily not enjoying her photo with Santa--who turned out to be a woman sporting a belly pillow! Santa was on the Santa train (first photo in this post), and Emily really enjoyed the train, which was basically a decorated tractor pulling blue barrels turned sideways and cut open for seats (that's Florida for you).
Finally a decent photo with Miss Diane, Emily's beloved childrens librarian!
Emily's Milestones
#1 - Emily learned how to pick up a ball! Well, Mommy and Daddy helped teach her. She now tries to play ball with the dog, but she can only drop the ball from her fingers, and if it doesn't roll away from her, Mia can't figure out if she's supposed to pick it up or not!
#2 - She no longer teeters constantly while walking. Instead, she's pretty solid on her feet!
#3 - She's preferring to feed herself more and more, so she's on diced everything--carrots, beans, baby hotdogs, and finally the Zwieback toast! (I'm actually gathering the strength to serve her peas--BLECH!!) Here she actually ate her first Chinese take out--she loved it! #4 - Forget the safety locks--she figured out how to pull them off the kitchen cabinets! And she loves to open all the doors, except her designated one (filled with Tupperware). She'll pull out whatever looks good (cereal, cheese puffs) and try to open it to feed herself, the little monkey.
#5 - Our little munchkin is almost in size 12-month clothing! While she's still too skinny to wear the 12-month pants--which hang down past her diaper--the 9-month pants are too short. She's too long for the smaller onesies, so she's in the 12-month size. And 12-month shirts are either a good fit or too large, so we're doing pretty well. We just don't want her to grow up!! :(
And here's the piece de resistance...Emily's first art! She kind of uses a crayon--Mommy did the squiggly parts--but the rest is all her creation!!Take care everyone,
Caroline
