Christmas was a very busy time, as it is every year. But there's something unique about Christmas with a 2-year old. It was definitely a lot of fun, but it means not quite being able to do all that I could have before. Or at least what I do looks a lot different - baking cookies, for example, and decorating cookies especially, comes with the artistic flare of my Claire bear. One cookie she decorated I refer to as the "Ruby Pig." It was obviously shaped like a pig (not a typical shape we use this time of year, but it came with her new baking set so we had to use it), and she tried to shake the red sugar container but ended up holding it in mid-air as the sugar poured out onto the cookie in a mound. Trying to shake most of it into the trash, the entire pig was coated in red sugar. Thus we have the Ruby Pig. Nobody wanted to eat that one.
Here is Claire decorating cookies after we changed the method...
Christmas Day was good - we spent the day itself in four different homes, which made for a bit of a hectic day, but it was still good. I always joke that we run around like chickens with our heads cut off on Christmas day, but I am so thankful that we have family so close by and that we can see them all in one day. It is a blessing. It just makes you need your rest when the day is done. :)
Claire when she first came down the stairs and saw the presents under the tree...
Claire enjoying a chocolate lollipop from her stocking and Mommy in the background...
Claire, anxiously waiting for Daddy to take her new baby doll out of her packaging. By the way, she named her "Barbecue Sauce." And after naming her new doll, she decided to name her old baby doll "Ketchup," since she hadn't named her yet.
Claire, sitting in front of the tree at my parents' house...
Snow Day...
One day between Christmas and New Years (all of those days ran together for me) we got some snow. It wasn't a lot, but it gave us a chance to use Claire's new snow boots that she got for Christmas. At least, that's what I thought. She screamed and screamed when it came time for her to stand on her own two feet in the snow. I've never seen a child so afraid of the snow!! We got her sled out so she wouldn't have to walk in the snow, and that calmed her down a bit.
Then I asked her if she wanted to help Mommy make a snowman. Her reply was, "Mommy do it." So, Frosty was created by Mommy while Claire sat on the front porch step where she wasn't in any danger of coming in contact with the snow. Finally, when Frosty was complete, I asked Claire if she would like to stand - not walk - in the snow right next to Frosty so I could take a picture of her. She replied a quiet, "Yeah."
