Merry Christmas

F.Y.I.: "Tomorrow" actually means 4 or 5 days at the MacDonald/Reading offices.

On Christmas Eve, the three of us went back to KOP to get Oly's picture taken with the best mall Santa ever. Real beard, long white hair; I have no idea what this guy does the rest of the year. Um, other than build toys at the North Pole. (Hi Lucy!)

We waited in line for more than two hours, knowing full well that on the other side of the mall a different Santa was sitting around wondering where the kids were. Our guy was that good. The line was so long that shoppers walking by actually pointed and laughed at us! I wasn't going to attempt to brave one of the biggest malls in the country on Christmas Eve just for a silly picture, but then I saw this. That took care of that. We'll scan the picture of our kid and post it soon. She slept the entire time we were at the mall, thanks to Papa and the Bjorn. Santa tried waking her up once she got into his arms, but to no avail.

Waiting in line:




















There was a little baby named Kathryn in front of us in line and I had guessed to Tim that she was maybe a few weeks ahead of Olympia because her head was a lot steadier but they were the same size. Standing in line so long, we started chatting with her family. Kathryn is 5 MONTHS OLD! Our baby is gigantic.














She looked exactly like this in the picture, only in the arms of a jolly man with a beard. Cute.




















Where babies come from: Santa brings them.


































Amy, to answer your question, Photoshop.















Holding onto Papa. Like he's going anywhere.















Here she is Christmas morning after opening all of her presents. Quite pleased with all the loot.















After breakfast on Christmas we went to the movies. And the winner is......Jennifer Aniston! (You weren't wondering who would be the victor in the Jennifer Aniston/Brad Pitt holiday opening day showdown?)
Anyway, one would think bringing a 6 week old to the movie theater is crazy but we chose to risk it. If anything, we thought the place would be deserted. Wrong. It was almost full. No worries; she was asleep the whole time in the Bjorn.
'Marley and Me' was an absolute delight, knowing our affinity for giant, bad dogs. We recommend it. Three quarters of the way through the movie I gasped out loud realizing I knew how this was going to end (I skipped the last chapters of the book to save myself any pain) and seriously considered leaving. It was worth sticking it out though. So touching. Every person in the theater was crying. I'm not spoiling the ending for you am I? I mean, it's a movie about a dog- they all end the same.

Here's a random Barney Frank/Phillies pic. I bought this at Babies R Us with Nana and Grandpa. I chose not to get the "My First Phillies T-shirt" because, I mean really, it would have been her 5th or 6th Phillies shirt.

Chameleon

Oly may become an actress someday, because she seems to have a knack for impressions. Here she is doing Bill Murray in Caddyshack:
































This one is my favorite, and is the most frequent. Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank:
























Ducky from 'Land Before Time':






























She also does a great face that only her Mama can see and can never photograph. In the middle of the night, in the dark, after she nurses and her eyes are wide open because she doesn't want to fall asleep, she looks like the little alien baby from Men In Black. Don't be confused, this is a true compliment because, I mean have you ever seen a cuter tentacled alien baby?







And finally, her Justin Bobby impression. I only expect Eva and Nichole to know who this is.

Bjorn

Oly and I walked around town running errands yesterday. We tried out the Bjorn (Thanks again for all the baby gear Amy!) and she was very content. She didn't fall asleep like she does in the sling, maybe because there was too much to look at. For instance, the people on the street who came up to coo at her.




















To answer your question, no of course we would never dream of owning a snow suit without ears. That would be ridiculous.

Goodbye Grandpa and Nana

Grandpa and Nana have gone back to Washington, only to return to harsh 'east coast' winter weather. Ironically, it was a perfect Seattle day here today. Thanks for trading guys!
We had so much fun with them. There were smiles:





















Snoogles:














This face, which we think is concentration:















Naps:















and a bath.



















We promise to stop feeding her so she's the same size the next time you see her!

Elfin Ears

In case you haven't noticed yet, I thought I'd point out the two cousins elfin ears. Further proof they've been marked as equals. I don't think it's a situation of neither living while the other survives. (Guys, this is only the second Harry Potter reference in a month. That's pretty good.)


Jasper









Oly

Nana and Grandpa are here!

The first sighting!
Waiting for bags...they might have circled the carousel twenty times for all we know....


Snoogling with Grandpa


Nana coaxing her into her new trick.....


Tada!

Big Baby

To update you all:
Oly had her one month check-up at the pediatricians yesterday! She weighs 11 lbs, 9 oz
She now smiles on purpose sometimes, mostly when she's kissed on the lips
She still doesn't sleep for longer than 2 hours at a time
And apparently she learned some choreography from 'Thriller' at some point:

3 a.m. squeeks

We're sad that Dana, Grandma and Allison are gone, but we're excited for Nana and Grandpa to arrive soon! I'll be better about posting more, although Tim and I want to prepare you for the future in which we will only post about once a week. After most of her family have met her in person we'll scale down the blog a bit, only posting the really good stuff. You'll live, we promise.

A few days ago Oly was wide awake in the middle of the night making adorable noises. In my sleep-deprived stupor, I didn't get out the camera until almost too late. This video is very long, but only the first 15 seconds are cute. The rest is her zoning out. And these aren't even the cutest noises she makes! I will try to capture others.

Hunter Women

Three Generations

If you visit us, we will put you to work. Allison isn't in any of these pictures because she was cooking and cleaning for us. Here's Grandma on diaper duty.

Those lips!
This picture was taken for the hairdo- she was just asleep on her side- but we caught a smile!
How can you argue? This is one ridiculous face. Game, set, match, Amy.

Ponies

We girls walked around Media today, Oly in her new sling. She loves it!

We came home and made tons of christmas cookies.

Grandma and Allison have spent several hours on the internet shopping for ponies. I. Am. Not. Kidding.
I took Amy's comment from the last post as a direct challenge. How about this face?

Allison taps in for Dana

Aunt Dana left extremely early this morning but managed to get some prime cuddle time in last night.

But now Olympia's best friend Allison is here from Idaho and they've clearly bonded.
Here she is looking like a little baby koala bear.
Toad faces.
Sometimes these guests let me hold my baby too.

She spends most of her time sleeping or trying to get to sleep- although she's awake more and more each day.

It was regrettably not photographed, but yesterday was Grandma Pony's 60th birthday. We're referring to it as her 40th, though. We got her this baby to celebrate! She understands that she can't take it back to Washington with her. I think Tim is going to want to get that from her in writing.



Just in case you thought she was too cute for her own good:
A shot of one of her infrequent ugly faces. The stork bite on her forehead is getting lighter every day, although when she's very warm or she is screaming it gets dark purple and you can see that it's shaped like a V in the middle of her forehead. I call her our little Klingon baby. In this picture does it possibly resemble a lightning bolt?