Elmo, new books and some puppies

Livia got a Tickle Me Elmo (thanks Grandma?) for Christmas. She loves it and it's cute the first time around but after that adults begin to wish Elmo wasn't so ticklish. She has a great time playing with it. She also got some new books for Christmas - one of our favorite things. One of the best parts of being and Grandma and Grandpa's house before Christmas was playing with Piper and Scout, her two cousin dogs.

Christmas at Home

Livia woke up at home Christmas morning. We had a nice leasurely morning: Mommy made aebleskiver for breakfast (Livia loved it!), we opened our presents and then played with the cats in the boxes and paper. Next year I think we'll save our money and just wrap empty boxes, it's all she wanted to play with!

More from Christmas in Iowa

Kleenex and Reindeer Antlers

At one of the stores Mommy saw some reindeer antlers and thought it would be to torture Livia with them - which it is. She doesn't like to wear them but Grandpa doesn't mind them. After all of the toys and books she got for Christmas guess what the coolest thing at Grandma and Grandpa's house is? A box of kleenex. Especially if you pull a full box out one at a time.

Christmas in Iowa Part 2

After lunch at GG's we went to Grandma and Grandpa's to open more presents with Livia's aunts and uncles. She's a little spoiled.

Christmas in Iowa

Livia's second Christmas in Iowa wasn't as snowy as her first. We went to see Grandma at school and Mommy thought it was kind of strange to see her old track coach and music teacher when toting around a toddler. Anyway, we had lots of fun. We went to GG's house for Christmas lunch and opened some pictures. Livia had a few of her funnier moments: Livia's Great-Aunt Andrea is the pie maker in our family and it's always awesome (and Livia liked the pumpkin pie so who knows what was going on) and when Mommy gave Livia a bite she acted like she was going to gag but then ate almost half a piece. The best was when GG was singing a silly song and after the second or third time through Livia put her fingers in her ears. Just classic but what else would we expect from a kid who rarely ate or slept the entire time we were there?

Ahhh

I don't know where she got this (how many of my posts start that way?) but after Livia takes a drink out of a straw she says, "Ahh". Like she just ran a marathon with no water breaks. It's really pretty darn funny. She really likes to do it when she's drinking water from her Christmas penguin cup.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

...and all through the house not a creature was stirring - except for a cranky teething baby who doesn't want to eat, a daddy who snores, two cats who are sure they're on the brink of starvation once the sun goes down and a mommy who just wants to sleep longer than an hour at a time without any of them waking her up. But we wouldn't trade it for anyone else's Silent Night.
Merry Christmas!

Grandma and Grandpa's Rocking Chair

Livia loves the rocking chair at Grandma and Grandpa's house. She was either hanging on the arms or trying to rock it. It's almost impossible to rock her to (almost) sleep in it too because she just drags her little fingers on the back of it. She's a goof ball!

Candy Cane

Last weekend we did Christmas in Iowa. On our way back home we stopped at our local department store because we heard they had a nice Santa and no lines. Livia is not a fan of Santa yet but she sure did like the candy cane.

Big Cousin

In June Livia will be a big cousin. Livia's Aunt Leslie is having a baby in early June. I pulled out our old name book last week and when I did I found the list we made of names before we went to the hospital. Well, I was walking down memory lane looking at the list and forgot I left the book out. I don't know if Livia doesn't like her name or what but she won't put that book down. The other day I turned around and saw her just relaxing, picking out a name for her new cousin.

Cold Days

We're just coming off a cold snap so if we don't have to go somewhere we just stay in our jammies all day.

Shiner

Livia got her first facial bruise last Friday. She was trying to crawl up a bar stool at our friend's house and fell. She has a bruise right between her eyes. It's starting to fade. Oh well, she's at that age.