A voice speaking from the dust

Ky has decided in the last couple of weeks that he wants to start talking about everything. He points at things and talks all day long, and most of it is pretty unintelligible (though cute). But he actually knows a lot of words, as we realized when we made a list yesterday. These are all words we're sure about because he's said them repeatedly and in context. There are probably others we haven't deciphered yet. :)

• Cheese
• More (signed and spoken)
• Hat
• Hot
• Cold (signed)
• Socks
• Bread
• Eat (signed)
• Mama
• Da-da
• All gone (signed and spoken)
• Drink (signed)
• Cheerios
• That
• There
• Bye bye

He is a smart baby!

Snowy

(You can see the ruler--I think it was 24 inches--is sticking all the way into the snow here)

We had several big snowstorms last week, the biggest on Christmas Day. We heard that we got about 14 inches of snow in that one storm, and the wind was blowing a lot, so there were also huge drifts up to 2 or 3 feet high. There were piles of snow blown up against our garage and our fence that were taller than Sebby. We also got several inches the next couple days, and we still have huge mountains of snow lining all our roads and sidewalks. Our backyard is just a big mass of lumps and bumps and rounded hills and upended buns (that last phrase is from a poem, I think, but I'm not sure who to attribute it to).

We went out and played in the snow on Christmas, and all the boys loved it. Sebby couldn't even walk because the snow was so deep, so he just kept falling over, but he liked it anyway. It was fun to have a big storm for Christmas like that (I can't remember the last time we got _real_ snow for Christmas).

Grandkid Program

Here are a few pictures from our big family Christmas program last night: Abey and Sebby singing "It came upon a midnight clear" together, and Sebby, Sarah, and baby Joshua as Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus.

Malachi by the numbers

1 year as a live, independent person

1 spoken word ("cheese!")

1 step taken unassisted

2 fingers for sucking on

3 states of being (baby--->goblin--->gremlin)

4 signed words (more, all gone, eat, cold)

4 pressure points while crawling (hand, hand, foot, foot)

5 stuffed animals in crib (bird, tiger, panda, bear/dog [Sam says it's a dog but it's a bear], lion)

6 chompy teeth

8 stairs fallen down holding a maraca

1,000,000 times poking his finger into someone's mouth

Cake: the heartwrenching story of one piece's fate

Malachi wasn't feeling well for his birthday dinner last night. He cried nearly all the way through the meal, and would only eat a few bites of everything. (And it was all his favorite foods: 3-bean chili with cheese and cilantro, artichoke dip, and homemade bread.) It was very sad.

Luckily, he was able to eat the same meal again today for lunch, and this time he devoured it with great gusto. He also managed to down an entire piece of the birthday cake Grandma made him.

Santa Baby

It's that time of year again when Baby Santa appears.

[At a church activity last week, we were supposed to tell what our favorite Christmas Song was, and one lady said that her favorite (her favorite!!) was "Santa Baby." Out of all the Christmas songs in the world!! Santa Baby!! I couldn't believe it. But I suppose she must not be alone in her sentiments, since I hear it playing about 80% of the time on the "easy listening" music at the grocery store, etc.]

The only Santa Baby I like is this one:

(And this one.)
(And this one.)

Two wheels

Ky wants to try it too!

During our bike ride on Thanksgiving, one of Abe's training wheels fell off, so we took the other one off too. (It was high time he learned to ride without them.) He practiced riding around on two wheels for an hour or so that day, and got the hang of it really fast. And he really must have been ready to learn, because today (just his second time practicing) he looks like a pro---he can even turn, put on his brakes, and ride in circles. He is VERY proud of himself (and I'm proud of him too!).

Thanksgiving

What we did on Thanksgiving:

1. Went on a bike ride
2. Watched Ky try to catch a balloon
3. Dinner