Choo choo!

Joe has been enjoying the train set that Santa brought him! When he wants to play with it he will often request to play with "tracks." There seems to be a piece missing to make a standard figure eight so we have been improvising. This shape still allows for two places for the boy to sit within the track (one is admittedly a tight fit for him), but leaves a couple dead ends that are a bit confusing for a little boy. The JOE train is a favorite and mostly rides in order, though JEO was chugging a long for a while. You can see him showing it off for Julie on an adventure across the bridge - another favorite feature!

Puffs Are So Puffy!

In other news, we have been meaning to report that B. Bird has moved beyond the world of purees and into that of the puffs. She is a puff fanatic. She eats them very precisely. Not necessarily one at a time (she has been known to clutch several in her little fist at once), but she pops them in her mouth pretty much one at a time. She seldom lets one drop to the floor. Ms. Melissa reports the same is true at school, and that when she is in the high chair with a spread of puffs arrayed before her, and a friend approaches to check it out, she raps her hand on the tray to get Ms. Melissa or Ms. Che's attention. Her friends need to get their own puffs apparently. Have you got this mental picture? Pair it with the one you got when we reported that Ms. Che told us Clara would march (crawl) herself right over to any friend who took the toy with which she was playing and take it right back a la "Oh no you didn't!" Clearly, Our Bird has spunk in spades.

Birdie Gets a Toofem

Big news, Bird Nation! She has a silver stallion shirt! No! We mean, she DOES have a silver stallion shirt (and it is super fine), but the big news is not the silver stallion shirt. The big news is her first tooth has broken through! Stats: front, bottom, right. My but she has been a stoic little lady. The only signs that something was afoot was her being "off her feed," as Grandpa Trump would say (i.e. she was not so keen on nursing--throwing Julie for a loop as Joe LOVED nursing when teething), and her gnawing on everything, particularly a plastic broccoli that came with a pot that sings to the wee ones about the joys of eating colorful foods. In retrospect, she was perhaps working her two fingers a bit more. In any case, the tooth is not visible in either of these pictures, but it can be felt, and can be seen at close range.

Clara's First Christmas

Now Fans, settle. We know. You're all like, "What did Clara do on her first Christmas? We see a flash of her in the video and what? That's it?" But you know already: Baby Bird was all up in it, just like the Bright-Eyed Bird she is. She was everywhere. She spent some quality time chewing on a plastic tree that came with a jar o' farm animals that Santa brought, and she was a big fan of the fabric washing machine toy that she was given by Aunt Kate that has crinkly squares with pictures of clothing on them that can be taken in and out and pre-washed, if you will, as she is seen doing here. She also showed off her reindeer-footed pajamas and sparkly pink hat.

Photo Editor's note: Look at those puppies flanking Ted and Baby Bird on the sofa. What a picture of Christmas contentment. Why, it's almost like a picture print by Currier and Ives! Before you sigh that wistful sigh, we wish to report that Christmas morning, Berenice chewed another hole in one of the chair cushions and today, Raleigh ate the leftovers of the desserts from Christmas dinner.

And In This Corner

Julie's mom, aka Grandma Connie, surprised Julie with a gold puffy vest Christmas morning. Our Hero took an immediate shine to it. Julie understood. It was gold, it was puffy, it had a flat out fabulous collar (that can be worn in two equally fab ways!), so what wasn't to love? Joe demand to be enrobed in it with all deliberate speed. Ted said he looked like a prize fighter. Our Hero, Our Toughie.