Christmas Cuteness and other Musings....

Christmas with Kaylee!

First of all, we tried to have a Christmas photo shoot. Why, I'm not sure, but I wanted some pretty pics of Kaylee in her Christmas dress. The one you see above is the best one we got - she wasn't really in a smiley mood. In fact, she was in a very impatient mood and we ended up with tears and screaming a few times. The next couple photo shoots I try will be on the couch where she can be propped up in a safe place without us holding her up. Anyhow, isn't the dress cute? It was a gift from some friends of ours. I recently picked up a piece of black velvet to use for a backdrop for photos and I will experiment with it over the next little while. I like black velvet because it absorbs the camera flash well and gives a clean background and allows the camera's light meter to be more effective.

Here are a few of the shots I don't like as much, but they were cute or funny for other reasons...

Kaylee furiously rubbing her nose...

Whoah, who is that guy on the pillow, anyway?

Ohhhh, it's Santa, huh? OK, I guess he's allright...
Hey, these lights are kinda fun...

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Nana and Papa's house in Plaster Rock. Nana had picked up an exersaucer for Kaylee to play with while there and we decided to see if she'd like it. It's a little early for some babies (it's rated 4 months and up) but she seemed to really like it a lot! She flopped back and forth about once, then put her feet down and started spinning around inside it and played with the toys attached to the tray.

Kaylee in the exersaucer on Christmas Eve...

And Christmas Day, after breakfast...

I love this picture of her - we don't often get
her in a quiet content mood for the camera.

And here she is on Papa's lap at the table after brunch...

Ian, Kaylee, and Georgine - Christmas Day, 2008

A picture of Kaylee on Nana's couch
in her Christmas dress...

Later on that evening, Mommy and Kaylee were playing kissy giggle, where Mommy covers Kaylee's face in little kisses and she giggles and coos and laughs out loud. It's one of our favorite activities. Yeah, I'm a big sap. But I won't get to do this forever and forever with her, so I'm going to enjoy all I can of it while she'll put up with it.



There is a bird feeder outside the kitchen window at Mom and Dad's and they get a lot of chickadees there. Chickadees are one of my favorite birds. They are the state bird in Maine, and they are just so cute and tiny and delicate and they make the most delightful noises.


Aunt Courtney and her boyfriend Chris gave Kaylee a stuffed monkey for Christmas and Kaylee likes to hold it, chew on it, and apparently she also likes to kiss it while she sleeps. Ian took this shot and we think she's so cute!

Here's one of our most common and favorite positions - Mama holds Kaylee in the rocker/recliner in the living room and puts her feet up on the couch arm to rock the chair as Kaylee is getting burped or snuggled.


And sometimes we both sleep. If Mommy gets cold, then we both snuggle under one of Kaylee's blankies. We have a few really gorgeous handmade blankies from some wonderful people who love us.

Sometimes Daddy snuggles with Kaylee in the chair as well - mostly in the evenings or when Mommy needs a break during the day and Kaylee wants to be held. Most of the time we can leave her in the swing on having tummy time on the floor, but she's very cuddly and wants to snuggle lots too.


We had a really nice Christmas. Kaylee received some really cute and some really generous gifts from both family and friends, and we are very grateful and appreciate how everyone loves her so much. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts...

I forgot to mention that she weighed 11 pounds 11 ounces at her last round of shots on 12/8. Her next checkup and shots are on 1/6/09 and I'll update her stats at that time.

We can't believe how quickly she is growing and changing. She laughs out loud now and is very aware of everything going on around her. She doesn't want to be left out and will watch TV with us as well. I started looking around all the channels with children's programming and PBS has a great children's channel called Sprout with lots of educational programming. I don't intend to have our kid become a TV addict, but I'm glad there is some quality stuff on TV. I am also starting to read to her - she has amassed quite a library so far, and I am looking forward to getting her all my favorites!

She is also not that thrilled about the swing and we haven't used the bouncy seat for a few weeks and she's not thrilled about the Bumbo any more either - I believe as soon as the new exersaucer gets here, that will be the preferred play zone for Kaylee. She can be upright, in whatever room we happen to be in, and she seems to love being free to move around and playing with the toys that are in close range. She doesn't seem to like being restrained as much as our current other seating options keep her. I think our time for the swing is just about over, and the bouncy seat will go to my cousin, and I think we'll keep the Bumbo, as we have a tray for it as well and she can have snacks in it down the road and look at books in it as well. I guess we'll have to think about babyproofing a room and getting a baby gate or something when she really starts moving around.

She has grown out of all of her 3 month stuff now and is into 3-6 months now - she's more than 12 pounds and her arms and legs are LONG. She has a pair of 6 months pants that I've been wearing on her and they are exactly the right fit. Also, her feet have grown and she is wearing her bigger socks now and will fit into her Robeez shoes in next week or two.

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and we wish you much peace and happiness as we begin a new year in 2009!

~Ian, Georgine, and Kaylee