Happy New Year!

Christmas Day w/ Bob the Builder characters

Christmas Baby on Sheila and Mon's porch

New truck on the beach

Quiet moment with Dad

Hurray 2009 is finally here! Well, along with the rest of the world, I will say that 2008 was no picnic. In fact it will forever go down in our family history books, is "the year when the only good thing that happened was Solvi!" Which, in hindsight, makes it a very good year!!

Not to be too corny, but times like these really do remind you of the minor miracles that kids bring to your life every day. Over the week of Christmas, Solvi delightful many a visiting relative (inc. Auntie Steph, Mom Gramma Birds, Brian, My Dad, Lisa, Auntie She and Mon, Jessie, Great Gram and Gramps Bonnell and even the Blake cousins) with her new talent: inch worming! Now she's a double threat movementwise, rolling into position and then inching across the last few feet for the final toy tackle. She's also pulling her body up from the belly position til just her legs remain on the floor.

Olie LOVED Christmas and was very happy with his lego Bob the Builder characters. (Today, New Years Day, he stuck lego animals, planets, and even buildings on their "heads" and they all had a party in their "party hats.") He was also unusually cooperative on Christmas Eve. While on a walk to Coast Guard, the conversation went something like this:
"Mom, I'm being VERY good today."
"Yes, you ARE being very good."
"Yes, because I know SANTA is coming."
(Meet Santa, my new best friend. Too bad he only comes once a year. Next new best friend: Easter Bunny.)

Olie had a great time with all his relatives and esp. with Tilly and Audrey, but Solvi found all the "new" faces (infants aren't known for their long term memory) a bit overwhelming. Used to be that Solvi had an adorable habit of beaming at every new face on the subway or street and then demurely turning her face away to hide it in Mom's neck, only to turn back to stranger, then Mom, repeat, and so on. They say babies do this when they're overwhelmed. Now she's moved on to a new phase of stranger interaction. She doesn't turn away, she just cries. Until she got re-acquainted, Solvi protested with tears when held by nearly everyone. Much better to remain with Mama where she could safely, and astutely, study each "new" face. Luckily for all her admirers, she was very soon her old self again.