Opening Presents

Lyra loved opening her birthday presents, and Eva wanted to help or watch every step of the way.

Bouldering

Eva goes to an indoor climbing gym every Saturday. She climbs the high walls that require a belay (hence the ropes) as well as the lower walls (boulders) that just have thick pads to cushion any falls. Eva has loved climbing since she first tried it when she was five years old. Lyra at the bottom on the left is too young to climb, but she wants to try - she walked up to the wall and jumped to try and reach a handhold.

Over the Mountain & Through the Woods..

To Grammy & Coach's house we went. After celebrating Christmas at our own house and opening (many) presents we headed to Frank & Emily's house for a wonderful Christmas dinner. We had delicious food, a nice nap (me) watched an old Batman movie (Will & Eva) and generally had a very peaceful time. Lyra can just barely reach the doorbell if she REALLY tries.

Growing Up

Some photos allow us to see the person a child may become as they grow older. I think this is a window to the young lady Eva will soon be.

Gymnastics Practice

If you think this looks easy, you should try it. Eva is touching her toes to the back of her head. She love gymnastics and decided she needed to do a little demo in front of the Christmas tree.

Lookin' at Me

Will was goofing around looking at himself in the mirror. His face in this photo is actually taken in the mirror, and it is a really good shot of what he looks like (e.g. what Mom and Dad would like him to look like when he is not being belligerent or hamming it up for the camera).

Oooh! See my Doggie

Lyra really enjoyed this Christmas. She was not quite old enough to experience all the anticipation felt by the older kids (though she did have an early go at opening a few presents). However, this morning she was fully 'in the moment' and loved discovering all of her presents. The dress she has on in this photo was one of her presents, and she had to put it on as soon as she saw it.

New Cutlery

I am not sure why Lyra was so fired up about her new fork and spoon, but she sure was. She loves to eat, and I think she was happy to have another cutlery option.

MY DOLLY!

Lyra received many presents, but this is one of her favorites. It is a soft stuffed doll and Lyra loves it. Lyra is almost two and has the word 'mine' down pat as she demonstrated to anyone who tried to separate her from her doll.

I Love the Sweater!

I have almost this same photo from last year, with a different garment. I think neither Cathleen nor I ended up with as many clothing gifts this year as last. This sweater was Will's gift to Mom. Dad, Will and Lyra went to the store, Dad picked out a sweater while Will chased Lyra around the store. Teamwork.

Kristmas Kitty

He may be hard to spot, but those eyes in the center of the photo are KC. He adopted a spot amongst the presents under the Christmas tree as one of his preferred hiding spots over the past couple of days. Needless to say the presents are now gone. He still likes the base of the tree (and pawing the garland), but the concealment effect is diminished.

Getting Going

Our tree is in the doorway between the library (where the stockings hang) and the living room. We started out in the library going through the stockings, then moved around the other side of the tree where Santa had left the majority of the presents.

Christmas Crier

Will was the first person up this morning, as about 5:15AM. He spent about 45min singing Christmas Carols to himself until he decided everyone else needed to get up. Will knows a lot of carols, and sang them with vigour, I think in the hopes that the rest of us would wake up (which we did). Eventually Eva also woke up and decided we all needed to go attack the stockings and presents. Lyra mercifully slept for a while longer.

A Rite of Passage

This was Lyra's first visit to Santa. She was so excited until it was her turn. Then, as you might expect, she wanted nothing to do with Santa. But this was a very nice and experienced Santa. He deftly handled Will's request for an XBox and managed the picture pose with a terrified Lyra. If you look closely on the left, you will see that I am actually holding Lyra and leaning out of the picture; that is my cheetah print raincoat there. Lyra is crying but it is easier to tell that in the photo print. Now I need to get a frame so this picture can join our collection on the mantle!