Scenes From Our Holiday: Part 2

We rounded out our holiday break and we are back home in Philly. We had a great time in Pittsburgh, but we are all so happy to back home to our big comfy bed.

Here is a rundown of our holiday - the sequel. We got in some good skyping time with Aunt Fanny.



We rang in the new year with some pots and pans.


Our New Year traditions include shrimp cocktail, stuffed mushrooms, salsa and counting down the last twelve seconds of the year with twelve grapes and twelve wishes. This year we also made a lasagna (which Leo LOVED). Sounds like we need some non-food traditions... Well, the banging pots and pans will stick around and I'd like to add in some board games to future years :)


We celebrated Christmas at Pops' house.


We put our shoes out for the Three Kings and Leo got a stuffed frog and a jumpstart on his college fund :)


Leo got some serious uncle love.



He was dressed up by both Abi and Pops.


He also took some major developmental steps while we were there.
- He moved from mostly scooting and a little crawling to more and more crawling.
- He can now stand up in just a few seconds and can move hand over hand to cruise a little. He also can bend down to pick things up he's dropped. He's getting smarter about testing the stability of things before standing up with their assistance and pushes his luck by leaning against a surface and freeing both hands to play with a toy.
- He began clapping.
- He taps his own mouth with the back of his hand to make an "ah-ah-ah-ah" sound.
- I *think* he's begun to sign. We've been doing some signing with him since he was a few months old and recently I think he's been signing "nurse/milk". Of course he signs it for nursing, for being tired, for more food and for general comfort. So who knows, but I think maybe...
- He's a lot more vocal and is really mimicking the sounds we make. It really sounds like he's saying words sometimes.
-He LOVES emptying things. Laundry baskets, suitcases, drawers, toy chests... You name it. It will keep him busy for a long time, but makes folding clothes pointless.

After all this celebrating, family time, and development we were pretty worn out. So finally, we packed up the car with our luggage, new presents, Talula, Uncle Jared, Leo, Daddy, and me and got on the road. Leo, Talula and Uncle Jared packed into the backseat and ate cheerios, napped, and held hands.


Leo volunteered to drive the last leg - which was very nice of him. I was a little nervous because he's kind of a speed demon (which surprised me since he can't reach the gas), but he did make record time.