Cuteness, aisle 5

Sweet dreams

Tonight, I said to Sylvia, "Come on, sweetie, let's go upstairs and get ready for bed." And she took my hand and led me to the stairs. Wow.

A few more by the child photographers

These are by Kateri or Sylvia. Maybe they could have a group show.

Fourth baby

Doesn't mind being used as an adorable magazine holder.

No caption necessary

Christmas Eve

Grandpa Tascio reads "The Gift of the Magi" to baby Mara. The kids and Pete get into their usual shenanigans. Isaiah uses the fireplace as the world's biggest hair dryer. And there's so much happening in that last photo, I can't even write a caption.

I give up! Just give Sylvia the iPhone!!

It was a long drive to Kansas. But we made it, and Sylvia made some photos (and ultra short videos) along the way.

What's all that white stuff?

First snow of the year.

ET, with crackers

Tending the sick

Paul was sick today, poor guy. Sylvia and I stayed out most of the day to let him rest. When we got back this evening, I tried giving Sylvia some chicken soup for supper, but after the first couple of bites she wrestled the spoon out of my hands and took off with it (spilling the soup, of course; and yes, I was holding her instead of making her sit in the high chair, so ... all my fault). As I was standing there feeling frustrated, I realized Sylvia was holding the spoon up high and heading straight toward Paul, who was sprawled under some blankets on the couch. 

She said some gibberish and gave him the spoon. After he dutifully licked the remaining drops of soup off of it, she gave me the spoon back with some very firm gibberish instructions. 

I pulled a noodle out of the soup with my fingers to see if she would eat it. Instead, she grabbed it and trotted back to Paul to give it to him. I gave her another one. Same thing (except that she dropped the second one on the floor). 

Then she agitated for her sippy cup. Together we filled it with water at the sink, and when I put her down, she hurried back over to Paul to give it to him. 

Lest you think we are raising a saint, after she handed her sippy cup to Paul, she grabbed HIS glass of water on the table next to him, which I'd been trying to keep her away from since the moment she saw it. She was clearly trying to trade ;) 

I told her it was time for bed and she should say good night to daddy. She kissed him on the elbow and we went upstairs for a bath and stories. 

Such a tender little heart. 

Teeny tiny street car tracks

You can just barely make out the track construction going on in the road behind us.

Hey, driver!

Christmas at Crown Center

Night out on the town

Liz meets friends and Sylvia and I explore downtown KC

Family picture from Thanksgiving

Decorating fun

Christmas tree goes up!

15 months old today

She laughs, she grins, she claps, she yells and talks and sings in her own language. She says "no." She says "sure." (Sounds like "suh.") She gives lots and lots of smoochy kisses, on knees, elbows, bellies, cats, inanimate objects. She wears any available piece of fabric as a scarf. She carefully backs up to and then sits down on the stairs or on our laps to read a book, to eat something, to try to put her socks on. When the car alarm goes off or when Paul starts up his electric toothbrush, she makes the sound, too, grinning. If you point a camera at her she says, "Cheeeeeeze!" She loves escalators and is absolutely fearless about them. She makes friends with everyone by giving them a charming, playful glance and smile. At the playground on a recent sunny day she would not let me help her climb the stairs. She fought mightily to be allowed to go down the slide by herself (she failed to convince me). She is a marvelous, wonderful little person, and we do love her so.

Having a ball!

She loves the ball aunt Marty made for her!

New uses for old spaces

We caught one!

Hunted down and captured. The tree, not the child.

Rudyard Kipling kick

Because that's what's on the bottom shelf. 

Carriage ride in a bookstore

We went to the magical Reading Reptile bookstore today. Sylvia spent TWENTY MINUTES playing in this thing, mostly opening and closing the door. Mental note: build one of these at home.

Jazz on the radio, drums in the living room

Finding pebbles

Union Station to see the trains

It's cold outside

So it's time to find indoor play areas.

Toddler communication

Last night around dinnertime, Sylvia toddled over to the cabinet like E.T. and swung open the door. Then she yelled sounds at me and pointed up into the cabinet. I started pulling stuff out for her. Crackers? No. Granola bar? No. Cereal? No. The yelling and pointing continued. Can of beans? No. Bag of croutons? Yes yes yes yes! 

She ate about five croutons before I cut her off. Poor kid. It's hard living with such dumb and mean parents. 

Take me with you, Dad!

So he did

Bernadette thinks ahead

Beamer

Cupcake for a cupcake

Lisa made this sweet cupcake hat for baby Rosalind, Amanda's daughter. Sylvia got to model it.

Thanksgiving pie mystery

When it came time for dessert, the apple pie was missing. We ate pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, and cookies, and then we searched and searched. We suspected Paul. We suspected all the kids, even Mara. Then, sometime after a supper of leftovers and cheesecake, Karl deduced that the pie must have fallen behind a piece of furniture in the flurry of getting a massive turkey dinner ready. And so it had. The day was saved! But by then no one had even a smidge of room left in their tummies for apple pie. Tomorrow, little pie. Tomorrow.

Leading the way

Post-turkey walk.

Family picture

Grandpa's got it handled

He watched all the kids at once while we cooked dinner. He said, with great compassion for them: "It's 5:30. That's the cranky hour. I'm cranky, too, but I've got a gin and tonic."

On a mission

Cinder-Sylvia

Cuddles and sneaky kisses