Prior to leaving for Utah, we went to the local Santa breakfast in the firehouse to get pictures taken with Santa. This year Leah was just not interested. Everyone has one of these pictures in their scrapbooks, right?
Most of this month was spent in Utah where we visited Leah's great grandparents and grandparents. She is becoming quite the traveler with more air miles and destinations than I had in my first 20-some-odd years. She does best when she has her own seat like she miraculously ended up with on an overbooked Southwest flight to Denver on our way to Utah. Fortunately now, she will play with the iPad on the plane to keep her busy.
Most of this month was spent in Utah where we visited Leah's great grandparents and grandparents. She is becoming quite the traveler with more air miles and destinations than I had in my first 20-some-odd years. She does best when she has her own seat like she miraculously ended up with on an overbooked Southwest flight to Denver on our way to Utah. Fortunately now, she will play with the iPad on the plane to keep her busy.
This month communication-wise she picked up a few new words that she uses regularly - ready, done, tada, night, potty, and clean (keen).The biggest change is that she's constantly trying new words. She hasn't necessarily added them to her regular vocabulary, but you can ask her, "Leah, say ____." and she will usually take a stab at whatever it is.
While we were out in Utah, Leah warmed up rather quickly to her surroundings. She adjusted to Mountain Standard Time within two days of arriving including nap times. We started our time in Utah in Provo with Leah's great grandparents. Leah enjoyed playing with all of the toys that Grandma R keeps around the house. She also figured out how to work Mommy's phone and iPad, so there is now a huge pink "kid-friendly" cover on the iPad.
 |
| Leah's first text message |
She also enjoyed giving kisses to Grandma and Grandpa R each night before bedtime. Grandma R was particularly impressed with Leah's ability to remember where things were in the house and how good she was at using a spoon for her age.
After almost a week in Provo, we headed north to Grandma and Grandpa S's house. The first night there we had a power outage for a few hours, so Leah spent that time lighting and blowing out candles in the dark with her aunts. She loves candles and her aunts, so it made the time go by quickly.
The next day was Sunday and Leah really enjoyed watching her Grandma play the organ in church. She had some difficulty with the 11-2 church schedule and had to go home to nap midway through church 2/3 weeks that we were there.
We had a ton of fun decorating (and eating) sugar cookies and making graham cracker gingerbread houses. Leah really enjoyed getting her fill of sugary treats at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
One activity that Leah really enjoyed was being swung in a blanket. Unfortunately for her Aunt and Grandparents, we found that arms became tired more quickly then Leah. Luckily, there were lots of blanket swingers in the house to provide back up.
Leah's personality really continued to blossom while we were out in Utah. We've found that she loves to have an audience and will be a real ham if she notices that it gets the attention (and laughs) of those around her. In this video, Doug's family had shown Leah what it looked like when you cross you eyes and she thought it was the most interesting thing. She ran around the room and would grab your face with both hands, put her forehead up to your forehead and stare directly into your eyes expectantly waiting for you to cross your eyes.
Leah this year got a bunch of toys and books. She's really into drawing and books with flaps that she can interact with. She will sit down and listen to several books at a time as long as she can interact with them.
One of Daddy's presents this year was an HO scale train to go around the Christmas tree. This is just like the kind that he liked to play with his dad when he was a little boy. Leah loved playing with the trains as well. Daddy was able to teach her to pump her first and say, "Choo! Choo!"
After opening all of the presents and eating a yummy breakfast that Aunt Morgan made, we went outside to play in the snow. Leah had a great time and even took a snow ball or two to the face. She loved swinging on the swing in the backyard and riding on the sled. She even got to go down the driveway with mommy a few times.
The presents were starting to pile under the tree prior to Christmas and Leah, not understanding that there were fun toys inside, had fun stacking and organizing the presents under the tree.
Christmas morning was great. After not having any snow for quite some time in Utah, they received a major dumping of the white stuff on Christmas morning!
One of Daddy's presents this year was an HO scale train to go around the Christmas tree. This is just like the kind that he liked to play with his dad when he was a little boy. Leah loved playing with the trains as well. Daddy was able to teach her to pump her first and say, "Choo! Choo!"
After opening all of the presents and eating a yummy breakfast that Aunt Morgan made, we went outside to play in the snow. Leah had a great time and even took a snow ball or two to the face. She loved swinging on the swing in the backyard and riding on the sled. She even got to go down the driveway with mommy a few times.
