Splashing is SO fun!

During tonight's bath, Fiona discovered the immense and irrefutable joy of splashing. And how! She was going wild in the tub, and enjoying every moment of it. We hope you enjoy this video! She is a nut. At one point, her left arm is winging around so fast that it looks as though I sped up the video. Trust me. I didn't.

Those perfect Pats!

Congratulations to the New England Patriots on their 16-0 season, the first-ever in the NFL. On route to this astonishing accomplishment, the team broke too many records to list here. What a season! I can rest easy knowing that for the five weeks I participated in my football pool (before pitifully giving up), I picked the Pats every week.

The playoffs are going to be wicked pissah!

Rory on Christmas morning

Sleepy and sweet. Turn up the volume!

Merry Christmas 2007!

Wishing you love and happiness for this holiday season and beyond! We had a lovely morning. We woke up at around 7:00 (late by Christmas morning standards, we know), and after reading "Clifford's Christmas," we headed downstairs.

Rory knew exactly what was going on. She knew what day it was, knew who had visited the house that night, and knew what he had left. I shot a video of her as I woke her up, and it is super sweet (if incoherent). Fiona enjoyed the morning, also, but mostly enjoyed crawling through the shredded wrapping paper.

Many thanks for everyone who sent gifts. Thank you notes are coming! =)

That night, we went to our dear cousins' house. Frank, Lee, and Kate Carrigan live in Arlington, and we spent a lovely evening with them and some of their friends. The food was superb (as always), and Lee's holiday decorations were astonishing. I think she owns 250 Santa figurines (Rory was in love). She also has a bunch of decorated trees (I would guess 8), each decorated in a specific theme. Lee is a massive over-achiever, and she is darn good at it. The house was simply gorgeous!

Many thanks to Nana (Craig's mom) for the world's cutest sweaters!!

Pictures will be posted soon on http://homepage.mac.com/lauramuck.

Pre-Christmas run-around!

On this, the boring "just before Christmas" morning, we loaded the girlies into the van and drove to a fantastic local playground, Clemyjontri Park (click the link, and look at the aerial shot of the place!). Rory ran wild for almost two hours, and Fiona spent time being wheeled around in search of her sister. Craig and I basically tag-teamed the girls, one adult sticking to one child like glue - mainly because of the size of the park and the sheer number of children running about. It's a zoo - a fun zoo, but a zoo nevertheless.

The girls were in hog heaven. Rory climbed, slid, hung, ran, tumbled, swung, and more. The possibilities there are endless. Fiona had a ball swinging (see picture), and loved standing up in her stroller. It was a wonderful way to spend the morning, and the day was lovely - 45 degrees and sunny, with a nice blue sky. We had a blast!

These steps are made for climbing!

And that's just what she did! Today, Fiona climbed up not one, but TWO steps. Time to bring out the baby gate and put a rude halt to her development. Sad, but true (though we will try to delay the gate's use a bit, as it is a huge impediment to us, as well).

Fiona was stalking a toy on the third step, and looked very pleased with herself when she got up there. Until she tumbled down, that is, only to be caught by her dad. Good thing, too, with the wood floor and all. Kidding, people, we have a rug down there, just for such emergencies.

This afternoon I suggested to Rory that she should pee in the toilet on Christmas Day. I'll be sure to report back if that happens. Not in gory detail; just a progress report (and certainly NO photos!).

Happy holidays!!

Ho Ho Ho for Fiona

Two of our kindest relatives, Anthony and Pamela Campagna, just sent Miss Fiona a wonderful stack of books for Christmas. They did the same thing for Rory's first Christmas, and I must say that it is a lovely tradition. They sent such fabulous books as "Make Way for Ducklings," "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," and "Doggies." We are so touched by their generosity, and we know Fi will adore them. Thank you!!

(Yes, I stole the accompanying image from Wikipedia. You didn't think I was going to scan in the book's cover, did you?)

Fiona is 10 months old!

Only two more months until the big numero uno! Fiona is ten months old, and is all over the place. She is a very fast crawler, pulls herself up on things lickety-split fast, and is a drooling machine. She claps, she babbles incessantly, and she recently attended her first two holiday parties. Fiona is now eating such delicious morsels as cheese bits, cheerios, freeze-dried fruit, and the like. It is time for her mom to start thinking about what other non-baby food items she can eat, so by the time she is a year she is eating just like her big sister. Well, maybe no spaghetti and red sauce just YET!

Fiona caught a plague right around the ten-month date, and off to the doctor we went. She has a mild ear infection and a case of bronchilitis (baby bronchitis), so we now have a nebulizer at home (though we have only used it twice - she is getting well on her own). While at the doctor, she was weighed and clocked in at 26 pounds! She is sturdy, to say the least. At my company holiday party, she spent most of the time with her legs exposed so people could squeeze her juicy thighs. There is no shame, though I would like to state that she didn't protest once. She must be used to it (ya think?).

Mullet-a-licious

Me in a bright red mullet. Maybe not the prettiest sight, but certainly it has a high amusement factor!

I went to the Washington Capitals hockey game last night (hence the jersey), and it was "mullet night." They gave these horrifying things to the first 5,000 people to enter the coliseum, and since the Caps don't draw well these days, that pretty much meant anyone stepping foot inside the building got one.

No, I didn't wear it all night. I donned it during the second intermission so my "hockey husband," Mark, could photograph me in all my glory/shame. We sent it to Craig (actual husband), and when I got home, he confessed that he had tried to hack into my blog and post it!! I obviously foiled him, because he couldn't crack the password. Bwa ha ha ha! And then I decided to post it anyway, because it is so frightening. =>

Christmas stockings by Nancy Gaden

My good friend, Julie Gaden Lechner, has two truly amazing parents - Joel and Nancy Gaden. They are lovely, friendly, fun, funny people, and Nancy is a master knitter. She has made the most gorgeous Christmas stockings for Craig, me, and the girls, and I broke them out last night to much fanfare from Rory.

She immediately dropped to the ground and began pulling her stocking (and Fiona's) onto her legs. I guess they DO look like giant socks, don't they?? Wheeeeeee!

Rory loves spaghetti!

And it shows! This is what she looks like pretty much every time she eats red sauce. As our good friend, Harlen, said when he saw this picture: "Is the fork there just for show?" Uh, yeah, I think so. Thank heavens for baby wipes, which cut through the red like magic. =)

Sprouting another tooth!

Fiona's second baby tooth has sprouted out - the bottom right front one. It is barely peeking through at this point, but she was super fussy for a few days last week (and I swear her cheek on that side was reddish), and POP, here it is!

She is crawling like a madwoman now. I will plop her in the living room while I run into the kitchen to get something done. I can hear the sweet little fat hands slapping all the way in, as she stalks me. Then her sweet face peeks around the corner. It is adorable.

Last night, while on the phone with my grandmother (Del, who turns 94 in January!), Fiona found time to pop a piece of dry cat food into her mouth. Nice. So she won't feed herself Cheerios, but cat food is high on the menu. What a nut!