a fun date

last night, grimes took susannah and I out on a date. we got some burgers and then went on a "tour of lights." there were an alarming number of tacky displays to gawk at. a extra fun part of the evening was that susannah learned a new word, wow. she also learned that she could vary the intensity of the wow. so, when the display was really spectacular she could say wooooooooooow. the other words she has accumulated over the last couple of months:

1. dada and mama (of course)
2: chuice (juice)
3. tee (tree)
4. ba (ball)
5. shoe
6. fish (grimes sees it as a good sign that fish made the top ten)
7. ut-oooooooo (sammy taught her this sound but forgot to teach her the meaning)
8. wow

Christmas Dress

I tried to get a shot of susannah facing forward in her christmas dress, but this was the best I could do. each morning when she comes downstairs we have a tree lighting. I cannot get enough of the awe and wonder this inspires day after day.

our beautiful tree

Grimes and I just finished decorating our Christmas tree. rather than hanging our stockings by the chimney with care and having visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads - I was drafting in my head an essay that I will most likely end up writing - it's titled "why families with toddlers don't get christmas trees". I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow when susannah wakes up to discover a "tee" in her house.

Back off Boys

Here is a rather gross picture of susannah eating spaghetti. we have a collection of such pictures that we plan to use to ward off potential boyfriends (until she is of an appropriate age, of course). she is really losing that baby look - I hate that!

Christmas Tree

Today we ventured into the country of southwest virginia with some dear friends in search of the perfect Christmas tree. It was a cold winter day (finally!) and susannah got to wear her snowsuit for the first time.

Riding the hay wagon out into hills.

looking for that perfect tree.

measuring in at 2 ft 6 inches.