Christmas Eve 2009

We started out the morning assembling a Chocolate Bavarian Torte. This cake is one of Nana Diana's specialties, so we made one in her absence. We miss you, Nana Diana! The name & the look were intimidating but it actually only requires a few ingredients. However, the assembly is tedious and it was quite a chore with my little helper. Nana substitutes Hershey's kisses for the semisweet chocolate. Abby can unwrap and consume a chocolate kiss so fast it makes my head spin. She is keenly aware that once it's in her mouth, I've lost the battle. I was finally able to keep her out of the candy and finish the job when she became preoccupied with harvesting tiny bits of cake from the waxed paper that I had cooled the layers on.


Our cake misadventures made us late, but our next stop was breakfast at Dinee's house. (Abby has dubbed Aunt Diane as Dinee, usually "my Dinee.") We had a great time. Abby especially enjoyed playing with Sawyer and Zach. Sawyer, being the oldest cousin on this side, knew all about removing candy canes from the tree. Abby was the happy recipient. All three were actually content to pose for a few pictures, albeit with candy cane goo oozing out of their little mouths.

Brooke & Zach


Abby, Sawyer, & Zach


A Sticky Smooch from Zach


Dinee with her grandsons & great-niece


Clint with Zach & Sawyer


Late afternoon brought our family gift swap. Abby was thrilled to finally get to tear into the presents she'd been touching and talking about for several days.



The biggest smile came from a Barney CD. Abby wanted to listen to it right away. Jonathan explained that we would listen to it in the car on the way to our next party. Her immediate response was "I ready go bye-bye."


Noticing Abby's multitasking with our new phone & her new computer. She pretends (or believes?) that anything with a screen, including our alarm clock, is directly connected to the "Lodi Bear" (Yogi Bear) clips that we occasionally let her watch on YouTube.



Our final stop was the annual Christmas Eve Bash at Paw-Paw & Nana's house. Abby had a fabulous time. She even wore her ponytail cooperatively for quite some time until she felt it on her head during an impromptu tumbling demonstration. As you can see, this is apparently where I hit the wall with picture taking. I did not even capture a picture of the hosts/great-grandparents. The trend continued on Christmas Day as well. I guess I just get overwhelmed when there's a crowd.

Abby & Nene

Abby & Papa






Abby received lots of great gifts. A couple of highlights were Elmo slippers and a giant doll who will apparently be named "My Big Doll." Abby doesn't really understand the naming process - her only other name suggestion was "some milk". Miss Chatterbox has recently told me "I readnin' to my bid doll" and "I sit in he lap".


We were out way past bedtime on Christmas Eve but Abby did fine. She has really started to be more flexible with her schedule as long as we get back on track quickly after the fact. This is a real plus for special occasions.