Friday, December 28, 2007

Christmas presents and feasting

Christmas with CJ was wonderful, as joyous as the holiday is supposed to be.



The presentfest began on Christmas Eve, with a visit from NaiNai and YeYe. CJ liked bringing everyone their gifts.



The best gift was a little tea set for CJ. Here she is serving tea for the ladies:



Christmas morning, there were more gifts. CJ especially liked the book about you-know-who.



Later in the day, we visited Jay, Grace, Aunt Susan and Uncle Frank. CJ enjoyed Grace's new kitchen set.



The adult's liked Jay's new racetrack.



Jay was happy jamming on his new guitar.



Earlier in the week, the whole family went to a lovely dinner at Aunt Susan's and Uncle Frank's country club. It was nice to have everyone all dressed up for family photos.







The gingerbread man, unfortunately, may not have had such a nice time.



One last shot that I thought I'd sneak in -- Meg and CJ had a surprise party for me at the beginning of the month featuring many of my oldest and bestest friends. A special thanks to all involved in that special event.



Happy holidays all!

No piggies!



Christmas photos to come next.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Children can be very disarming

And CJ? Moreso, of course.



CJ and Daddy are healthy, but Mommy of course took care of everyone so she needs some extra catch-up work on her sleep so she can get better too. Here we are this morning, catching up on work.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Out sick

This week, we have been sick. First Mommy, then CJ, then Daddy. CJ hasn't been sleeping at all, so Mommy and Daddy take turns catnapping and watching CJ as their fevers burn.

CJ's been a trooper for the most part. It's her first time being sick since she joined us. It helps that the tylenol is super sweetened and tastes much better than that fake cherry drek we had as kids.

Because we've been sick, we're way behind on Christmas cards (not to mention buying a Christmas tree!), so look for your card in the mail before New Years.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Another "almost christmas card" shot



Maybe I'm biased, but I do think she's quite photogenic.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

The holiday season begins!

Here's a cute shot of CJ, from one of several photo shoots for this year's Christmas Card:



For all those interested, I think I took the winning shot today, but don't be too surprised if you find this one in your mailbox.

The Sunday after my birthday, we visited with the Dailey's (of Dailey Update fame. CJ got everyone doing the 'remote-control conference-call' game. You might remember Father's Day?





You could say she really knows how to throw a good party line!

-- Dan

Birthday season

The end of November is officially birthday season: CJ's birthday and Daddy's birthday bracket Thanksgiving.

For CJ's birthday, we hosted our family and Dan made them Peking Duck. There was some good story reading to be found in the living room:





And then, somewhere between stories and cake, the duck was served. Apparently, no one bothered to take a photo, and the duck didn't really last too long. And then the birthday cupcakes were a big hit:





On CJ's actual birthday, we gave her a nice doll of an ethnic group from her home province (something you can only find shopping in New York).



On Thanksgiving CJ watched her first football game:



She then did her best Joe Namath imitation, much to Bogey's delight:



And then goofed around with her cousins.



Once again, we were too busy eating to take pictures of the food. The next day, we all met for breakfast, and then took Daddy on a surprise jaunt around Van Cortland Park. Here we are at the diner:



CJ wasn't too enthused about Talk Like a Pirate Day this year, but next year might be a different story.

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, we went out for breakfast, where a somewhat furious game of "Telephone" broke out.





And then, back to the birthday celebrations, here's CJ helping Daddy blow out his birthday canoli.





I think she liked it. She's definitely getting a leg up on the whole eating scene!

Catching up: Halloween up through the birthday season

CJ thoroughly enjoyed herself on Halloween. Here's CJ in her ghost costume, taking a break with cousin Grace from preparations before going out trick or treating:



Meg reported that CJ thought trick or treating actually meant trading pieces of candy; here she is enjoying the back and forth:



And, after the craziness, here she is sucking down a nice cold one in front of Uncle Frank and Aunt Susan's house:



This fall was unusually warm and the playground season lasted through November. CJ was happy about that:



In the beginning of November, CJ and Mommy visited Cousin Susan and Great Aunt Jane in New Jersey.



The Halloween decorations were still out.



We also went for a number of nice long walks in Van Cortland Park this fall, taking advantage of the global-warming-extended foliage.









CJ loved the fall foliage. We still have a number of leaves around the house that we collected on our walks.