Christmas Poses

Christmas 2007

On Christmas morning, Rory awoke early, donned her snowman slippers, and supervised the assemblage of the Christmas gathering. Rory's Aunt Chelle and Uncles Mike and Allen had arrived late on Christmas Eve, just barely beating Santa to Grandma and Opa's beach home. Santa delivered quite a bounty to Beaufort.

In fact, we didn't finish the unwrapping till the 26th!
Rory was a good little elf, helping to deliver and unwrap everyone's gifts.

She and her Daddy quite enjoyed the building blocks, constructing towers that Rory would promptly tear down. The bow on Daddy's head was a little confusing, however.
The attention of everyone (babies excluded) turned to Daddy as he examined the beer-making ingredients that (a very jolly) Santa delivered.
Uncle Allen is wearing a gift that Santa acquired through eBay, while Aunt Chelle tells Allen to hurry things up.
Aunt Jenny (and her newly dyed dreadlocks) shows Rory had to make the slinky slink.
Uncle Mike shows Rory how to make good use of the funny eyeballs that came with her building block set, which ...
made Rory giggle.
Later in the day, Rory went on a food strike (she had been sick) that only her Aunts could break through.
We stopped in Richmond on our way back to D.C. to see the Masterson clan, where Rory's great grandmother was staying for the holidays.

A Very Elmo Christmas

Our little girl loves Elmo! And this Christmas, she got her fill of "Elmo love" from her many gift-giving relatives.
The hit, however, has got to be the "Tickle Me Elmo, Extreme!" doll that she opened on Christmas day, as this video demonstrates.
It's almost as if Elmo has become a new member of our little family ...
... Elmo, Rory's (other) big brother (sorry Pippin). As a good big brother should, Elmo teaches Rory the finer arts of the body slam.

My Christmas Dress

"Hi, Rory here, with a blog posting of my own. I just wanted to thank everyone who helped make this holiday season (my second!) so wonderful, especially my two grandmothers! On Christmas Eve, I was wearing a special dress that my Nonna picked out for me, as I stood beneath a tall tree that my Grandma Judy decorated!...
...And I counted all of the gifts under the tree that had my name on them!
Yes, my parents are goof balls (nice vest Dad, that will date you when we are looking at these pictures together in 10 years)...
...but I love them and their silly ways. For example, they seem to get a kick out of the fact that I can...
...correctly identify my tummmy and...
...my head. That trick is kid's play compared to the deep thoughts that I am contemplating these days, including...
...will I ever see a white Christmas when both sets of grandparents live in temperate regions of the country? And...
...where do babies come from, anyway?
That's me and mommy sitting with the other kids in the center aisle at the children's mass.
I'll tell you a secret: this pose allows me to get ANYTHING I WANT from my Daddy, including...
...permission to take a quick nap before dinner. I mean, I need my beauty sleep if Santa and Rudolf are going to be dropping by the house tonight!"

The Week Before Christmas

For Tim's birthday, Sarah surprised him with a nice evening out on the town, having lined up a few of Rory's aunts and uncles to do some babysitting and to share in a pre-dinner toast. We had dinner at Le Refuge, a rustic French restaurant in Alexandria.
On Saturday, after a busy week at work and home, Tim and Sarah settled down to exchange their Christmas gifts and plan for the week ahead down in North Carolina with Tim's family.

Nonna's Birthday

This weekend, the Katz family gathered in NYC to celebrate Nonna's 60th birthday. Earlier in the week, Pops threw a wonderful party for Nonna at a jazz club, at which one of her favorite artists played a piece that Pops had commissioned in Nonna's honor. The family gathering gave Rory an opportunity for many "firsts" ... her first train ride (pictured here), her first glimpse of Rockefeller Center and New York decorated for the Holidays (pictured above), and her first introduction to Alex Mohsen (pictured farther below).
On Friday afternoon, we took a walk in Central Park (look at those two dapper gents pushing the stroller)...
...and ended up at an exhibit of live butterflies at the American Museaum of Natural History.
Nonna and Rory bonded over a shared fascination with these little creatures.
On Saturday, we celebrated Nonna's birthday at a wonderful restaurant, Per Se, which served an exquisite, nine-course, four-hour lunch experience.
While the adults lavished in their digestable dreamland, Rory spent the afternoon with a nanny who routinely babysits for celebrities!
Later that evening, we walked through the streets of New York to take in the people, the sounds, the lights, and the Christmas craziness...
...although we enjoyed quite a bit of craziness of our own back in the hotel, where Rory begged Nonna to sing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (her fav song)...
...and Aunt Sydney acted out scenes from Little Red Riding Hood and other performance pieces.
Rory is our little ball of energy, but Nonna kept up with her.
The Katz Ladies pose for their photo op. Compare it with this one from Austin in August when this group was last gathered together.
On Sunday, we met up with the Mohsen family. Simeen and Sarah were college roommates, and little Alex is nine months old.
Alex was very generous with his toys, which endeared him to Rory.
Rory smiles at Alex as he inches closer to Rory for a hug.

Going Ape

Early one morning, Rory awoke to find a great, green gorilla in her living room! The previous night, her Daddy had been out with some of his colleagues at Dave & Buster's, where they won this ape and made him their mascot. The monkey drove into work with Daddy, hung out in his office for the day, and now resides in the office of whomever brings in revenue on that particular day. How is that for motivation?

Toddler Wolf Pack

Rory had her friends Aidan and Dahlia over to her house on Sunday. And while their parents did boring adult stuff, these kids had a grand old time. Their craziness was captured on video.

The First Snow of 2007

Last Wednesday, the D.C. area received its first snow storm of this winter, and Rory found the whole affair pretty cool.
She explored the winter wonderland (our shared courtyard) in her (very fashionable) winter clothes.
The change in weather has required that Rory (and her parents) find new places to play. Fortunately, we have a local mall that runs an inside kiddie train. Picured here, Rory and her friends chase the train, ready to take a ride themselves.
Rory, Mommy, and some of their friends on the Mall Train.
Rory enjoyed another treat. In Daddy's new car, her baby seat was turned "face forward" giving Rory a whole new view!
Daddy took Mommy and Rory to the Botanical Gardens, where they snapped some cute pictures in front of Christmas tree.
Photo Op!
The main attraction at the Gardens was the massive train set.
We think we heard Rory saying "choo choo" by the end of our outing.
Rory continues to turn heads in her brown pea coat (good shopping Mommy!).