Mister Man Upright

The little man went from commando crawl to all fours to pulling himself upright in a span of about two weeks. Here he is digging the view from on high.

Christmas morning 2009

What a great Christmas we had this year! Jocelyn is just starting to really figure out what is going on with all the decorations and gifts, and Ian loves the attention that comes with seeing family and all the new stuff to examine and explore.

Since we are living in a rental right now with limited space, we really tried to cut back on the number of toys the kids received this year, and instead focused mainly on musical instruments and books. Jocelyn loved the mini-piano we bought for her - she had been seeking it out every time we visited Magic Beans the past few months!

The little man liked it as well, though less as a musical instrument than as a tunnel.

He received his own music-making activity table and has been playing with it nonstop...

...and he is also a big fan of the marching band set that our friends Firas and Thom bought for Jocelyn, much to her chagrin.

They both loved the books they received, and the attention that comes along with having them read to them!

Ian couldn't get enough of having all kinds of new things to check out - it gives him the opportunity to show off his newfound crawling and standing skills!

Christmas Eve - Jocelyn is 2!

On the 24th, we had family over to celebrate not only Christmas Eve, but also Jocelyn's second birthday. Although we plan to keep having a "half-birthday" party for her each June so the two occasions don't get jumbled together, we had cake and just a few presents to commemorate the anniversary of our best Christmas gift ever!

Jocelyn loved the party favors we picked for her, which included some Disney Princess balloons for our little princess. She never let the balloons out of her sight all night.

The little man was less than enthused that Jocelyn wouldn't let him hold the balloons too...

...but once guests arrived and he started getting some solid lap time, he was much more excited to show off the Christmas outfit Momma picked for him.

Jocelyn was much more into the singing of "Happy Birthday" this time around, although the anticipation of digging into her princess-themed cake may have had something to do with that.

She had two slices and asked for a third before we had to cut her off! It's tough to go to sleep to wait for Santa to arrive when you're dealing with a sugar rush.

She loved her birthday gifts, which included a tea set from Momma and Poppa...

...and one of her new favorite books, "The Napping House," which she received from Aunt Cathy and has asked to read just about every night since!