This girl

At 16 months old, Lyra is a little bundle of energy and spunk. This curious, excitable stage is quite a lot of fun. When Lisa was this age, I really let communication barriers (ie. screaming every time she isn't getting what she wants) get in the way of having fun. This time I am trying to have more patience and realize that sometimes babies are just going to yell and scream. We have made more of an effort to use a few signs with Lyra with hope that it will alleviate frustrations that accompany limited language skills. She is imitating more of everything she sees every day. Her recent favorite is to be an elephant, waving her arm next to her face while letting out a high-pitched squeal. She loves being read to and is very creative in her play-time. Her face often lights up when she first sees Lisa in the morning and it is heart-warming to think a special sister bond is being formed. She really loves her sister, despite the teasing that already takes place. She definitely shares Lisa's love of music and it is fun to watch them dance together.

Getting creative with those rings. She does sometimes put them on the stand.

EARTHQUAKE!!! That is how Lisa deals with Lyra's attacks on her dollhouse. 

Favorite silly face. Tuck in the upper lip and open your mouth as wide as you can.

Mom, you are seriously interrupting my downward-dog. 

Hey, what's for dinner?

Christmas Vacation 2010

Nothing like being unable to locate your camera as you are walking out the door to drive to California for Christmas vacation. We took a few pictures the night before we left, but we did not take any while in California this year. Sometimes that can be a good thing because then I just enjoy the moment instead of taking tons of pictures. Grandpa Lee did email a few pictures he had taken at the cabin, so I'm glad to have those.
Although this trip was a little shorter than usual, we enjoyed the time spent visiting with family and friends. We were able to stay with Karl for the few nights we were there and had a great time hanging out.  I was very grateful for the special arrangements Katie helped to make so that Grandpa Joe could be with us at the Fieth family Christmas Eve dinner.  He has been staying at a care home since his recent decline in health and is not able to get out very much. On Christmas morning we gathered at the Terry home to share gifts and eat breakfast together. Then we met up with the Fieth family at Grammie's to visit with her for an hour so that she wouldn't have to travel to Yuba City. It was great to see her smiling and I think she was glad we came. When we got back to Yuba City, we had our usual time at the Fieth house opening gifts and eating great food. We made sure to head over to the Terry's before too late so that we could say hi to Grandpa, Lonna and Afton. I've always considered it a luxury that our families live in the same area so that we can see everyone each year, even if it does mean a bit of scrambling around on Christmas day. After spending 4 days in Yuba City we drove up to Truckee to spend one night with the Terry Family before driving back to Twin Falls. Lisa was excited to see so much snow, much more than we have in Twin. We all went out and played in the snow and Gramommy even went sledding down the road with Lisa. It was super fun to watch them play together. Lyra loved just sitting in the snow and tasting it's frozen goodness.
When we got back on the road to go home it was definitely nice to have a shorter drive going from Truckee to Twin Falls.

Lisa's gift to daddy-to count the days until vacation

Lyra loved her book from Lisa

Lisa has been watching all the musicals we can get our hands on that we think she'll enjoy and one of her favorites  is The Wizard of Oz. She saw a Dorothy doll at Barnes and Noble she wanted badly enough that I decided to make one. Not too shabby for my first doll making attempt. Now if she only wanted to play with it. :)

Gramommy receives critical instructions from Ryan on steering the sled down the hill. I crash into the snow bank on the side of the road every time!