Leading Up to Christmas

I realize I'm a little behind, what with it already being AFTER Christmas, but there are too many pictures and not enough time. We had fun getting ready for the holidays this season. Sabine helped pick a tree out,

and was particularly curious about why we were bringing it into the house. Once we got the lights on, she was entranced. She's always been a big fan of lights. "LAAAH!"

The next day we actually got to decorating the tree, and Sabine very helpfully pointed out all the balls and bears. Conveniently, they both are called "ba-ba."

Sabine's newest sign is for "baby," so she's very keen on pointing out babies wherever we go. Fortunately, we got several Christmas cards with babies on them (and dogs, which are another favorite!), so we have spent a lot of time at the mantle examining the cards, and occasionally kissing them. Once we got the rest of the tree decorated, we brought out our angel tree-topper. Sabine's face lit up, and she kept signing "BABY!" and reaching for the angel. So we brought her down, and all Sabine wanted to do was kiss her. It was ridiculously sweet.

Sabine got a darling new party dress from Nana Lin, but since mom and dad are party poopers and don't let her stay up much past 7:30 PM, we had to have our own little holiday party in the middle of the day. Sabine didn't mind the dress, but was not so keen on the shoes. She prefers to go barefoot.

We had a few outdoor lights hung up this year, and Sabine always likes to watch us turn them on each night. She has enjoyed looking in the store windows when we go shopping, especially since some of them feature trains at this time of year, and she liked watching the ice skaters at the local outdoor rink. We didn't quite have the courage to try pulling her around in a little sled on the ice this year...maybe next year.

Sabine also had her first taste of fondue, and while she still prefers string cheese to all other kinds of cheese, she now clearly says "Eeeese" for both "cheese" and "keys." (We've been practicing her "s" sounds in the bathtub.)

All in all, it has been a great December. Both she and the cats are going to miss the tree and decorations when we have to take them down. Fortunately, there are some Christmas cookies to help see us through that hard time. (She's a big fan of cookies, it turns out.)

A final look at the tree on Christmas Eve. I love how you can see the tree lights reflecting in her eyes. Little did she know what was in store!