It’s been frigid these past few days, with the high today barely in double digits. It’s hard to spend an entire day inside without feeling a little antsy and stir crazy, and we all like to get outside when possible. Nancy bundled you up and took you outside a bit today to swing. You enjoyed it, but you partook in a common game whereby you reach over and work to catch your feet and remove your shoes and socks. Sometimes this isn’t much of an issue, but with the weather so cold, this put an immediate end to the swinging. If only you’d keep your shoes on!

Today was your dad’s birthday. He watched you for a couple hours so that I could go ski. When I left you you’d just gone down for a nap, and I said a quick prayer that you’d sleep well for your dad and wake up in a happy mood. Apparently you only slept for about 20 minutes and woke up visibly tired and very cranky. Your dad held you for a bit and you fell asleep in his arms. He lay down on the couch and you slept on his chest for over an hour. He said it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon of his birthday.

There was live music in the lobby of the hotel this evening. We grabbed a couch and sat you down. You enjoyed walking in circles around the big coffee table, trying to get to our drinks which were in the very middle. You also showed off your dance moves! You really loved the music and kept bopping to the beat. You bend your knees a bit then straighten them, bend and straighten, bouncing up and down. I so wish I had it on video.

Yesterday your nanny, Rachel, proclaimed that you are essentially running (with the help of the walker)! Sometimes the walker quickly takes off, especially on our slate floors, and it’s amazing how you can move your little legs so fast to keep up with it. You’re going to be so hard to keep up with once you start walking (and running) independently.

I have been on a crazy, seemingly never-ending mission for shoes for you. Don’t get me wrong, you have many, many pairs of shoes. You have too small shoes and too big shoes, shoes that used to be mine, boots that your nana bought in London years ago, boots that your cousin used to wear that your aunt and I love too much to ever get rid of, and dozens of pairs of hand-me-downs from friends and family. But finding shoes that fit you now, and that stay on you, is virtually impossible. You have one (!) pair that will stay on. You have about five others that fit you but only stay on for a few minutes before you win the battle that you’re contstantly waging against your shoes and get them off. Now that you’re on your feet so much more, you’re quickly wearing through the one pair that fits you. I recently bought you an adorable pair of pink topsiders. You got them off within the first five minutes. Today I ran to my favorite kid’s clothing store and bought you a pair of boots and a pair of moccasins. I’m hoping the boots will keep you warm when we go out in the cold winter weather, and I’m hoping both of them will stay on your feet. This remains to be seen.

Cutest little topsiders

Rocking the topsiders

I am a big believer in the recycling and reuse of objects, and I also love the sentimental and personal connections that certain items have. Your dresser, which doubles for a changing table, used to be my Great Aunt Emma’s. I used it when I was little, and now it is yours. It’s so special that you get to use something every day that used to be hers.

You also have some clothes and toys that used to be mine, your dad’s, or even your uncles’. Before Christmas nana and papa brought over a plastic set of nesting cubes. Both Uncle Brett and Kyle played with them when they were little, and then Cousin Kyle enjoyed them. You also have lots of clothes that used to me mine, including the cutest little pair of Adidas shoes. I wonder if someday you’ll pass any of these things on to your children, and you’ll tell them of the joy they brought you.

In the last couple of weeks you’ve started pointing. A lot. You learned this from your nana. When the Christmas tree was up and decorated she’d point and talk to you about all of the different ornaments adorning it. You did this often. But now you point of your own accord, generally pointing and looking at the same thing, though not always. You point at things across the room or nearby, and you also like to point at the drawings in your books. Tonight dad was reading you ‘Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me’, and when he said the word ‘moon’ you pointed at it. You are amazing.

Your nanny, Nancy, was sick today so your dad stayed home with you. He always has so much fun when he gets to spend the day with you. You two ran lots of errands, including taking Guinness to the vet and going to the grocery store. He said you did great. We’ve started putting you in the seat in the front of the shopping buggie, and you love it. You intently watch everything going on around you, and each time your dad grabs something to put it in the basket, you turn around to watch as he deposits it. You look so big riding in the buggie like that!

Today the weather was really nice up here in Breckenridge, so we decided to take you for a little snowshoe. This was your second time going, but the first time was so long ago – back when you were just two weeks old – that it seems like another lifetime ago. At that time I held you swaddled closely to my front and you slept the whole time. Today you rode in a backpack on your dad’s back, and you wore the snowsuit we bought almost a year ago that we couldn’t imagine you ever fitting into. You fit into it perfectly. You happily rode along, taking in the snowy whiteness along the way. Your dad stumbled a couple of times, and once bumped into a tree causing it to snow down on you both, but throughout it all you were happy. It’s so fun to adventure into the outdoors with you, our little mountain baby.

Our friends, Liz and John, are staying here with us. Their two daughters love to play with you. They’re about 2 and 4 years old, so you can’t quite keep up with them, but you enjoyed watching them play and walking (via the walker) or crawling around after them.

Playing with Mia

Trying to keep up