"Christmas in Colorado" video

Colorado in motion...

Yay Transportation!

Lucky for kids, they have fun during all parts of the traveling experience.

Yay, Pop's truck!  Maya waves...

...Dexter waves.

Yay airport!

Yay bus to parking lot!  

Fun At Home - Colorado Style

It is easy to find fun things to do at the Higgins household.

Cousin playtime with Nate.

Lap babies.  Dexter is a bit confused by the competition.

Wishbone time.

 A wish for Maya!

Down by the pond.

Maya takes a spin on the sled.

Happy girl.

Another happy girl.

Unconventional hockey.

21st century dad.

Dexter and Maya ice sledding together.  Good idea?

Not so much.  Dexter was not that thrilled about being held down by his sis.

Pop skates off with Maya on a sled adventure.

The adventure continues.

Back from the wild.

Boxing Day

More fun times in wintery Colorado...

 Nate and Viv.

Cuzzies.

Ice skating at Evergreen lake with our dear friends, Maria and her daughter, Isabelle.

Maya ice skating for the first time.

Pop helps Maya get going.  Fun!!

Maya enjoys some post-skating hot tubbing with with Coco and Nate.

Dexter at 15 Months

On Christmas Day, Dex became 15 months old.  Time is flying by.

Here are the latest stats:

Weight: 27lbs 6oz (around 83rd percentile)

Height: 32 inches (around 72nd percentile)

Teeth: 5 (3 upper, 2 lower)

Dexter is now a very efficient walker.  He started walking a few days after his first birthday and has been enjoying this uniquely human trait thoroughly.  He continues to love exploring any new space.  He likes to help out with chores and will push a broom or try to put clothing in the washing machine.  He like toys with buttons especially, but he will play with just about anything… especially if it's something that you don't want him to.  He knows what he should and shouldn't do and will make valiant efforts to get one last opportunity to do any forbidden activity before we stop him.  He'll even shake his own head and swing his finger as a no to himself.  He thinks many things are funny and will laugh at strange noises, silly faces, tickles, and a host of other random stimuli.

Dexter is still very attached to the immediate family.  If one of us is not in sight, he tends to get upset very quickly.  He rarely agrees to let others hold him, but he will play with people on his own terms.  We're hoping this phase will dissipate soon.  We've introduced a babysitter once a week and he enjoys her, but he doesn't enjoy the part where Momma leaves.  Dexter still loves his sister and building quite a bond.

Dexter is now taking a single nap at around 1pm everyday.  It's been a pretty easy transition, but it's been hard for Momma to get back in the groove of the long mornings.  He's still a pretty reliable sleeper at night.  He is also completely weaned from breastfeeding which is exciting milestone of independence.  In fact, Mom and Dad spent a night a way to go to a good friend's 40th birthday in October which was both slightly traumatic and very exciting.  These last months have been a bit tricky because of a series of illnesses.  Maya got Strep Throat twice and our entire family got a wonderful case of the stomach flu.  We are hoping to get more social as in the coming months.  

Dexter officially loves just about every food on Earth.  He sometimes will eat adult portions if we let him.  Bananas, chicken, broccoli, salami, cheese, waffles, sausage, and french fries are some of the current favorites.  He likes feeding himself and has some success using a spoon without help.  Most of the time he likes to pick up small pieces of food off his own plate.  

He's communicating more and more, but he's not exactly a wordsmith at this point.  He's still using his signs for basic things like 'more,' 'all done,' 'kitty,' etc.  He does a lot of pointing and grunting, but he's not great with the actual words.  He can almost say 'banana.'  Sometimes we think he's saying 'mama' or 'dada'.  He likes to wave and clap and give kisses.  We are able to communicate, but we are looking forward to him deciding that words are useful.  

He is liking books more and prefers books with actions that go with them; he will imitate the actions.  He likes to stack things and put things into the proper places.  He likes to push cars around and play with balls and balloons.  He loves to go outside and be in the stroller or carrier, but his favorite is when he is able to walk.  Those types of walks are not very relaxing for Mom and Dad, but he loves it. Music is a huge favorite.  He dances anytime he hears a tune and loves beating drums or playing the piano.  

He's growing fast.  We can't believe that he isn't really a baby anymore.  He's a wonderful, relaxed little explorer.

Loot Etc.

After opening presents, Maya decided it was time to play!!!

 Maya and her magical chemistry set.

Maya's major request from Santa was a bow and arrow.   He hid the gift away from the tree which led to tears of disappointment until a note from Santa revealed where the bow and arrow was hidden.  That Santa sure is sneaky.

Archery time.

Pop channels his summer camp archery skills to teach Maya how to shoot an arrow.  Ready...

...aim...

...release!

 

After a few tries, Maya shows off where she's hit the target.

She caps off her outdoor adventures with a bit of sledding.  Christmas is officially a success!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was a thrill as Santa found his way to Evergreen and there were presents for all.

Pre-dawn Christmas tree.

At around 8am, it was time for stockings.

Christmas kiddies.

Maya and Viv.

Moving on to presents.

Maya helps her little bro open his gifts.

Pop marvels at the very large juice maker he just received.

Dexter attempts to open his candy cane wearing adorable pjs from Laura/Chris/Nick/Teddy.

Christmas chaos.

Viv and Coco.

Us.

White Christmas

This year, we decided to break tradition of staying home for the holidays.  We decided to head for  Colorado in search of a white Christmas.  After a long day of travel involving severe delays which got us into Colorado close to midnight, we enjoyed waking up to a winter wonderland the next morning.

 Looking out the window toward the pond and seeing Maya and Pop in the distance.

Another treat was seeing Coco, Nate, and Vivian who are also here for the holiday.  Little Viv is now almost 7 months old.

Maya was very excited to see them.

Dexter discovers Momma's old rocking horse.

Dexter gets his first lesson on what 'cold' is from Dad.

Maya was thrilled to see SNOW!!

Snowball fight!

Wintery fun. 

We had a nice evening that concluded with Pop reading "The Night Before Christmas" and putting out some treats for Santa.