December

Yes, we are well aware that we haven't blogged as extensively as the season warrants. But, like many of you, we had many other activities going on this season so blogging fell by the wayside. So, here is one big post with all the Christmas activities (and a few other pictures mixed in).

We went to the Holidazzle Parade in mid-December. This is an annual parade in downtown Minneapolis. All the floats are fairy tale based (Pinoccio, Peter Pan, etc.) and lit by Christmas lights (disclaimer that this is not my photo, but I needed a visual to help the explanation).

We bundled up and set out to find a good viewing spot:

Dylan couldn't actually see. But, he never complained once. Reagan sat nicely (a pleasant surprise). After every float passed out of view, she would shout "another one" and eagerly await for the next float.

Later in the month, Lindsay and Nana took Reagan and Dylan down to "A Day in the Life of an Elf" and met Sophia and her mom, Melissa. This is an annual Christmas display on the fifth floor of what used to be Dayton's (then Marshall Fields, and now Macy's). Macy's is not as dedicated to this display as Dayton's or even Marshall Fields and the display was an encore presentation of 2008's display. In other words, they were too cheap to re-do it. Nonetheless, Reagan didn't remember it from last year so she certainly enjoyed herself.

Dylan started sitting up too. And he got a tooth, but that is hard to photograph.

We got some practice sledding prior to the big Christmas snow storm.

Lindsay and Reagan made Christmas cookies one day. Kelly came over to help too.

Dylan has always been interested in Reagan. He watches her wherever she goes. Now, Reagan is starting to take a liking to him as well. As Lindsay posted earlier, she even wants to hug him or hold him more often. Here is one of those moments:

Christmas Eve: The kids made quite a haul. We have some very, very, very generous grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends...The McCarthy family is certainly blessed.

It was exhausting though

Santa brought a doll for Reagan. She loves that the doll has its own car-seat. The doll (sometimes called Sophie) is a regular companion on car rides now.

A Christmas Hug!!

We did get quite a bit of snow on the 24th, 25th and even 26th of December. Luckily the temperature was conducive to outdoor play (30 degrees!!). I built Reagan a snow fort and Dylan even came out to join us for a few minutes.

We built a snow man.

When you are only 30-some inches tall, it is easy to get stuck in the snow:

We made snow angels

Happy 2010

Food

Here are Dylan's thoughts on baby food:

"BLAAAHHHH!"

Those are his words, not mine. Specifically apples and oatmeal tonight, but I think the same applies to peas as well. Imagine the food coming back out as he says it too.

I don't think he likes it . . .

Where's Dylan?

Dylan was playing on his blanket while John and I were nearby in the kitchen. When we turned around, we didn't know where Dylan could have gone!

There he is!

We found him under the Christmas tree!

Dylan's starting to push backwards and is trying with all his might to get his legs under him. Crawling isn't too far off I'm afraid . . .

FINALLY!

It's taken 5.5 months, but we finally have a picture of Reagan with Dylan! And I'm so happy that it's a cute one!

Tame that Mane!!!

Before:

During:

After:

Lunch With Santa

We went to a Santa lunch event with one of Reagan's friends from gymnastics. It was put together really well and they had lots of games and activities for the kids in addition to lunch.

Reagan loved getting her face painted. She got her hand and cheek painted and still wanted more!

After lunch, Reagan waited patiently to see Santa. She kept wanting to walk up to the front to see him and watched the other kids tell Santa what they would like for Christmas. I thought it was going to go well since she was so excited, but the moment it was our turn, here's what happened:

So I got a good shot of John and Dylan with Santa. John asked for a motorcycle.

Reagan and her friend, Emmie with Rudolph.

First Foods

In an effort to get Dylan to sleep for longer stretches at night, we decided to introduce oatmeal into his diet. At first he wasn't too sure what to think, but I think he ended up liking it!

Of course big sister wanted to help!

Not a fan.

Hmm, maybe that wasn't too bad.

5 Months

At 5 months old, Dylan is a very happy boy as you can see from the pictures! Here is some of the fun stuff we are doing now:

• As you can see in the above picture, D is starting to "swim" on the floor ~ A precursor to crawling. I hope it's not as early as his sister, but it's not looking like he will stay still for long.
• Dylan loves his feet. When we change his diaper, he loves to play with his toes. He spends many hours in the house sock and pants-less.
• He's not sitting up yet, but can balance a little bit between our legs.
• Dylan has a great belly laugh and it's really fun to get him going.
• Still not sleeping through the night. Dylan wakes up about every 3 hours, usually screaming so we don't really have the option of letting him cry it out.
• He is getting more interactive with his toys which is fun.

I can't think of anything else right now, but he really has been a great addition to our family. We are so glad he is a happy, healthy little boy!