Tis the Season

We had our first Christmas get-together for the season on Sunday at Aunt Roycelyn's.  I don't know if I look at it differently now that I have a kid, but it seemed much more calm this year.  It could just be because the kids are all getting older, but it was pretty laid back.  Ainsley got lots of attention and was really good.  She tore the wrapping paper a little bit, but lost interest after a few rips.  I'm glad there were plenty of little cousins to help her out!

Get that bow out of my face, Mom.

Ainsley and Grandma ready to go

On the move again.

Delaney:  "Here Ainsley, let me whack you in the head with this box!"

Tanner's such the helper

What's in there???

Delaney helping Ainsley open her present

She got a pop up toy from Grandma Mary that she really liked.  She ended up playing with it all Sunday night when we got home.  She can't get the animals to pop up, but loves to push them down!  Taze also liked Ainsley's toy, and Ainsley liked Taze's hair.

Ainsley sharing her toy with Taze (actually, she's pulling his hair!)

She felt bad for pulling his hair.

They're both happy...Taze playing with Ainsley's toy and Ainsley playing with a truck (maybe Taze's toy???)

Aunt Di got Ainsley to sleep!

Sunday morning before heading over to Aunt Roycelyn's for lunch, Mark popped the big question to Mom.  She said yes, they kissed, they hugged, and she put on her ring (which is beautiful).  No, she's not pregnant (ha!), and they haven't set a date.  I did manage to capture a few pictures of the event, but I didn't get one of the two of them afterwards.

Will you marry me????

It seems like Ainsley does something new every day.  After she takes a bite of food, she'll say:  "Mmmmm".  If I ask her if it's good, she'll say:  "Mmmmm".  When she's eating puffs (or anything else that she feeds herself), she won't even get it in her mouth before she starts "Mmmmm-ing".  It's so cute!  Her favorite word right now is "ya-ya".  She'll sit in her carseat and jabber away while going down the road.  If you ask her a question, she'll respond with "ya".  It's pretty funny.  We'll ask her:  Ainsley-do you like Christmas, and she'll respond:  "Ya".  Ainsley-do you like presents?  "Ya".  Ainsley-do you like toys? "Ya".  Ainsley-is Mommy the best?  "Ya".  The other day we went through these questions and Joel was standing off to the side watching and when I asked her if Mommy was the best, she hesitated, looked at me, looked at Joel, and looked back at me and responded:  "Ya!"

If you ask her what a cow says, she'll reply with "muhhhhhhh"  or something like it.  She gets her lips really close together, so there's barely an opening and says it.  We'll have to work on a lamb, or something easy next.
She's started cuddling and hugging her stuffed animals.  If she sees one laying on the floor, she'll crawl over to it and lay her head down on it and go "awwweeeeee".  If I tell her to give her stuffed animal a hug, she'll do the same thing.  She'll give them kisses, too.  She's also started doing that to your legs (if you're sitting on the floor), or if you're holding her, she'll cuddle up to your shoulder.
Joel said that she said "dadada" the other day, but only did it one time.  I think she said it for me a few days ago, but I can't get her to do it more than once.  She likes being chased down the hallway and will laugh when you start crawling after her.  She'll only crawl so far, before she has to stop, sit up, and make sure you're still chasing her.  Once she realizes you're still behind her, she'll giggle some more and start crawling as fast as she can.  One of her newest things to do is to open and close doors.  Her favorite is the bathroom door.  She'll swing it back and forth while I get ready.
Her favorite game right now is dropping something on the floor and waiting for you to pick it up so she can do it again.  If she's eating puffs in her high chair, she has to take all of them and put them in her cup holder on the high chair tray.  Once she's moved them all into her cup holder, she then takes them and drops them all on the floor.  She's also started clapping again, and will clap her hands while she dances to music.
Grandma Shelly watched Ainsley on Saturday while Joel and I went to Dad's to paint.  As we were walking out of Mom's Saturday morning, Ainsley started crying.  That's the first time she's cried when we left.  I guess she didn't miss us too much, because Mom said a few seconds after we left, she stopped crying.  I found out that while we were in Dallas last week, Grandma Shelly gave Ainsley ice cream, and Ainsley liked it!

Yummy ice cream!

Ainsley's been sick with a cold for the past week.  Her nose doesn't stop running, and she's been running a low temperature.  I'm hoping she starts feeling better in time for Christmas.  I've been busy planning her 1st birthday party.  Can you believe she's going to be one in a few weeks?!?!  Where has this last year gone?