Happy Chanukah!

We are having a wonderful Chanukah! Rylie completely caught on to the concept of opening gifts by the second night. Rylie cleaned up, it is frankly somewhat indulgent. Most importantly, she is having a blast spending so much time with family. Last year for Chanukah, we got each other as our court date was on the first day of Chanukah. I always say I could never get a better Chanukah gift. I think Rylie will tell you that she likes this year's gifts more :-)

Rylie loves her wooden menorah

and the pretend frying pan and latkes too.

Tasting the real thing. Our picky little eater was not such a fan.

Chanukah party!
Family picture with Judah Macabee. This is as close as we get to the Santa picture.
Lighting the candles.

Rylie's big gift from us was a kitchen. I'm not sure who was more excited about it- Rylie or Daddy! Suffice it to say, Rylie was beside herself when she opened it and shouted "my kichen, my kitchen!" Rylie now invites us to regular tea parties in her kitchen. She serves ONLY tea and pancakes, and if you ask for anything else, you are promptly told, "No, Mommy/Daddy, No."
Baking cookies

"Yahyie's bicycle" as she refers to it. And be sure not to go within a 5 foot radius of it, otherwise, she will shriek, "No!!! My car! No, No, No!" (Can you tell that we are coming close to the 2 year mark!?!?)

"Ernie!" Rylie was so happy that Ernie didn't talk. She was, and still is, terrified of the talking Elmo she got on the first night of Chanukah! Silent Ernie and Abby were much bigger hits.

A cradle for baby Emmy!
Just the girls...

And to think there are still three more nights....

Wishing everyone a happy holiday and a wonderful new year.

Love to everyone...

And just two funny Rylie stories---- new favorite activities including "teaching" body parts and colors to her baby Emmy. It is pretty funny. Rylie will sit on the floor with Emmy and say, "Hand, Emmy" while pointing to Emmy's hand and showing the baby doll Rylie's hand. She then goes through all of her body parts. Then she progresses to colors. Rylie only really knows three colors, so the colors discussion is pretty limited. The whole thing is pretty funny to watch. The other thing is Rylie sings constantly. We laugh so hard when we see her cooking at her kitchen and hear her singing songs from music class. Her favorite is the hello song that we sing at the beginning of class and say hello to all of the children in the class. Rylie will sing the song and say hello to people in our family, her friends at school, and the sesame street characters! Once I catch it on video I'll upload it.