Because I'm Not an Elephant...

There are a lot of things about the first month of my new child's life that I'm going to forget. It's inevitable. I'm not an elephant, after all. For this reason, even though I have no organized thoughts swimming in my head, and even though I haven't downloaded, views, sorted, edited and pared down any of my way-to-many pictures, I am going to "spew" (metaphorically, of course) a few tidbits of December's "meal" onto the blog. (Okay, that's gross. Sorry.)

Sofia is a great baby. She eats for LONG stretches of time. Sometimes. Other times she snacks and sleeps, snacks and sleeps. Either way, eating or being held almost always pacifies whatever ails her. Even a gassy belly often just takes a bounce in my step and a rhythmic pat on the bum. She's a good baby.

Siena is a great older sister. Sometimes even too great. As soon as Sofia begins to whimper, her protectress will call out, "I'll go take care of my sister!" And off she'll hustle to bestow air-passage-blocking kisses; bruise-inducing, "Tom Tinker" neck-tickles; or some other cry-producing affection. But most of the time, her heart is well-intentioned. It's the thought that counts, right? Well, Sofia isn't so sure. :)

Shiloh is a great father. Excellent, actually. After a long day of commuting and fighting for justice (sprinkled with mercy, of course), he comes home to an excited dog who just wants to rub hair all over his suit pants, a "big girl" who wants to pretend she's a baby and have daddy hold and rock her (or play "baby taco" or be pushed in a laundry basket or be inverted over and over again), and a wife dying to hand off a "good baby" because as good as she is, it's hard for mommas to get anything done when a baby always wants to be held/nursed - even with the aid of a Baby Bjorn. Shiloh saves the day. He pets the dog. He succumbs to the big sister's need for attention, and he rocks the baby, all at the same time. Somehow, he still has time to help me with dishes, play fantasy football with his friends, give lots of hair cuts, and read edifying books like Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters and Bringing Up Girls. He's pretty amazing.

Alright, enough text with no pictures. That gets boring after awhile. Just ask Siena.

I have a lot of events to catch up on! I'll try not to overwhelm. Here it goes:

December 4: We went to the Boy Scout Lot to get a Christmas tree with Grammy. Followed up by a trip to Fluffy Donuts and Starbucks.

These boys, like their mama, have a deep-seated affection for donuts.

And hot chocolate.

After a long morning, this excellent father needed a nap - and still held the baby!

December 10: My parents came up to visit and Dad helped me lay the vinyl tiles in the Seine Sorbello's playhouse. Because I had a nursing baby, Dad ended up doing a lot by himself. I love my dad!

Auntie Katie and Grandma helped out by entertaining my daughters. Come visit again!

December 11: I believe this was a Grammy day so we were over on Seine again and I caught a few cute shots of my girls in front of the beautifully twinkly tree.

Not a great shot, but they're both waving!

Twinkle.

December 12: Just like Zeke and Siena were dedicated at the same time, Colson and Sofia graced the stage at FBC on Sunday. Siena came up too and created a bit of a scene, asking over and over again to hold Colson. And of course Sofia woke up just as we were standing up to go up there and wanted to eat. NOW. RIGHT NOW. WAAAAAH.  But Colson was a good-natured little guy, as always.

Later at Bible study the Ganyo girls let Siena join them in the tub because Elena found yogurt and also found that yogurt is fun body paint.

December 14: Oliver gets a hair cut!

We took a few pre-cut shots. Siena and Ollie are buds. They even do chair gymnastics together.

Verdict: Oliver does not like having his hair cut.

Example #?: Shiloh loving on Siena (yes, that's a loving face).

Inversion!

December 14: I captured a little sample of sisterly "love."

December 16: The Ganyos took their older kids to see the new Narnia movie, so Elena came over to play.

Before her guest arrived, poured over one of her favorite Christmastime books: The Jolly Christmas Postman.

Sofia, in good form, slept on the couch.

Buddies, sippin' on... milk.

December 17: Bethany organized to have our "Fun Field Trip Friday" group go caroling around her neighborhood. It happened to be raining that afternoon. Siena happened to be a big grumpy and prone to pushing babies. (Sorry, Callum!) Still, we gathered together in various costumes and sang to the neighbors.

Here, Siena is delighted to hold Mary's baby Jesus. Thanks Norah. Halle is a particularly cute drummer girl.

Poppy's little angel. Costume worn by Siena's aunt many, many years before.

The carolers. Wet. Cold. Happy!

A late add to the mix: pigherd, Oliver. Handsome haircut! :)

Our last stop was to the Fire Station. Apparently it was their first time receiving carolers!

December 18: We ventured out to the Silveyville Christmas Tree Farm. It ended up being WAY over-rated. Probably would have been more fun if a)other people were there or b) it weren't an ugly gray day. Oh well!

Pre-shower Siena is chowing on some hummus and crackers for... breakfast. Don't mess with the two-year-old.

Our baby-est girl is ONE MONTH old. And a chubby, yummy one month she be!

More sisterly love.

Daddy loving on his bear cub. This outfit didn't fit Siena until 3 months!

December 19: Our Bible study had a Christmas party with a gift exchange at the Reece's house. The kids were going crazy because they didn't have dinner - just SUGAR. Lots of fun gifts were passed and stolen. Our friend Mary was basically mid-labor. Small dogs terrorized children. It was, per usual, great fun. :)

Going over the rules of the game.

Justin and Shiloh are sporting the sport coats. Justin got a NEW brown blazer for Christmas (?) and kicked his old one down to Shiloh. Thanks!

Trivia: Emily got a big hug from Siena because A) Siena loves giving hugs, B) Siena loves Emily, and C) A cookie was at stake.

Ben and Katie did a great job hosting. They always make REALLY good food and have a great big house.

Dora's biggest fans? This was Siena's first exposure to the "explorer." Could mean trouble.

December 21: Part two of FFF's caroling event included visiting Sierra HealthCare Convalescent home to sing with the elderly. It was a very neat and fairly sobering experience and we hope to do it again.

I LOVE when babies sleep like this!

The caroling crew. Round two.

Right after singing we zipped over the the Holleman house to meet Elliot Gray, born less than 24 hours earlier. He was a stunner! Cute dimpled chin. Spiky red hair. Squishy cheeks. What could be better? 

Sofia and Elliott didn't waste time with small talk. Straight to first base: snuggling. :) When Sofia gets old enough to understand English, Shiloh will probably have a talk with her about boundaries, dating to marry, etc. For now, we take pictures and dream how cute it would be on a slide show at their wedding. Haha. :)

While the babies snoozed on the couch together, Big Brother and Big Sister at some eggs and fruit. What a great visitor I am: stay too long and eat their food!

Later that night we went to the Keefer's for dinner. The Keefers are awesome. The feed us all the time. They let us sit loooong on their couch and never kick us out. They even shower us with gifts, even though we rarely reciprocate. They're great!

December 23: This day, known to MPPCers as "Christmas Adam" served as the Nicholson Christmas Eve. We celebrated by heading to Prolific Oven in the morning, taking a walk at the Bay Lands, making stew for dinner, and then attending the Christmas Adam service at MPPC.

I really think Sofia resembles Dad and TJ. If she just had a little beard, they could be twins in this shot! 

Siena is scarily adept at using the iPad and iPhone. Today (29th) we were at the park and when I asked Siena what she was doing (while talking into one of those "phones" that has an underground pipe so voices travel), she said, "I'm just talking on the iPhone." Oh boy.

At Prolific, Siena gets spoiled. Sandra, the manager, always takes her behind the counter to choose a cookie and usually makes her a mini cup of hot chocolate. She's also trying to teach Siena some Spanish. It's a lot of fun!

Galletas!

Her other twin.

Siena is strutting her stuff on our walk, after watching people feed the ducks and sea gulls.

December 24: Christmas #1 (Eve)

Sisters in pink!

Our own little baby in a manger. She didn't like it much. I doubt Jesus did either, and I doubt his was so snuggly.

Breakfast: Monkey bread!

This is the closest we may ever get to a Nicholson family photo. So enjoy it. :)

Before presents we read the King James version of the Christmas Story. Not sure Siena grasped phrases like "Herod was full of wroth," but I think the main point made it across. And it really did say "wroth" - not wrath. :)

Our little iPad addict is reading the Berenstein Bears.

Daddy is holding the baby and simultaneously reading about how to raise her. Wowzers. ;) 

Opening gifts. Spoilage!

Chef Siena, thanks to T and Laura, prepared a nice meal for Uncle Andy.

Christmas #2 and the rest of December is coming soon... but this post is ending up WAY too long and the babies just don't sleep that much! Stay tuned!