Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to Mommy - Hazel's taking a rare nap today. Time to catch up here again. After several months of answering to Ma and Mudder (no joke), Hazel's suddenly calling me Mommy all the time. Much preferable to Mudder.

Hazel's usually fairly quiet at the dinner table, not minding if Eric and I chat. That changed a few weeks back too. The other night she said, "Mommy, can you be quiet so Daddy can attence me?" (give me attention). Thought that was funny.

She's being a little cranky this week, due to smashing her finger in the turnaround cupboard door, and probably because she's so excited for Christmas. All of a sudden we're only days away, and I'm hoping I don't have much trouble setting up her Thomas railway Christmas Eve. I'm going to set it up on a sheet of plywood, slide it under the couch, and let her open the empty box. Then we can just whisk it out, rather than having to stop and set it up. And I've got to remember to snip all annoying twist ties from everything while wrapping.

She had a great time at Eric's office party, as the hosting 8 year old was happy to play Hungry Hippos with her for a long time. That was a hit. No matter how many balls her hippo ate, she said she won every round. I wonder if she's inherited my competitive nature.

Oh, and two steps forward, one step back. I changed her toddler bed back into a crib. She was good about staying in bed at nighttime, but her non-sleeping rest times weren't working out very well for me. I loved the day that I went in to check on her and found her spreading an entire pack of babywipes all over the floor. She said they were Santa's naughty list. It didn't help that she can reach the light switches now, and would hop out of bed and turn the light on immediately. I lasted about six weeks and then my patience faltered. She doesn't mind being back in the crib, she can't climb out, and she's getting a better rest now, so I'll try again later. This doesn't bode well for potty training, though - meaning I'm probably waiting until I think I can be patient enough for it. I always thought I was such a patient person... okay - enough talk, you're all saying. On to pictures.

She has 8 little nutcracker ornaments that she takes to visit their "daddy" below. She made him a new hat out of a plastic slinky.

Hat's still a little big this year. Peek-a-boo Santa!

I must have caught her necklace in motion on this one, as it seems to be floating.