More Holly Jolliness

Wynn is quickly learning that both Mom and Baba are seriously good cooks, and that she needs to closely observe what we do so that she can assume her rightful place in the kitchen too. Here, testing the cake batter. (Inside-beater technique learned from Baba.)

Shadow wants in on the Xmas Morning unwrapping festivities. We are happy to see him figuring out our daily routines and learning how to read us. Still needs some work on "sit" and "heel," however.

We said, "she likes to imitate everyday routines; get her toys like little toolsets and vacuum cleaners." The folks said, "Really?" And we said, "trust us."

Totally nailed it! She's been pushing this Bissell look-alike around a couple times a day since Thursday afternoon. (If it only *really* worked...)

More presents? Is it like this here all the time?

"Magic, magic, poof!"

(You don't see the set of tools that she and Grandpa then played with for the next half hour.)

Baker, magical princess, carpenter, finance specialist, engineer, martial artist, author, and more. She's played at so many things just today. Yes, the carpet is strewn with toys. But to see her enjoy so many divergent activities fills us with amazement and wonder at what kind of person she will become.

There's still a lot of work ahead for all of us in 2009. Children to teach, dogs to train, dreams to pursue, a nation to rebuild, a world to save. The potential in our little girl, and what she has accomplished in this short while, inspires us. 

Keep reading, keep responding, keep working to realize the change inside all of us. Happy New Year!

Fun in the snow, with a new friend

Winter break has begun, and fittingly we received a reasonable amount of snow today for the kids to frolic in.  After naptime this afternoon, Mom and Wynn suited up for a foray into the front yard.

I broke out the long coat, too, and leashed up the newest addition to our family to go for a short walk.

His name is Shadow, and he is a ten-month old tricolor Sheltie we adopted last weekend from a breeder in western Minnesota. This past week we have all been getting to know each other and establishing some ground rules - such as Shadow sleeps in the bed with Mom and Baba.

Wynn really seems to like him, and he has done very well around her. She is a little anxious about us paying attention to the pup - wiggling in when we are trying to teach him a command or engage him in play - but we won't go so far as to call it sibling rivalry. They're already figuring out how to collaborate with each other...

In other news, Wynn had a recent follow-up appointment with her surgeon, and it looks like it will be a couple more years before any additional reconstructive work is needed. In the upcoming year, we will be ratcheting up her speech therapy activities to try to stay a step ahead of her ballooning vocabulary.