Happy New Year! We here at Casa Casanova hope you had a wonderful holiday. LeapFrog shut down over the holidays, so we enjoyed having Ian home for a week and a half. I took advantage of the child care to run exciting errands like taking the car to the dealer for service. Alexandra enjoyed having Daddy around, showering him with love (if you assume drool = love).

We had a great time celebrating Miss A’s first Christmas; many thanks to all of you out there who contributed to her very exciting day of paper-eating.

And, now, your first dose of cuteness in 2013:

First bit of tissue paper excitement.

This musical block is a HUGE hit with Alex. (And, thankfully, not very annoying. They did a nice job concatenating the music.)

The onesie says “Future Secretary of State.” Next internet meme: Texts from Alexandra.

She already has the cheerleader outfit; now she has the football jersey. It is the 21st century and all.

The best part of this pic is the look on Bo’s face. He’s clearly remembering Christmases past when he was the center of attention.

Alexandra shows Grandpa her “Hail” motion* after unwrapping a large portion of the M-Den catalogue, courtesy of Grams and Grandpa. (*For the uninitiated, this is a key part of University of Michigan’s fight song, “Hail to the Victors.”)

Best gift ever.

Alexandra’s first Christmas Eve included her first reading of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” She didn’t quite follow the narrative, but based on the pictures, we’re pretty sure she wants to put reindeer antlers on Bo.

We hope all of you are enjoying a wonderful holiday. In the spirit of the season, we leave you with a snapshot and an excerpt of holiday cheer:

A slightly sleepy Alex earlier today. We’re lucky that she still finds her toys more interesting than the ornaments. 

 
“PoohPooh to the Whos!” he was grinchishly humming.
“They’re finding out now that no Christmas is coming!”
“They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do!”
“Their mouths will hang open a minute or two,
Then the Whos down in Whoville will all cry BooHoo!”
“That’s a noise,” grinned the Grinch, “That I simply MUST hear!”
So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow.
But the sound wasn’t sad! Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn’t be so! But it WAS merry! VERY!
He stared down at Whoville! The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!
Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”
“It came with out ribbons! It came without tags!”
“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.”
“Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”
And what happened then? Well…in Whoville they say,
That the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day!

It’s official … Alexandra is teething! You can now feel a tooth just under her gum (top tooth coming in first). This at least makes the excessive drooling more understandable and also predicts a Christmas of her eating boxes. And paper. She likes paper.

We hope all of your Christmas / holiday planning is going well. We can’t wait for Alex’s first Christmas. Stand by for extreme cuteness.

Mmmm … tasty paper. (At lunch with Grams and Linda, December 20.)

Celebrating the new tooth tonight at Jack’s. (Jack’s is our favorite local restaurant; it’s our Cheers.)

Yesterday was a big day for the entire McCullough clan. First and foremost, Annie and Nicole were officially married by the amazing Reverend Mary. We attended their wedding in June, but the state of Washington was late to the party. With the passage of R74 last month, they had their marriage yesterday. We are so grateful we could be there to witness it.

And we ALL were there to witness it. Yesterday was also Miss Alexandra’s very first (and second) airplane flight, and she was a super star. Though many thought we were insane, we contained the craziness into a day trip to Seattle … our flight left at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and we were scheduled to get home at 8:00 that night. We actually got home at 11:00 after being re-routed to Oakland. Despite the delays, Alex was amazing for the trip. Mainly, she loved meeting new people who would adore her. She didn’t fuss at all on the way there, earning the well-deserved compliment of “best baby on a flight EVER.” We only had a few minutes of screaming on the flight home, mainly because Mom wasn’t fast enough with the bottle as we started the descent. As is her way, Alexandra charmed everyone–including the four Hell’s Angels in the row behind us on the way back home. While I can’t say I’m surprised, she was able to completely melt them with just one smile. We are in SO MUCH trouble in about 15 years.

Hopefully, by the time Alex is old enough to know what a “wedding” is, there will be no need to distinguish between a wedding / marriage / commitment ceremony … it’ll just be that a wedding is when two people who love each other legally commit to each other.

Love wins! Annie (“dress bride”) and Nicole (“suit bride”) with Reverend Mary.

The San Mateo McCulloughs during the ceremony.

So you can see Alex’s dress (which matched the sash on Annie’s dress!).

Alex shows Aunt Megan her hand-eating skillz.

Mom and baby. (Thanks to Ruth for getting this pic … there aren’t that many of just the two of us.)

Who? Me? I have no idea what happened to Daddy’s shirt. None at all … [heh heh heh]

The happiest traveler in all of Seatac.

I’ve had this independently confirmed by total strangers. She really is the cutest baby in the world. (Okay, we can agree that it’s a tie for first place with whichever babies you have in your life. Alexandra can share the title. If that makes you feel better.)

In other news from Casa Casanova, it’s my first “official” week as a stay at home mom (my leave was up at Fisher on Friday, so I went into the office to resign). Yesterday, Bo ran after the Fed Ex truck and I went out after him to try to prevent him from going in the street. I did this while holding Alex. Needless to say, this was not a good plan. Yep, I tripped and fell. ALEXANDRA IS FINE, NOT A SCRATCH. Maternal instinct is a powerful force, and I am extremely grateful to tell you that she survived the fall and only cried for a moment because she was startled. Bo is also alive, in spite of the death stare I gave him yesterday. As for me, I don’t expect any permanent marks, though I haven’t had a skinned elbow or knee like this since the early 80’s.

 
Okay, here’s your cuteness:

Hi, world! (Thanks to Susane and Samarah for the outfit.)

The onesie says “My First Christmas 2012.” Short shelf life, but worth every penny for the matching hat.

Alexandra would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Festive Festivus!

We’re excited to report that Alexandra’s first meeting with “the big guy” went well. No meltdowns, nor did she throw up on him. She was a little too intrigued by it all to smile, but we’ll take big eyes over an open, screaming mouth.

What’s that you say? You want a 529 plan for Christmas?

In other news, Ian and Lara went to the Bruce Springsteen concert on Friday night. Yes, you read that right–not only did we go out to a ROCK CONCERT, we went out on a FRIDAY NIGHT. (And then spent the rest of the weekend recovering.) The seats were amazing and Bruce puts on one heck of a show … including an encore rendition of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” complete with Santa hats donated by audience members.

View from our seats.

BRUCE! Well, it’s Ian on the left, but Bruce is on the right (gray shirt, black pants, shaking hands with the fans).

Christmas Cheer, E Street Style.

Some big news here at Casa Casanova. In chronological order: I (Lara) got a new car and Alexandra had her first solid food!

We got the new car on Sunday. It’s a 2013 Jetta Sportswagen TDI. Because a *Sportswagen* is WAY cooler than a station wagon. And it’s red … again, a way cooler Mommymobile. It’s a great car, and we score yuppie points for it being diesel. Though I’m mostly excited that it has TRUNK SPACE!!!! I loved my Lexus IS 300, but it’s really lovely to be able to have both the stroller AND groceries in the car at the same time.

Lara’s new wheels.

In more exciting (and more photogenic) news, Alexandra had her first solid food tonight–avocado. (Hey, we live in California.) Seriously, though, our pediatrician recommended starting with it. Alexandra seemed to like the taste. Or, at least, she didn’t hate it. The whole “move the food on your tongue and then swallow” part still needs some work. She probably swallowed about a quarter of a teaspoon. Bo heroically cleaned the floor of the rest. And, going forward, we’ll be sure to put a bib on her. But the photos were better this way. We’ll try avocado for the next few days and then add something else! Stay tuned!

Mmmm … this stuff is okay.

Wha?

The aftermath.

As you know, it was a big weekend for college football. Saturday was “The Game” (Michigan vs. Ohio State), and I am very sad to Michigan lost. Alex is sad, too (as you’ll see below).

However, Notre Dame (Granddad’s alma mater) is now ranked #1 and Alexandra is quite pleased for him (though obviously still mourning Michigan’s loss).

Alexandra practices her “Hail” motion.

 

Alex after hearing the final score.

 

Happy for Granddad and his Fighting Irish.