"boots!" and other December happenings

"Helping" me decorate the tree.  He hates wearing shirts and some mornings I just don't want to fight about it again.

Nicholas has a vocabulary of probably 50 to 60 words now.  I lost count a month ago when he was at 35, and he learns a good two or three words every day. 
A few days ago he was in a hungry mood, and he learned 
pizza, biscuit, pear, pasta, and oops,
which he pronounces "boots."
This morning I heard him in the kitchen:  "uh oh, boots!  uh oh, boots!"
Oh goodness I could just squeeze him to death-he's so delicious!

We're still enjoying the winter here-you know, going to the park in the mornings, wearing short sleeves, taking Sunday walks. 

My flowers did freeze, though, so it was time to pull them all out,

and I planted daffodil bulbs, hooray!

This silicone cupcake mold has entertained Nicholas for hours.  He presses the cupcake holes in, then pops them back out again.  It is already packed in my bag for the flight tomorrow.  Anything for a few minutes of peace on the plane, right?

 

 Our formal Christmas dinner party was on Saturday.  I always love a reason to dress up, set the table all pretty, and have good friends over.  After a few moments of panic while setting the table that ended up in me using the wire cutters to fashion myself two more garland placeholders, everything else fell smoothly into place.  The food was delicious-we had an awesome pork tenderloin roast with pomegranate maple sauce, and everyone had quite a few good laughs around the table. 

See Shannon, I feel your pain.  But isn't my sink so beautifully in focus?

 Nicholas helped us make chocolate cookies last night, and he had a blast measuring, dumping, and stirring.  We filled the cookies with peppermint ice cream, and then took them to our neighbors with a copy of our favorite book-The Book of Mormon.  

Now I'm finishing up packing because Nicholas and I are leaving in the morning to head to Utah (Kent will join us on Saturday)-a white Christmas here we come!