So magical through her eyes

As many of you parents know, the Christmas holiday is so magical seen through a child's eyes. We've loved watching Sienna soak in all the sights and sounds of the season this year.

When Christmas lights were first turned on around our neighborhood, she said "whoa!" every time we drove past some one's house with lights. For the first few nights, she would stand by the front door and insist on going outside to see the neighborhood Christmas lights before bedtime. So Scott would oblige, and he'd put her shoes on over her footie pajama's for a stroll around the neighborhood. Those nights are such precious memories.

We've had fun taking her down to the Plaza for dinner a couple of nights. She likes the lights, but she loves the horses giving carriage rides the best.

We've also had fun teaching Sienna a few Christmas songs. Some of her favorites are Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Jingle Bells, and Silent Night. After we sang Jingle Bells to Sienna a few times, she quickly caught on to the part of the song she could participate in. Check out the video to see Sienna's part. (And sorry in advance for our over-excited singing voices!)

Since we're on the subject of Sienna learning to talk, we've been asking her to repeat several words after us. I'd estimate that she can say somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 words pretty distinctly. She has down the m, d, b, t, a, l, n, and p sounds. The newest word she has learned is "NO"! It is so cute to hear her say it! We know we shouldn't encourage it, but it's so stinking cute to hear her little voice be assertive. :)

In other news, Sienna suffered her first injury a week ago. We were at the park, and she tripped while on some playground equipment. It took me about an hour to figure out that her unwillingness to play and her fussiness probably meant that her little trip produced more than a little ouch. (Her blood-curdling cry when I made her stand on her own was my first clue. So sad.) We went to the doctor and took some x-rays. What we thought was a fracture ended up only being a really bad sprain. So Sienna resorted back to crawling for a few days. Other than seeming annoyed by being slowed down by the crawling, she did remarkably well. I just felt horrible! Luckily the sprain healed quickly, and she is back to running around like the energizer-bunny we all know & love.

All dressed up for dinner with mom & dad on the Plaza. (Her cute onesie is designed by Squeaks & Beeps, which is one of my co-workers fabulous children's clothing line.)

What do you do to keep a toddler entertained at the dinner table? Why, you let them pick your nose! (Okay, gross, we know. But Sienna has just discovered you can stick things in your nose, and we think it's funny.)

Or, you can read books... our favorite thing to do while dining out.

Sienna's first bunny ears pic!

Seriously!?!? Love this face!

"Writing" a letter to Santa while waiting in line to visit Mr. Claus.

Dancing on a chair & showing off her cute outfit - complete with jingle bell necklace that I wore as a kid.

Finally gets to sit on Santa's lap! She wasn't so sure of Santa... no tears, but no smiles.

Aunt Kitty is in town! Yea!