cody ☆ cordelia ☆ emma ☆ gabriel: 2013

Cody Ties the Knot

About a month ago (I think?) Cody declared he was ready for "tie-shoes." Since his toes were basically sticking out of his sneakers, we agreed to hit Stride Rite. How cute is he?

And here's a slow-mo demo of tying. It's hard to believe he's five sometimes. (Pardon the demon-eyes of the girls!)

It's hard to believe you are one! It has been a busy, crazy, sleepless, up-and-down kind of year…and so many of the ups were because of you. Don't get me wrong—you can take credit for your fair share of downs, but many fewer than I would have anticipated, given past experience. : ) Daddy and I sometimes joke that we should have named you Joy. Aside from the fact that it took you 10 months to sleep through the night, and that you scream relentlessly whenever we're in the car — which is a lot — you're a darling, easy, joyful baby. A year ago on New Year's Eve, I watched the ball drop only by accident, because you were of course awake and feeding. I never would have imagined you'd be a walking, talking, happy little creature by now. (Still feeding. I'd like to stop that, like, now.) Really I was only trying to imagine how I would survive the next few months. But you made it a joy. Truly. That's not just sentimental, God-lets-you-forget-how-horrible-infants-are talk. It feels like you've always been part of our family, and we are all grateful you are part of our lives. Happy birthday, darling girl. We love you so much.

Here's Emma on December 27, 2013 — we took her out to lunch with Aunt Cheryl, who happily played "movie star" with her. Because she is a saint.

JVL took Cody out for some exercise. Emma and I demurred and went out for coffee.

And raisins.

We took what the kids call "selfies." When you type that, it autocorrects to "selfless." I find that ironic.

Emma was intrigued by the whole party. Which lasted a hot 5 minutes, but was all about her. She loved the singing, and clapping.

The cupcake was not as tasty as the hat.

I tried to give her some icing on my finger, since she hadn't taken a bite of her cake, and she just lost it. All done cupcake!

It's rare to see that face on her! Cordelia offered to eat it on her behalf.

Then we opened presents — well, I chastised Cordelia for opening all of E's presents in about 2 seconds, and Emma shouted, "Book! BOOK!" over and over.

Then I switched babies and got to hold my beautiful niece!

And Uncle Mark took E flying.

All in all — a wonderful day! And if you look closely you'll see she's wearing Cordelia's first birthday shirt. :)

Christmas 2013

Last Sunday night, we trekked up to Jersey at bedtime, and thanks to JVL, made record time. Thank God. Granny and Pop Pop were waiting when we arrived: Here's us saying, "Who was the WORST TRAVELER EVER?" Emma raised her arms in triumph.

We love her anyway. She's so cute it's hard not to.

Pop Pop and his girls!

We tried hard to get a good shot of all three kids on Christmas eve, without much success.

Kind of looks like he's strangling her, doesn't it? Or wants to.

Cordelia's underwear will actually be a theme in this post.

Christmas morning, Emma beholds Santa's magic!

Then eats her first cookie. The note, written entirely by Cody, reads: "Dear Santa, I would like it if you could please bring me a real king cobra. Love Cody. PS Merry Christmas." Santa wrote back a rather long missive, and we were all enraptured as Cody read it aloud to us. Hard to think that he couldn't just pick stuff up and read it last Christmas. Cody also was hoping for some Legos, and maybe a train. Cordelia requested a pink scooter. And, a giraffe. A real one.