Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve at the Hansons is all about family and food: Tomato aspic, crispy potatoes, jello salad and the best grilled ham in memory.






Uncle Brent, Aunt Judy and cousin Becky, sitting here with Grandma Hanson, drove three hours to join us. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day for a drive: 50 degrees and sunny. We witnessed an awesome sunset just before we began tearing into the presents.

Claire entertained everyone waiting for the food and drink.



The hosts of the party finally got to sit and relax, surrounded by candles, when the official unwrapping ceremony began.



Uncle Claude and Grandma Hanson check out some Oregon wine.



The present giving continued late into the evening and even the next day.



But, as Claire quickly learned, even on Christmas, you can't always get what you want.



Wasn't dad's fault. Promise.

Hannah

Six days in Illinois visiting granny and granddad. What a treat. The highlight for Claire was Hannah and all the accessories that surround her. Like her whistle. More on that later.



There's nothing better for a kid than a year-old yellow lab. Claire and Hannah share several things in common. Both were born November a year ago. Both like balls.



Claire greeted Hannah each morning with a "Hi." When Claire couldn't find "dog," she often asked to go outside to visit Hannah in her kennel.





The highlight, though, was the whistle. Claire saw granddad blow it once and caught on immediately.



She asked for both of his whistles nightly and paraded around the kitchen blowing like her grandparents do when they go outside to call Hannah in for the night.



We heard the whistles on Christmas day.

The Grinch that stole Christmas

No, eggnog was not involved.

Been a long time

Lots of stuff has happened. The proof's in the wrapping paper strewn all over the floor.





Nana and papa visited from New Mexico, celebrated Thanksgiving here, ate turkey, bought presents, enjoyed the fireplace, read to their granddaughter.



Claire especially liked playing ball with the grandparents.



The presents came in waves. First, the late birthday gifts. Then, the early Christmas gifts. Heck, yesterday, she opened another gift from her other grandparents.



Fortunately, we adults get in on the gifts, too. Otherwise, they'd never come unwrapped.



Claire is motoring all over the place now in rapid fashion. She's so adept, it's almost as if she's always walked. Still doesn't seem like she should be walking at all. She stands less than two feet tall. She doesn't stomp. She falls on her rump easily with an "Umph." Her feet go pitter-patter-pitter-patter on our fir floors. But she practically runs now. The pets duck for cover. It's all over but the shouting.


Especially, when all the clothes come off....




Yes, nana and papa bought her this stroller and 14-inch doll. Claire saw it and immediately proceeded to roll it around the house for 20 minutes at a time. Here, she seems giddy, almost plastered, which she often does when she's allowed to run naked. But usually she's very serious when she pushes this thing. She keeps her head down, pushing steadily, focusing intently on the baby or the front wheels or some imaginary object directly in front of her path. It's a big responsibility.

Claire also experienced her first snow storm. You can't tell it's snowing from this picture?



Well, that's how it is in Portland. We celebrate winter a flake at a time, and that's what Claire and I did on our day off together Monday (Nana and papa stayed indoors? You think they're from the Southwest or something?).

Birthday, cont.

In the evening, Xia-Li stopped by to help celebrate.




She instructed Claire on the art of opening packages.





She guided her across the floor to her balloon.



She and Claire finished off the night with some french vanilla ice cream.



Claire loves ice cream, as I presume most babies do. She learned the sign for it within minutes of her first taste.



She also liked her candle and came precariously close to melding her finger to its flame.



Xia-Li taught her how to blow it out.


She made it through the evening with no signs of an ice-cream headache.
Not a bad first birthday.

Birthday girl

How old are you Claire?



That's right!

Claire woke up on her birthday knowing her age. And within minutes she caught sight of her presents. They stopped her in her tracks while she took in their pretty wrapping paper and ribbons. Then she went to work.



Among her first presents opened was the magnadoodle from her dad.



She drew on it for a while in her peck-peck-peck sketching fashion.



Then she converted it into a phone.



But it wasn't long before Claire abandoned her new gifts for a good-old fashioned toy for the ages:

An empty milk carton.



Not for long!!!!



The bright red wagon took some getting used to.



More to come....

Another winning costume

No, she's not celebrating any Election Day victories. These shots were taken days earlier. But it's a good thing they are a bit out of focus.



This is a girl who likes to strut in the near buff. Think: "Pat your tummy and say, 'Bleayh!'"

A winning costume

Forget that itchy Gator suit, those annoying Buckeyes, the fluttering Ducks.








Claire knows a real rising star when she sees one.


When I got home last night, I was greeted by a girl in the best suit I've seen since David Byrne Stopped Making Sense.




I always knew, from the way she kicked in the womb a year ago, that we had a little linebacker.

What we did last night

Mom was gone for the evening. So we decided to carve our first jack-o-lantern.



Dad and Gracie had nothing on us, except, perhaps, some green peppered ears. Claire quickly got the hang of things and started pulling out strands and seeds.



She performed her standing voodo jig around the pumpkin, a waddle that she's developed so that she can ... well ... walk.







Thing is, all this carving created its own ghoul of sorts.
I don't know what was scarier, the jack-o-lantern or Claire trying to get a hold of the camera....

What we won't be doing today

We won't be taking Claire trick-or-treating in the following outfit.



I think it's supposed to be an alligator. Someone in this household initially thought it was a dinosaur.



Claire did not like it. The mouth hung down in front of her face.

She couldn't see.

Plus, it looked hot.

But, mom got a kick out of it.