The twelve days of Christmas

Merry Christmas! We're all at my sister's for the week, and having a lovely holiday. My whole family is here, and my parents hadn't seen Meg since the wedding in March. Then there were a lot of presents, and I do love Christmas presents. :-)

Meggers has been having a grand time. She's confidently tottering around on her feet, as of the Friday before Christmas, and so she walks back and forth and down the hall and back to the living room, and then gets waylaid by the carpet line and sits down looking surprised. As for toys, what an amazing thing! Somebody presented her with a pink stocking with things in it! She very competently reached in and pulled them out. She doesn't quite have the knack of opening wrapped presents, but that was all right, because when the paper was off, there was a farm set with little people and animals and some equipment - and a very soft teddy bear named Atcha - and a block cube with a whole bunch of shapes - and a book about Bethlehem that sings and flashes lights. Pretty much amazing.

This is the cutest little townhouse Kyte has, incidentally. The famous color-coded bookshelf is still here, and every single wall in every single room is adorable. I don't know how she does it. The downstairs bathroom is a beach theme, with a photo of the Beach Boys, a shell candle, and a surfboard picture frame of her and Ryan. The upstairs guest room is that perfect French country antiques look. Jonathan and Meg and I are staying in her studio, which is white and bright and airy with colorful kites hanging from the ceiling and gorgeously-patterned colored pillows over a white down duvet. She's really got an awesome talent for color.

The only one who isn't thrilled is the cat Irony. Meg is not only a cute similarly-sized rival who plays with her precious family and laser pointer, but she's loud and enthusiastic, and Irony has to hiss at her whenever Meg gets too close. Irony spends a lot of time sitting on top of chairs where Meg can't reach.