So Many Christmas Pictures

Leila enjoyed counting down to Christmas, insofar as it meant peeling off another ornament on the advent calendar. She was consistent with her insistence on clustering them all together. Funny girl.
Our tree... notice the blue elephant, otherwise known as "Blue Louie" (how original, right? Her nomenclature). She actually clung to this little Blue Louie when the real Louie had to go in the washer for a bath.
Even Penny got into the Christmas spirit...
And Louie...
On Christmas Eve, Leila opened up a bunch of really great gifts from her Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa Vaina, Aunt Beth, Uncle Jeremy, Will and Cary...

And on Christmas morning, Santa visited Nana and Popo's house and unleashed more presents than we know what to do with. Below, Leila has her first encounter with Dressie Bessie.
A new stool...
Sit n' Spin (though not the same Sit n' Spin we grew up with... she'll break a sweat before she ever gets dizzy)...
Cousin Abby shows Leila how to use the magnetic draw and erase board
"To Leila, From Santa..."
Uncle Kris got Leila a Max doll... not unlike her first glimpse of herself in the mirror as Max on Halloween, it took her a little while to get used to Max "off the page."
Using her new stool to read a book
The traditional stocking...
Shining Santa's shoes (a tradition of mine as a little girl, and I'm now passing it on to Leila).


Fun with Ele-fun... Leila kept pretty busy picking up the butterflies that Nana, Aunt Vickie and Abby missed in their nets...
And Mr. Potato Head...
Leila, enjoying her mousse and toying with the idea of indulging everyone with the "Moose" face that they were trying to teach her
Wii was Santa's gift for the big kids, but Leila enjoyed taking her turns at Wii bowling
What form!
After Christmas, we made a trip to the bowling alley to see how we all performed with a little more weight in our hands
Nana, getting crushed (literally) by love...One, two, three, weeeeee....
Care Bear water painting at Leila's new activity table. Penny's a self-proclaimed art instructor.
And our first adventure with PlayDoh... really fun.