Dancin' and wrestlin'

It's so fun to watch the girls play together. Sugar loves "Mah". Sometimes she says "Mah-mee". She looks for her when she can't see her, and goes around the room shouting "MAH", "MAH". They have had the best time with Babe's life-size Santa. They dance with him, and sing with him. After dancing, they had a little wrestling match. Initiated by none other than Sugar. She's a little on the aggressive side (to say the least, right SIL?). We are doing our best to get her to settle down a bit, but we have a loooooong way to go. She means well.....................I think.

Here she is wrestling the baby. And poking her eye out.

Santa Trip #2

We had another opportunity to go and see Santa. So, I thought -- what the heck -- let's go!! I figure the more Darbs is around the jolly 'ole fella, the more she will be comfortable with him. Maybe not........................I think she enjoyed herself though. We went at the very end of the evening, and the people there gave her lots of attention. She would only sit with Santa as long as I was holding her. Is that an improvement?? She got some goodies, ate cookies, and ran around the tree. Miss Charlotte tried putting her down next to Santa, but I couldn't even get a picture of her -- except for her backside. She would take off like a flash! See ya next year, Santa!

Babe's new tent

Darby Kate was so excited to see Babe's new tent! (well, at least that's what we are saying now). I think initially she was a little scared to go inside, but now she goes in no problem! Thanks, Babe!

Santa Trip #1

Our first adventure with Santa was downtown Hope at the Chamber. I was a little anxious for Darby Kate's reaction, because we had seen Santa earlier in the month -- and she was NOT excited to be near him. BUT, of course -- I was hoping for the perfect picture with Santa regardless. The set up for the room was a little crazy, but the craziness kept her occupied as we waited. The cookies helped, too. She enjoyed seeing all the people -- as for Santa and Mrs. Claus -- well,...................maybe next year.

she was pretty much hanging on to Trevor the whole time. This was the best shot I could get!

Fair Park

Darby Kate went with Babe, Clancy and Maggie to visit some friends out at Hope Haven. Dixie said that Darby Kate enjoyed running up and down the halls and knocking on doors and running away. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.............where did she come up with that game? Afterwards, Trevor and I met them at the Park for a little slidin' time.

yeah, I know. the bow wasn't working, but you can't blame me for trying!

Aunt Clancy and Maggie

See Buffy -- another good example of what I was talking about!

DK and Babe

These last couple of pictures were taken on her exact 17 month old b-day. I always like to get some shots on the very day of her monthly b-day. This day, I had to go to Hot Springs, and didn't get a chance to take any pics until right before bed.

Bah Humbug

Hey, I didn't say it -- but, doesn't it look like what Pepper is thinking in this picture? She's a mess. Darby Kate loves to hug her -- she basically tackles her. I've even caught her trying to ride her like a little horsie. I try and tell her that we have to be gentle with Pepper -- sometimes it works -- sometimes it doesn't. Luckily, Pepper has such a good nature that she doesn't seem to mind.

This other picture is one of DK's favorite pastimes these days. She removes all the books from her shelves, and doesn't put them back (of course). I've tried to talk her into one at a time -- not working. She also loves to go and get them from her room, and bring them to wherever we are -- my bedroom, the living room............I guess I'm just thankful that she loves books.

Babe's Christmas Card

Tonight we traveled over to Texarkana to take Clancy out to dinner for her birthday. She was craving some sushi (no argument here) so off to Osaka we went. We did have Darby Kate and Miss Maggie in tow -- which leads me to another "new" something Darbs is doing..........SCREAMING inside. Tonight she let out a few, several.......no, MANY shrills. Some were out of frustration, some were joyous. Regardless of the fact -- they were loud and high-pitched. We received several STARES -- like, please remove your child immediately. After a few pods of edammame -- she decided to push everything off of the table that was placed in front of her. We gave her a pair of chopsticks for entertainment -- she saw us dipping into soy sauce -- SHE wanted to dip something, anything into soy sauce. I ordered her veggie fried rice -- she ate about 3 or 4 bites (guess what we're having for lunch tomorrow). I gave her a cucumber to chew on -- she then proceeded to get choked on it and scare me half to death!! After that -- I was pretty much finished eating. Hopefully, it wasn't crazy enough for Clancy not to enjoy her birthday dinner -- there were actually a few calm moments throughout the meal..........maybe? Happy B-day, Clancy!!

Last week, Babe wanted me to bring Darby Kate over so she could get a picture of the girls for her Christmas card. Easy enough. Yeah right!! What an adventure it is to get two 1-year olds to sit still, not touch each other (in a harmful way) and say cheese to the camera! Whew -- if I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times (at least since I've had Darbs) -- thank goodness I'm not a photographer. I'm so glad there are talented people out there willing to take on those stressors! I'll stick to the just-for-fun stuff!

"argument" #1 -- who gets to sit in the chair?!?

sometimes a little naughty.........

.........naughty

thinking about naughty?

sometimes nice!

really nice!

Darby Kate loves Babe's life size Santa -- she likes to hold his hand and dance

Christmas Parade

Unfortunately, the few photos below do NOT do Darby Kate's emotions justice. We wheeled her in her little car up the street from Trevor's office just in time for the parade to kick off. She was wide-eyed, and waving up a storm. But, when the band went by -- I thought she was going to break through her little seatbelt. She squealed and bounced up and down, and waved like crazy! It was cute. She also really enjoyed seeing Santa on top of the fire truck.

she would strain to see what was coming up next!

Holiday Tour of Homes

Sugar and I went with Bebe to the Holiday Tour of Homes in Arkadelphia. There were four homes on the tour. The first one, Sugar was pretty much eyes-wide-open -- taking everything in -- just hanging out in my arms (or anyone elses that offered). By the last home, she was ready to run around and expend some energy. Luckily, at one of the stops she was able to run around and play a bit. She was dressed for the occasion!

She thought she was such a big girl playing with another big girl. She took this little girl by the hand and ran around and around this particular tree. She laughed and laughed and had a great time!

At the Park

These pictures are a little out of order, but all from the same day. Mom and I took Miss Darby Kate to Hot Springs for a stress-free, no agenda, do what we want to do day. Well, it ended up being slightly stressful with what felt like 30 mile an hour chilly winds, no jacket for your child, only trying to capture the perfect Christmas card picture, having your child doing a doodlebug for the first 5-7 minutes of a day! Crazy when it was going on, but now I can look back and laugh. Darby Kate seem to have a good time. She loved picking leaves out of the hot springs, and putting them back in at a different place in the water. She loved to watch other people in the park, and she pretty much did her own thing. We were able to get MANY wonderful shots, but none that I ended up using!

Buffy -- if you're looking at this -- see what I mean!!

she was serious about this..........whatever it was!

picking up leaves

so excited! Some of the shots where she was moving around were so cute-- I'm just terrible at action shots --love the expressions, though

it looks as though she is saying a prayer here -- probably for me to get the camera out of her face so she can PLAY!!