Walking is EASY!

Here's a video of Riley carrying her ball around.

Marathon Walker

Riley is walking like a pro. She already prefers to walk rather than crawl. She can stand up in the middle of the room on her own. Up until now she has had to hold onto something to pull herself up. Is there anything she can't do? It has been great spending a lot of time with her these last two weeks. With the holidays we have spent more time at home and less time at work (I would like to keep it that way). It has been exciting watching all that Riley can learn in one day. She is also getting more into her toys. She is showing an active interest in playing with the toys and pointing out things in her books. She is really good at taking things apart and putting them back together. She also has a new favorite game. She likes to take clothes, shoes, bottles...really anything and pile them up on boxes or tables and then take them off one at a time. She does this over and over for as long as she can physically stand it. Her focus and determination is quite impressive.

The Baby had a great Christmas

Riley had a great Christmas. She got more toys and clothes than she knows what to do with. (Check out the bed head!) It was a very long day for her but she did great. Riley wasn't really into the gifts. She didn't even care about the paper. She did have fun playing with the toys once they were opened. I suppose she can't be bothered with the details of tearing through the paper. Why not let Mommy and Daddy do that and then had her a toy that is primed and ready for serious fun? Dave and I were very excited to have our very first Christmas morning with our daughter. We woke up early so that we were ready to start the day before she got up. We spent some time opening gifts at home from Santa and then headed to Grammy and Papa's house (my parents house). Riley had the largest stocking at Grammy and Papa's house that I had ever seen. We had a yummy breakfast and opened tons of presents. We went to Grandma and Papa's house (Dave's parents house) and opened more gifts and had lunch. Riley watched Telletubbies most of the time. She got a new Telletubbies video from Santa that Dave and I are super excited to watch.......at least that's what we're telling her. We finished the day off eating some turkey at my mom's and taking the rest of our gifts home. We spent as much time as we could handle playing with gifts at home before Riley had to crash. Overall, it was a great day for the Brozenic family. Every year will get more and more fun. We can't wait!

Lazy dogs

These two would never move from this spot if possible. This is, by far, the greatest invention Brown and Cal have ever used. They sleep here for hours when the fireplace is on.

Look Janae!! I'm using the fireplace!

Baby playing with her puppy

Brown and Baby play really good together. I always love the opportunity to show how good my dogs are with Riley. She will pick up one of their toys and follow them all over the living room trying to get them to play with her. Every once in a while Brown will entertain the offer.

Look at all the teeth!

Riley looks so different with all her teeth. Here's a good shot of the top two. She has another two on top coming in, but they aren't as visible yet. She is also emptying Mommy's wallet which is a fun pastime for her. Not so fun for Mommy.

Merry Christmas!

I am sorry to say that I won't have any pictures of Riley with Santa this year. We went to see him at Metro North Mall (yes, we actually went there) and as soon as we managed to find the end of the ridiculously long line there was a sign cutting off the line because apparently Santa needs a lunch break. Whatever Santa! Luckily, Riley could care less at this age so we had no melt down. My sister, Leslie, was not so lucky. She had to return the following day and wait 2 1/2 hours. Dave and I decided we would pick that tradition back up next year.
The Brozenic family would like to wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas. We love you all and can't wait to see what 2009 brings all our families!