I love Christmas! But who's the big guy in the jammies?

We took Ava to see Santa on Sunday, and apparently he's a bit more in demand than he was when we were kids. You don't just stand in line anymore; now you have to make an appointment. But it gave Ava a chance to take a little nap in her stroller, and me a chance to do some shopping, so the extra time worked out well for everyone (except Andy. Sorry pal.) She's still little, so the fact that we were handing her over to a stranger to have her picture taken didn't bother her, and although she was too confused to smile she was still awfully cute.

The next thing on the list of Christmas "firsts" was picking out and decorating the tree, and we made sure to do it up right. I turned on some Christmas music, dressed Ava up in her reindeer shirt, and Andy and I got to work turning the house into a holiday wonderland. The stockings were hung by the electric fireplace with care, in hopes that Saint Nicholas would be smart enough to figure out a way into the house without a chimney. Ava was an excellent - and very happy - supervisor.

It's been a really big week for our little angel. As you saw in the previous post, Ava is now eating solid foods. We've been serving up baby oatmeal for about a week, and that went so well (that's an oatmeal picture on the right) that tonight we moved on to sweet potatoes. She seemed to really dig the taste, but the best part was the mess she made. In case any of you didn't know this, sweet potatoes are orange. Really, really orange. Lisa, since I know you haven't started this with Braydon yet, I have a bit of advice for you: invest in an apron. Or a hazmat suit.

The meal took forever since I had to keep stopping to take pictures and laugh, and the chair she was sitting in will never be the same. I never thought I'd have so much fun trashing the kitchen.

I think I can make millions with the invention of baby food-colored clothing, since I'm convinced that's the only way a child's wardrobe will ever survive this phase of life. Who's with me?