We had a great Thanksgiving, and really enjoyed having my family come to us and stay here Wednesday night. The Alden family all gathered at Nana's for a fantastic meal. All except for Alden, whose Thanksgiving vittles consisted of Chex mix and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, after she nixed all the glorious offerings from the Thanksgiving buffet. She had a great time playing outside with her cousin Scottie, and getting a lot of attention from everyone.
Right after dessert, Matt and Alden and I took off for Big Canoe, GA, to visit Matt's BFF Josh, his wife and his parents. Josh and Nicki live in St. Louis, and we hadn't seen them since I was pregnant with Alden, so it was great to catch up with them, and Josh's parents who are like a second family. It was a cold weekend in GA, but we were able to get out and hike a little bit and drive around Big Canoe, which is beautiful. Alden made friends with Josh pretty quick, and let him carry her in the backpack, much to our surprise. She even started signing "friend" for Josh. 
Some of her highlights were:
Some of her highlights were:* Playing with Mrs. Kijanko's giant bear, big stuffed dog, and the firetruck
* Discovering that Thanksgiving leftovers are, in fact, delicious...especially cranberry salad, turkey, and stuffing
* Going over to Angie and Ryan's and playing with all their kids' toys and their potpourri
* Going over to the Kijanko's friends' house and playing with their kids' toys
* Trying on Mr. Kijanko's special boots
* Playing with the coasters
It was hard to come back to real life after the holiday weekend, and this past week went by quickly. We had our last library day for the year on Monday, Bible study on Tuesday, a playgroup on Thursday, and a very special visit from Jessica, Miles and Lydia on Wednesday. They were in town since Robert had training at the BofA HQ, so they were staying with his parents in Gastonia. It was great to have them over, and to get to see how much all the kids had changed. Lydia just turned 3, and Miles is almost 1. Alden had a blast, and would not let Miles have any space, always wanting to hug and kiss him. She also enjoyed chasing Lydia, because, as everyone knows, nothing makes a toy more attractive than when someone else has it.
This weekend we got our Christmas tree up and decorated, and had Matt's department Christmas party at our friends Bradd and Corinne's. Sunday, we went to church, I went to the barn, and we hung out around the house. Alden is really enjoying the holiday season and is very interested in Santa, in all his forms and representations. She says "ho, ho, ho" and sometimes tries to say "Merry Christmas". We have a stuffed Santa from The Polar Express that she LOVES to carry around, and also really likes Matt's old nutcracker, who likes to "tell" her to eat her vegetables. Matt set up his train set around the tree, too, which has been a great source of entertainment for all of us. Alden wants it on all the time, and enjoys putting things in the cars - alligators, lollipops, playing cards, if it fits, it probably been around the tree.
Speaking of the tree, only the top 3/4s are decorated, with the exception of a few unbreakable ornaments. As we were trimming the tree on Saturday, Alden was "pleasing" every ornament that we took out of the box, and was heartbroken that she couldn't play with them. Too bad, so sad.
Alden's other shenanigans this week include, but are not limited to:
* Eating and learning the signs for lollipops and oranges
* Taking off her shirt and running around like a wild woman one night after dinner. Did I mention that our house is 69 degrees and freezing??
* Learning signs for "socks" and "play"
* One morning, I was in the shower and Alden was pulling things out from under the counter. I heard her squealing about something...she had found 4 paci's that she had stashed in the white strips box.
* She was eating goldfish ("gol, gol") for her snack, and kept disappearing to the front room. Pretty soon, her bowl was empty and she wanted more ("mmmmmmor"). I gave her some, and then spied on her as she went in the front rooms. She was putting them in the hole in the trunk in our dining room. I found my cell phone in there one time, too. Who knows what else is in there??
* She has really enjoyed playing in her bath, but none of the business parts of it now. As soon as we reach for her, she lays down on her back and kicks, or tries to submerge herself. This is the coolest thing for her, now that she has figured out she can lay her head on the bottom of the tub.
* When we run the vacuum, she grabs her lawnmower, or pushtoy, and "helps" us. 
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