Ho Ho Ho!!!

Kyra and her buddy, Santa Claus, at the mall

Kyra was mesmerized by Mrs. Claus while we waited for the Beverly Hills trolley to see Santa

"Mommy, that's an awfully big hat she's wearing."

"Mommy, look at the gigantic sleigh bell!"

Kyra's first trolley ride!

Kyra has her own "Baby's 1st Christmas" Santa hat

Mommy's got a Lakers Santa hat,

and Daddy's got a Clippers Santa hat

(notice how the Clippers hat is last on the list...)

Looking at Santa in amazement!

There he is! It's SANTA!!!!

"Look Mommy, Santa's right over there!"

"Daddy, can I go say hi to Santa? Please!"

Kyra waved at Santa and seemed astonished by him

Excited to sit on Santa's lap for the first time!

Kyra LOVED cuddling with Santa!

Mrs. Claus, Kyra, and Santa

Kyra with Grandma Carol, who made Kyra's pretty Christmas dress

"Don't you just love my pretty dress?"

Happily crawling around the Paley Center For Media in Beverly Hills

What a cutie!

Strike a pose!

"Mommy, I think I'd like to go see Santa one more time!"

Back on Santa's lap once again...

...and loving every minute of it!

Merry Christmas from the Tipper family!

We've been having a lot of fun this holiday season! Kyra has had a chance to meet Santa twice, once in Beverly Hills and once at our local mall. Luckily for us, she seems to love every single thing about Santa! She had so much fun taking the trolley in Beverly Hills to meet Santa at the Paley Center For Media. On the way there, Mrs. Claus entertained the kids with Christmas carols. Upon arrival, Kyra was instantly captivated by Santa Claus. She was staring at him and smiling, anxious to get a closer look! She sat on Santa's lap twice during that visit - she just couldn't get enough of him! Yesterday, Kyra put on yet another Christmas dress (she's been festive pretty much every day of December thus far) and met Santa at our mall. She was happy and smiley yet again! Hopefully she'll still like him next year!

Kyra still loves to crawl and stand - she's even been practicing how stand without holding on to anything. Each time she does it, she manages to stand for a longer period of time without falling (and Geoff and I also stop breathing, and those mere seconds seem like an hour before she's finally sitting back down on her bottom!). I don't know what I'll do when she starts walking. She particularly likes to crawl and stand during her bath. Definitely makes for an interesting bath. Our attempts to actually get her clean during her bath (let's not forget what the real purpose of a bath is!) seem to get in the way of her playing and moving around, so we really have to work fast so as not to annoy her! Her "cruising" skills (walking while holding on to something) are also quickly improving. She's doing more and more cruising everyday. It's a very rare moment to see her sitting still! She's also been "talking" a bit more lately. Lots of "ma ma ma" and "ba ba ba" and "ga ga ga" sounds - but the "ma ma" sounds still aren't directed at Mommy yet.

Kyra has recently gotten 3 new teeth on top, so that brings her total to 5 (or, at least, 5 that we can see). She's been having some trouble sleeping at night because of all the teething, but hopefully she'll adjust soon. These 3 new teeth decided to all come in at one time, so I assume that hasn't felt too great for my sweet little baby. But hopefully the worst is over for a while.

Daddy's off for Winter Break for the next 2 weeks, so we're excited to have some extra family time together. We're looking forward to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day later this week, and we're hoping that all the rain we've been having will let up at least long enough to take Kyra out to see the Christmas lights on Balboa Island. Kyra doesn't seem to mind the rain though - she seems to enjoy it when little drizzle drops fall on her, although she really hasn't spent too much time out in the rain.

Once Christmas ends, our focus will turn to Kyra's Valentine's-themed 1st Birthday party! The invitations have been ordered, and Mommy is scouting out some cute party favors for the kids! I know Kyra won't know it's her Birthday, but at least there will be photos to prove that she had a really fun party!

Merry Christmas everyone!