Doodley-doo ("Let's build another snowman")

OK, so my vocal accompaniment to Olivia's dancing is annoying. But her dancing and eating of the carrots intended for the snowmen's nose offset that factor. Awesome.

Grandpa Wrastling, Part I (or II, depending on how you read the blog)

Grandpa wrestles Olivia with ball as accomplice and Ahnee Kathleen filming. She loves it. If you like this, try "Unparalleled Joy," the previous post. Good stuff. The more Olivia can flop around on beds or carpeted surfaces aided by a grandfather, the better, apparently.

The Unparalleled Joy of Pushing Someone Forty Times Your Size

When it comes to kids, Grampy specializes in physical humor. Super-specialty: farts. But for toddlers, you really have to go that extra mile, so Grampy imitated a tree chopping himself down over and over again, tilting precariously and risking crushing the howling two-year-old on the Marriot bed. (Yes -- my whole immediate family -- parents, siblings, and their spouses and kids -- were in a Marriot room spending some QT together over the break. Hey -- when it comes to Christmas, it's time to pull out the stops. And party like a falling log.)

The resulting video, I think you'll find, is breathtaking. Enjoy.

Scary cat

No, not *scaredy-cat* . . . SCARY cat. Observe.

The pumpkin (is delicious)

Tonight the pumpkin carving happened. Olivia at first refused to approach the pumpkin's guts, and I can't say that I blame her. She did get into mixing the seeds, however, which added to the taste of the now-baked end product. I am proud to be part of a family where the main point of nearly every activity is to eat something.

Olivia the painter (aka "Oh-va-va")

Olivia received an easel from Uncle Todd and Auntie Erin. Here she is demonstrating how she has achieved the level of intensity and concentration required to be a great painter. The heavy breathing has less to do with painterly commitment than it did with a very bad cold. Thankfully, that's gone, but the easel is not.

Jam session 1: mellow riffs

This is when Olivia and her guitar, who also goes by the name "Piano," just met. Olivia opened the box to find him, a 2nd birthday gift from Grandma and Grandpa.

Clearly they already have an electric connection.