The end of 2012

Christmas Day by the Danube.

Christmas and New Years were spent at home this year, and it was great. This was the first time in our married lives that we weren't traveling to either family or to in-laws to spend the holidays and I must say, there is definitely something to the idea of sticking around your very own home for Christmas. This was also our first Christmas spent in the new house, so that might have had something to do with it too.

Christmas Eve...it looks like Santa came!

I had big goals to start new family traditions that spanned the entire month of December, which only halfway panned out. We managed a trip to a Christmas market, but failed to purchase this year's Christmas ornament for the collection I have planned. We managed to play in the snow, but that snow was just the puffy bits that fell just outside our house. We did roast chestnuts, but not on an open fire, we baked them in the oven and ate them by the fire. We did have family Christmas tree decorating and popcorn stringing, if by 'family' you mean I did everything and the others enjoyed the results :) We sang Christmas carols, we wrote a letter to Santa, we watched a couple of Christmas movies, I baked Christmas cookies, we had fondue by a roaring fire and the whole thing ended with Santa bringing some fun stocking stuffers and a 'laufrad' ( bike without pedals) for our little Vin. Elsie got a nice little collectible that she will enjoy when she is much older.

Vin came down the stairs on Christmas morning and the first thing he said was, "Bicycle!" He seems to really get it and had a great time with all the new toys from everyone from the US, UK, Austria and Slovenia.

Elsie still does not entirely enjoy her non-boob food, while
 Vin (background) enjoys the iPad a little too much.

Baby update:
Elsie has been giving us never ending great big smiles and has started to shriek with delight for just about any reason. Her brother makes her laugh like nobody else. She has also started to form her first 'words. She is practicing with "Ba, ba ba ba". Still no teeth, still hates to eat real food, still does not take a pacifier but prefers to suck on her two fingers.

Vinny is continuing in his ridiculously cute phase. He kill us when he tries to make longer and more complicated sentences by using these fake filler words that are just a mismash of vowels and consonants. "Vinny go adeckadecka brodecka tommash blue auto game?"

He also likes to put a spin on his new vocabulary by lowering his voice about 5 octives to describe anything big. "Biiiiig truck!"

He has also started a fun game that is proving a real education for me. He quizzes us on our Slovene or English, and I am by far the worst player out of the three of us. First he chooses a word, such as 'Auto' and follows it with 'Ali', which means 'or' and then you translate the word.

Vinny: Auto ali ? ... Me: Car.
Vinny: Bumblebee ali ?... Me: Cebelica.
Vinny: Lucka ali ?... Me: light.
Vinny: Apple ali ? ... Me: Jabolka

Trixie-May is flipping and flopping a ton,
and just started sitting up on her own.

He adores her, she worships him.

Sometimes the play gets a little too much for Trix.

Vin is really testing me here. Can you hear me? I am warning
him to be careful with her, over and over and over.

Can you spot the elusive Elsie among the zebra, lions and monkeys?  

Cheese it up there buddy.