George: Della!

Della: I’m right here.

George: Della!

Della: I’m right here!

George: Della!

Della: I’m right here!!

George: Della!

Della: I’m right here.

I told Della to get Daddy and she said, “Stevie! Your woman wants you!”

George put a plate of buttered green beans on his face.

Steve told me not to put this on the blog.

Good afternoon. 

Della likes wearing this blue fitted crib sheet on her head.

She looks a bit like sister Annie, who was cast as Mary in her Northern Ireland nursery Christmas pageant. 

Annie/Scott/Lizzie are coming back! Soon. End of January. OMG…you guys. We are ready. And heads up, Della expects Annie to know all of the songs from Annie, The Musical.

More about Della: She fell down the stairs awhile back, and since then we have talked a lot about stair safety. Now she will tell you that there are four rules on the stairs: No hot-dogging, no dance moves, no falling, and no goggling (?).

Also, Della has an imaginary prince named Eric, and today on the stairs she said he was hot-dogging. So there is a lot to keep an eye on.

George, when he cries, now only cries for Della. But we just figured out that “Della” is the word he uses to refer to everyone in his family that is not me. It’s interesting.

Observation from George’s daycare newsletter: 

“George has been ‘tricking’ his teachers and laughing about it. He emptied toys on the floor and was asked why did he empty the toys out, he put his fists over his eyes and made a crying sound and when the teacher said George it is okay, he laughed so hard and there was never a tear in sight.” 

Why did you empty the toys out, George? That is a very hard, very existential question for a 1-year-old to answer, evidence of a challenging curriculum. 

What’s going on here? 

Typical kitchen rave. Typical songs: Freeze Dried, Bugatti. Turn on some lights, and it’s no big deal…

What’s this secret audio-only video? 

That’s just Della saying, “No, Baby!” I heard her say it like 10 times in her sleep when we were bed-sharing in Utah, firing up the nebulizer twice a night. It was, “No, baby!” “Okay. So.” and “There we go.” The rest was just nonsense.

Speaking of nonsense, right as George is starting to learn some English words, Della is just giving up on that and making up her own words, defiantly.

Speaking of defiance, here is George in all his anger. “Go!!!!!” he cries, trying to get me to put on his blue coat over his pink coat. It’s like this always. “Go!!!!!” He wants to go outside and ride in his red car and go places.

Speaking of fashion, here is a secret look from early 2015…

This is a picture of the time when Mary wrapped the baby Jesus in a warm blanket straight out of the dryer because he was cold because he wouldn’t let anyone put any clothes on him.

This same baby has been crying in his manger for more than an hour. Sometimes he quiets down but will jolt awake if he hears so much as a cordless mouse slide across the surface of Steve’s desk. At one point, I heard him calling, “Della! Della!” But Della is fast asleep. 

Oh man, everybody got sick.

But here are some pictures of health:

A ski visit from the SLC Keate kids.

Dinner with Keate kid progenitors Steve (there are two Steves!) and Susan.

Della pretty much has ice skating down. I am still holding on to the wall.

Paul’s 30th birthday!!

The many surprise guests brought many surprise children. Della made fast friends with a girl named Ella and was heartbroken when Ella dumped her for a baby.

Early Christmas at Nanny June’s. 

More total request live.

So handsome it ho-ho-ho-hurts.

Barbara. Her last name means free.Thomas. His middle name is Claus.

Symbols of strength and masculinity (pre plague). 

Just so you can see the awesome glamour shots in the background.

Moment of Zen.

Bonus Zen.

Snapshots of Snow.

Happy New Year from the family that won’t let Christmas go!