December 15th, and as I mentioned to Ian, Santa and I had worked out a plan where he showed up early, because of all the other things going on in the coming weeks.

Also Santa has elves to build many toys, but there are some things that just aren’t packaged for a trip in the sleigh… thus Daddy’s been given special permission to do some of the assembly. Nina’s toy kitchen is pretty well put together and very cute!

*You can bet I’ll be keeping my real milk in this fake fridge!* See this image larger.

*Ooooh, what you got, brother?* See this image larger.

*Bonjour! Je m’appelle Chef Nina!* See this image larger.

Santa brought Ian a beautiful firetruck — the company that made this is pretty detail-oriented.

You happy? See this image larger.

He plays with the firehose more than anything else, really. It has been integrated into all his other toys as something. The Joker gets tied up all the time by Batman with the hose, for example.

It took Nina about 5 minutes to realize that two pot lids make a whole lot of noise. See this image larger.

Nina cooked up a batch of invisible food early on… See this image larger.

…and she ran around from person to person saying “Try?” I think that was the first time she’s said that. See this image larger.

*Thanks Ma!*

Nina got a Foofa backpack… yeah you don’t know what that is, that’s ok. Trust me.

A little later in the day, Nina cooking again! See this image larger.

“Try?” See this image larger.

Ian’s shoes were cute, when he was a toddler, but I’ve got to say, girl shoes are REEEEALLY cute. See this image larger.

Video, December 8th
Click here to watch a video of the 2011 Christmas concert, but be warned, it is 14 MB! That could be a long download if you have a slow connection, but enjoy! Of note, at the end of the video, there’s a knock-knock joke that we recently saw on a TV show that really cracked Ian up… it goes
“Knock knock”
“Who’s there?”
“Interrupting cow.”
“Interruptin–”
“MOOOO!”
So that’s what you’re hearing a bit of there.

Here are some pictures to go with the Christmas Concert video… they did pretty good; Ian had rehearsed the songs enough that he probably could have done a bit better, but it is hard not to look like a deer in headlights in front of 200 parents, particularly with the antlers. See this image larger.

Cutest reindeer I’ve ever seen. See this image larger.

He finally sees his Daddy taking pictures! See this image larger.

*Pop quiz, kids, in case of emergency, where’s the closest fire exit?* See this image larger.

Sorry about blinding the kids here… had to figure out the flash; ceiling was too high to bounce it off of there. See this image larger.

Hug! See this image larger.

*I dedicate tonight’s performance to you, Jesus. Happy birthday to us!* See this image larger.

(Soundtrack from Jaws.) See this image larger.

BOO! See this image larger.

Nina at work. They’re wearing socks, see? Just tonight she did this again, but the matching sock had to be rolled up and put on their heads as a hat. See this image larger.

December 1st, Seth enjoys a band of sunshine in my office. See this image larger.

December 3rd, Nina turns the tables on Mommy and styles her hair! See this image larger.

And talking girl-talk, of course! See this image larger.

*Oh girl, that man, you need to whip him into shape!* See this image larger.

*This would be easier if you would sit a couple steps lower, Mommy.* See this image larger.

December 4th, and Nina dresses up nicely for some holiday pics here at home… See this image larger.

Cute as a button! See this image larger.

At this point she was becoming more clear about what she would like to eat. Believe this was accompanied by “Cheese.” She was mostly sticking to one or two word sentences, the latter word generally being “please” many times, or the first word being “more.” See this image larger.

Nina sips from a fruit/vegetable pouch. See this image larger.

Love her hair here, wish it looked like that all the time! See this image larger.

November 22nd, just showing you what we’ve been doing with our soup, as parents, namely picking out the carrots and giving them to Nina! (Note that her love for the orange vegetable has fallen off recently, we’re not sure why.) See this image larger.

November 25th, Nina and Mommy share chatter while making pies for the impending Johnson/Kunze Thanksgiving! See this image larger.

She’s our little steamroller! See this image larger.

*So is it true that we’re supposed to beat up Daddy with one of these?* See this image larger.

November 26th, and BAM! Look who’s here!See this image larger.

The kids ran out to discover a new friend at the mini-dunes behind our house. I’ve still not really been back that far, believe it or not. See this image larger.

Kaylee Cutie! See this image larger.

This cute little boy gathered firewood! Hey wait, our fireplace is gas… See this image larger.

Another shot, same kids. See this image larger.

The toughest 9 year old I know. (Also the coolest!) See this image larger.

We said watch where you’re going, kid! See this image larger.

Clothes needed to be changed that night. See this image larger.

Back at home and hanging out in the sunroom. See this image larger.

The whole crew gathers for pizza! See this image larger.

Grampa Ray shares a Dr. Seuss tale with Nina! See this image larger.

Two huge U of M fans almost look away from an episode of Dora the Explorer for the camera! See this image larger.

November 27th, Ian’s recently acquired Bat-Cave is almost big enough to play peek-a-boo behind! See this image larger.

Grandma Barb peeks out our window to see how the light-hanging is going. (Thanks Connor/Ben/Ray!) See this image larger.

I missed this, apparently there were crafts! See this image larger.

She knows she’s a cutie in pigtails! See this image larger.

We celebrated Nina’s birthday a bit early, as Christmas was deemed already a bit chaotic. See this image larger.

Probably not the cake she was hoping for, but then again if you fast forward to when she really turned two, she dumped a cupcake on the floor rather than eat it… so… yeah! See this image larger.

The kid mob quickly advanced on Nina’s territory when the words “opening presents” were quietly mentioned. See this image larger.

Let’s play pretend photoshop. Take my kids out of this shot… See this image larger.

…and photoshop them into this shot. See this image larger.

Nina checks out a book! See this image larger.

All Daddy’s angels! See this image larger.