Kalina's Christmas letter

Hi all,

This is Kalina writing (again). Mommy says she loves reading your Christmas letters so much that she wanted me to send one to you. She, apparently, doesn't have time in the midst of all the festivities, not to mention pretty paper to print it on.

First, I'd like to say Merry Christmas to all of you. However, I can't--not quite, anyway. I did say something that resembled Chrixth this morning, though, so Mommy's counting it. I've also recently learned to say "please" and "thank-you," and even kind of know how to use them properly. We've been pushing this one hard the past week. Mommy says I'll find out why tomorrow. It better be worth it.

It's been a good year--and one that's encompassed almost exactly 2/3 of my life. It seems like an eternity. During that time I've grown hair and teeth (I was rather bald-ish and gummy this time last year), I've walked, asserted myself with my new-found voice (that I'm finding surprisingly handy) and slept many nights in a row without interruption (not lately, however).

In fact, Mommy and Daddy still cite their biggest accomplishment this year as getting me to sleep through the night. I held out as long as a could, but after a while it just got tiring. I needed my sleep! They still need their sleep, they assure me, seeing as I'm still something of an early bird.

This accomplishment, I should add, even edges out Daddy's triumphant graduation with his PhD from the black hole known as grad school, and his securing of an amazing job in the midst of a broken economy. Daddy has also managed to get in some good fishing and a little hunting in the area. Sleeping through the night, by the way, edges out all of Mommy's accomplishments by far.

Mommy and I have settled on a nice routine that fills most of our days, including lots of play outings, chores and trips to the store (3 trips to the grocery store this week--somebody please come rescue me!), naps (perhaps Mommy's second biggest accomplishment) and even a Bible study that I get to tag along on.

In Mommy's free time, she continues to freelance, and is gratified to see her freelance "career" ramping up instead of fading away. She also has started volunteering with a crisis pregnancy center, and relishes the pleasant, predictable hum of the copy machine as she helps out every Monday afternoon. She continues to enjoy sewing and is actually improving at it.

In my free time, I've discovered that I have an imagination, and that Lamby is probably alive, as are all my other stuffed animals. Mommy says that I may or may not grow out of this--she never has. I still love books, and listen to stories at a 1st-grade level. I also love music, animals, being outside, and helping Mommy in the kitchen.

With the permanent arrival of Aunt Nancy and Grandpa, I've survived being babysat. It was strange at first, but now I've come to rely on them, and especially on Poky the dog, who seems to hang out with us whenever Aunt Nancy is around. Mommy is proud to see that I actually can be happy in the arms of other people--and yet is daunted by the fact that it took days and even weeks of togetherness to achieve that. She is continually assured I'll grow out of my stranger and separation anxiety, but somewhat ashamedly would be okay if I lived at home through college.

We also enjoyed visits from various other friends and family members this year. Or, rather, Mommy and Daddy enjoyed them and I stuck to Mommy like glue because I was scared of most of them, except, fortunately, Grandpa and Grandma Odegaard, who I allowed to pick me up after only a couple days of near-constant interaction.

We did some traveling this year, but you can read all about that if you're so inclined by just clicking on the label "travel." I will mention that once I was sleep trained, it took Mommy and Daddy a LONG time to want to leave the house with me overnight, which is one of the main reasons we haven't traveled more (the broken economy being the other).

Finally, Mommy's making me say that more than anything under the tree this Christmas, we're thankful most of all to God for loving the world enough to send His son Jesus to us, and also for family and friends, and our nice, warm, cozy (sometimes too cozy, Mommy complains occasionally) house, our steady incomes, Mommy being able to stay home with me, our good health and our happy little family. We truly couldn't be more blessed.

Here's hoping your Christmas is merry and your New Year is bright!

Love,
Kalina