Ada and I have been keeping ourselves out of trouble this holiday season. Perhaps that is why the media has created this necessity to run around like our hair is on fire while attempting to buy just the right present for everyone we know - to keep us on Santa's Good List.

Last weekend we rented a car to go to a Christmas party in Brampton, so we took advantage of the wheels and headed to Newmarket to visit Jonathan's cousin Chris, his wife Pam, and Ada's adorable second-cousin, Ethan. It's fun watching Ethan and knowing we're seeing what Ada will be doing in a few short months. After our visit, we dolled ourselves up (see above picture) and drove our rental (an SUV - fitting since we were driving around the 'burbs) to Brampton to Mashaal and Melissa's annual Christmas party. Mashaal is a friend of Jonathan's from university, and when we entered the house, Mashaal immediately took Ada and played with her for a good part of the first hour. He said hello to the arriving guests, but then explained that he wouldn't be able to socialize since there was a baby to play with right now. He won her smiles by giving her "zerberts", and she loved every minute of it. Here is a photo of Ada and her new best friend:



We spent a hectic few days avoiding malls, so we visited my seniors and I ran a Christmas sing-a-long while Ada dazzled everyone with her presence. One of my gentlemen was so moved by seeing Ada, and so happy about her being my baby, it actually brought him to tears, and he is not usually an emotional man. It is amazing what emotions a baby can induce in people. Young or old, male or female, she affects people in a way that I would often not predict.

Ada has been reacting and interacting with her environment a lot more this past week, and even laughs at stuff she finds funny. She has been reaching out to touch her toys, and likes to watch and smile at the people we meet when we're out. She believes the sole purpose of the subway is to smile at strangers. I love watching people light up when she smiles back at them. We attended our Moms & Tots Christmas party yesterday, where Ada wore her new Christmas onesy from our friend Cat. Here she is looking all casual as she looks over her shoulder to see the other babies playing. It won't be long before she'll be on the floor crawling around with them!



Happy Holidays everyone! I'm looking forward to seeing the family and friends that we haven't seen for a while. It's my favourite part of the holidays!