Here Comes Santa Claus

Today, L'ie Bear met Santa Claus for the first time!  After a nice long nap and lunch, I dressed the Bear up in one of her holiday dresses and we headed to the Fair Oaks Mall.  We got there with plenty of time to spare (Santa was on his lunch break), so L'ie enjoyed another bottle, while I enjoyed a Peppermint Mocha Latte from Starbucks.  Needless to say, we were both quite happy!

After the unexpected, but welcomed break we got in line and waited a whopping 5 minutes before it was L'ie Bear's turn!  We rounded the corner and there he was!  Santa was smiling ear to ear, but L'ie was not sure what to think.  I placed her in his arms and slowly backed away.  The Bear could not stop staring at him...she wasn't upset, but she refused to look away.  Since we were trying to get a photo, the rest of the staff began shaking sleigh bells and making funny noises.  Finally, we got her attention and there was enough time for one quick shot before L'ie Bear burst into tears!

I only had one non-crying photo to choose from, but I was very pleased with the final result!

Eight Glorious Months

L'ie Bear has turned 8 months old!  I still cannot believe it!!  She is doing so many wonderful things right now, and, for this post, I have decided to show the Bear's development through videos instead of words.  

Happy L'ie Bear!

 

Eating Puffs!

Searching for toys to play with!

Sitting up & playing with her toys!

Lions, Tigers, and L'ie Bears...Oh My!

Our Little L'ie Bear

Even at 7 months old, L'ie Bear was able to participate in the Halloween festivities this year.  Chad hates the holiday, but he has agreed that we will do everything we can to make sure that L'ie loves dressing up as much as I did.  Obviously, it was not appropriate to go trick-or-treating at such a young age and I did not need any extra candy in the house, so we decided to take our Bear to the National Zoo, which is one of our favorite places in DC, for a "Boo At The Zoo" event.  There were about 40 different stations throughout the zoo and they gave away fun items such as sippy cups, fresh fruit, chips/pretzels, juice boxes, stickers and glow in the dark lollipops!  Also, there were great decorations at the event and we did not mind paying for admission because it was a fundraiser for the zoo.     

Once we knew where we were taking L'ie Bear, we had to decide what costume she would wear!  Chad and I scoured the internet for the perfect idea.  Originally, I wanted to dress her up as a Daisy and Chad wanted to dress her up as a hotdog.  We went back and forth between those two costumes until I came upon the perfect idea.  Our L'ie Bear was going to be a Bear for Halloween, and her costume was exactly what we envisioned.

Posing with Mommy.

Posing with Daddy

 

Hanging in her stroller during Boo At The Zoo.

The event was so much fun and all three of us had a great time.  Since it went from 5:30 to 8:30, it did get cold, but the costume kept L'ie nice and toasty.  And she slept VERY well that night!!  I certainly hope that this will become an annual tradition for the family.  

As for the costume, we have no idea how we will top this idea next year, but I am sure we will try to come up with something.  Until then, I will enjoy all of our pictures from this year, because L'ie Bear was the cutest bear I have ever seen!!