cute kids (or christmas, part 3)

i am fortunate enough to have my best friend from college living in the same small (faraway) town as my sister, so whenever we go out to visit family, i often stay at my friend’s house and enjoy a little extra time to visit with her.  on this trip, i got to meet her new son.  on the morning that i photographed the library bags, there was some nice sunlight coming in through the windows, so i talked this little guy and his big sister into letting me shoot some pictures of them.

(this one’s kinda blurry, but it cracks me up that it looks like he’s winding up to start boxing his big sister.  with quite the sly grin. while she’s totally oblivious to the impending danger.)

i also love this shot of their dog, anxiously waiting, hoping for a spill.

my poor nephews sort of got the short end of the photography stick this time as the lighting indoors at our families’ homes was so low and it was too cold for any outdoor photography.  but here are a few shots of them opening presents:

this is my sister’s child peeking though one of those rainbow viewers that i (i mean santa) put in his stocking.  my favorite christmas story about this boy was that the first present that he opened during the family gift exchange had been wrapped by my mother earlier that day in his bedroom.  she’d needed a little extra packing material, so she just grabbed whatever was nearby–a few of his crib blankets.  when he opened the box, the first thing he saw was the blanket which he promptly grabbed and toddled off to his bed where his parents (laughing at the absurdity of the situation) put him to bed for a two hour nap.  best. present. ever. –a nap!  thanks, grandma!  that was just what i needed!

this little guy is crazy for balls.  any kind, any size, any weight.  at 21 months, he’s an excellent dribbler and he can drop-kick balls amazingly far.  it’s no surprise, therefore, that his favorite gift of the year was a pop-up mini-basketball hoop thingy.  love that little mess of bed head.

on the other side of the family is my other nephew (nephew-in-law?) who loves toys that blink and make noise (he also loves eating vegetables and taking naps.  wow!  how’d his parents manage that?).  he got this tractor (great grandma apologized that it wasn’t a case brand, but she could only find john deere.  he didn’t seem to mind too much), a grill that lights up and when you place food on the grilling surface it makes crackling noises, and yet, i think the favorite toy of the year for him was this multi-compartment tunnel.  it was a big hit.  even without blinking lights.

the final cutie of the trip was one i’d met only online until this visit.  her mom is a dear college friend of mine who has been living in england for the past 8 or 9 years but she was home for the holidays, so we drove a few hours one day to see them.  i’ll post more about that visit in one of the next installments of the christmas trip story.  there are many, many cuter pictures of her on the web somewhere, but i couldn’t get any really great shots as we arrived at their house around dusk and she was taking a nap and… well, maybe my goal for 2009 should be to get more friendly with my flash.  learn how to use it effectively.  anyone have any good (read:  simple and straightforward) recommendations, suggestions or tips on attractive camera flash use?  in the meantime, here’s a shot of her using the remote control to turn the christmas lights outside the house off and on.

and i have to say that a not-quite-two-year-old with a british accent saying things like, “that’s lovely” and “cheerio!” and “toodleoo!”  is about the cutest thing ever.