Having a wee niece is one of the very best things. And one of the very best things about this very best thing is Christmas with a wee niece!

Like this. Amber likes shinies. (Hmm. I think I will make an effort to intersperse pictures of not-Amber, just for variety's sake.)

Dave got jam. Some of it even arrived intact. The TSA agents were not particularly careful with some of it, though. Do you know how much fun it is to clean peach pepper jam out of luggage? Answer: not much. Actually.

But never mind the TSA! I have a niece, and she has a hat!

And, thanks to Donna, Amber also has a new blankie with dots on it!

Sometimes Sarah is permitted to hold her own kid when the relatives are visiting. Sometimes.

Me and Matt.

She's got a rattle, and she's not afraid to use it!

Look at that mischief! Oh, are we in for trouble later....

Jeff appears skeptical of his father-in-law in this picture. For some reason unfathomable to me, of course.

Matt.

Sarah and movie.

Matt, me, Amber, and Mark.

Lin, Amber, Dan, and Donna.

Grandpa Lyzenga and Dave, with Grandpa's new laptop.

Jeff, Sarah, Amber.

Just think: next Christmas we'll have pictures of her tearing around under her own power! Merry doooooom! Er, I mean Christmas!