Santa Claus

We had been talking about Christmas for a couple of weeks. We got a tree. We were reading her The Night Before Christmas. She met Santa and thought he was pretty cool. Then on Christmas Eve, Mirko started telling her that Santa was going to come and leave presents under the tree. She was definitely interested in the idea, but she didn't make a big deal about it. Christmas morning, we didn't say anything, just went about our usual, making coffee etc. Eventually, she wandered into the living room. Then her eyes got very big!!

Not sure when she learned the concept of presents, but she knew these were to be opened!

The aftermath.

Santa brought an easel for the budding artist. Big hit to say the least!

Raggedy Ann and Andy. Love at first sight.

New jammies, Nina ballerina doll and Ann and Andy.

Outfit has changed, but doll remains.

Already been an exciting day. Ready for the party?

San Jose Christmas Downtown. If you look closely, you can see I am sporting my new hat, gloves and purse!

Penguin Flight School.

Many thanks to all the Santas!!

Merry Christmas!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

In what I am sure will be a new annual tradition, we took Nina to the lights and decoration display on Fulton Avenue in Palo Alto. She loved it. Lots of other children, and snowmen, and Santy Clauses...
Here we are at the annual STAR Lab Christmas party. Unlike last year when the sight of Santa made Nina scream uncontrollably, she was happy to see the jolly old elf especially when she realized he was handing out candy canes and other sweet.

Cheese!

Colors

Quick pre-Christmas update. Neat little milestone that Nina has reached here recently is that she seems to get colors. It is amazing how abstract of a concept that is! She has known the words for different colors for quite a while, but if you asked her what color something was the answer was always "green". Now pretty consistently she gets them right... pink, purple, blue, green, yellow! Pretty fun!

Last month we did fashion, so now we'll do hairstyles. Nina's hair has continued to come in in a mass of light brown curls. Sometimes, it is fabulous, bouncy ringlets....


... other times, it is more challenged...


While not ascetically the best shot, this next picture has special significance. This was the first time Nina stacked up her blocks all by herself to make a "towwah". She got those blocks for her first birthday so it is appropriate that she mastered them as she rounds out her second year!

You can see that we both rushed for our cameras. Good thing too because the best part of making a "towwah" is knocking it over.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Step 1. Brine the turkey.

Fashion Show

Over the last several months, Nina has gotten more and more particular about which clothes she will wear. The only way to get her to wear any clothes at all is to let her pick them out. And her fashion sense is .... well .... unique. Here is a sampling of Nina's memorable selections.

Cute, matching, very nice ... except that she wants to wear it in November, outside, with no jacket. She loves this outfit! Whenever it was clean, it was the first thing she would pick from the drawer. We finally had to hide it from her.

The shoes! The purse! The sunglasses! Very glamorous.

But with different accessories, she creates an entirely different look.

Now we are getting to the good stuff. Flowers plus Halloween stripes (which she refused to even look at during the entire month of October) plus leopard print shoes.

Halloween pirate shirt (with "sleebs rolled up") and purple tutu. Just an ordinary school day. (I am pretty sure she has those leopard slippers on too.)

Classic. But it must be an old one because now she hates that jacket with the fire of a million suns.

Yep, some mornings are more of a challenge.

Baka

But first a funny story to tell.... This week, for the first time, Nina corrected me. We were reading a story about a little chick. She asked, "What's dat ov'r dere?" pointing to what was in the little chicks mouth. I said, "It's an acorn." "Dat's not a acorn," Nina replied. Nina know acorns quite well - the play yard at school is covered with them. And this thing in the picture was most certainly not an acorn. She was right..... it was a seed. Crazy.

On our way to the Palo Alto children's library (first children's library in the country - just so ya know). Nina is wearing one of Baka's fabulous creations. She'd wear that sweater for days on end if we let her.

Of course, cooking with Baka was a big hit for Nina as well as for her parents.

On the way to the airport! Bye-bye Bako!

... but the place at the end of the table is still Baka's.

San Francisco Days

Last month when Baka was visiting, we headed up to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park for some real adventures. It was a beautiful fall day, cool air but fabulously warm sunshine.

Nina was gung-ho!!

First we hit the Japanese Tea Garden.

Scaling the half moon bridge

Nina has been super in to tea parties lately, so we took her for a real one.

But by far, the biggest hit of the day was the large statue of Buddha. Nina was absolutely fascinated by him. We had to come back several times so she could just stare at him.

Here she is trying to imitate his hand positions.

We had lunch at the de Young museum cafe which overlooks the sculpture garden.

Resting in the giant clothes pin.

Oh noes!

Zebra butt!!

Pumpkin Patch

Boy, blink your eyes and the next thing you know it is mid-November! I suppose it is time to post these pumpkin patch pictures. Better late than never.... or as Nina would say "Halloween's over?"

The Webb Ranch Pumpkin Patch

Carefully searching for the most sincere pumpkin.

Found it!

Now, let's cover it with rocks!

A gripping ride.

The loot.

3 Movies

For your viewing pleasure:

Act I: The Athlete

Act II: The Artist

Act III: The Finally Long Enough Legs

Mini Inquistor

Nina has begun to dip her toe into the realm of questions. Not complex questions, but questions nevertheless.

"I'm hungry." "You hungry, mama?"
"I'm tired." "You tired, mama?"

Repetition is definitely key here. Everyday we leave the house and she notices that the wooden rail on the stair way is chipped. "Is broken, mama?", "Yes, unfortunately, it is a little broken.", "That one broken?", "Yes, that one is also broken", "That one also broken, mama?". She seems to be investigating subtle differences in language. She'll repeat the same phase over and over again, and if you say it slightly differently she notices that difference and repeats it.

Another favorite, "What dat over dere?"

Requests have also gotten more complex and on occasion more polite - "I need paper towel, mama, peas?"

"more milk, peas?"

Light reading during snack

General craziness

Ride on the monster

I never understood the point of those toy vacuum cleaners...

Playdate with her best buddy Hannah.