"Santa came!" We waited until Nina was asleep on Christmas Eve to put anything under the tree, so she was quite surprised in the morning.
She opened all of her presents and pretty much all of ours as well.
The Loot.
Since we are all at home together through New Year's, it is great to have some fun new toys to play with!
Cheerleading cowgirl!Couple of fun Christmas activities. First, we visited the Christmas light & decoration display on Fulton Ave in Palo Alto, and then on Christmas Eve we saw a performance of the Nutcracker.
This one had a full sized Santa's sleigh next to the fireplace and was playing a tape of a reading of The Night Before Christmas. Nina sat quietly for "story time".
:::
Sitting through the performance wasn't too much of a problem for Nina (kudos to the SF ballet for keeping the whole thing including intermission under two hours!), but more of a problem was her incessant desire to ask questions the entire time ("What is happening?", What are they going to do now?"). The second half of the show she was gracefully waving her hands like the ballerinas.
She was very excited when Mirko presented her with her very own nutcracker after the performance.
Dinner after the show.Nina is very much in to dress up these days. I never know what she is going to be wearing when I pick her up from school ... flapper dress, kimono, you name it. It continues on at home ... "wedding dresses" and high heels (followed by ceremonies joining her and various dolls in matrimony), bathing suits (the living room becomes a beach, and heaven forbid that you should accidentally put something in the "water"), a pair of tights over the swim suit and she is a ballerina. All of this is, of course, accompanied by absolute non-stop narration of her imagined activities during which she requires your full undivided attention. She doesn't require too much interaction from her audience other than an occasional "Ok? Ok." Although for the wedding ceremonies, she does demand that one of us be the "talker" (officiant) so she can be the bride.
Here is a nice concoction from baby blankets.
Stunts with Sassafras in 0-3 month baby clothes.
Japanese places are always a hit. She can eat a mountain of sashimi, edamame, and miso soup.
She is also working on her chopstick skills.We had a low-key Thanksgiving this year with just us. A day of cooking and eating, then three more days for adventures - no wonder it is one of my favorite holidays!
Making the stuffing first thing in the morning. Whew, then time to rest!
Fat Mr. Turkey! These small birds sure do cook up nice.
Pilgrim, Turkey, and Chocolate Turkey - far more interesting that actual Mr. Turkey.
The spread.
Cheer up, cranky pants.
That's better.Recently overheard:
San Francisco Girl
Feeding the piglets.
Nina helps out on the nesting activities.
Sunning the belly. 26 1/2 weeks.This was Nina's first year for Trick or Treat. The businesses on California Ave had a nice event during the afternoon, perfect for the little ones. Over the past month, Nina had shown a lot interest in the Halloween decorations and various "scaries". On day when we were driving to school, out of the blue she asked me slightly nervously, "Is it going to be more scary on Halloween?". She wasn't too interested in the idea of dressing up, but we did manage to lure her into her costume with the prospect of candy.
The wild lion sets off to stalk her prey.
Most victims never knew what hit them.
Ok, that's enough - let's check out the loot.
Straight for the lollipops. 3 in a row.
A well deserved rest back at the den.Fall is here! A great time to head to our favorite farm and pick up a few pumpkins.
A very friendly cow and horse stood right by the fence for easy petting.
We also got to pet goats, sheep, and rabbits.
The farmer's tractor was a huge hit.
Pumpkin Patch!
Nina gets an A for effort. That thing was hard to pull in the rocky soil!
There! That's more like it.
Our loot.
And finally .... belly shot! Here I am at ~23 weeks. Getting there!Last month, we attended Derek and Cecile's Wedding. It was held at the California Academy of Science, a truly fabulous venue for a both children and adults.
Wow, another family shot. Miracle of miracles.
Nina's favorite person was also there. "Jane, come here! Jane, look at this! Jane! Jane!"
Nina and Hannah. Too bad we didn't get this shot from the other side, but still it captures the moment.
Biiig snake.
No one told us there would be kangaroos in the Rainforest exhibit.
The whole affair only served to feed Nina's wedding obsession.
Ring around the rosy
Ashes, ashes, we all ....
The party definitely kept this guy up past his bedtime.We made a trip to Gilroy Gardens a couple weeks ago ($10 tickets, what a deal!). Fabulous fun for Nina, and we had even more fun seeing what a blast she was having. And look! One for the record books....
an actual family photo! As you can see, Mirko rather enjoyed the skill games.
Paddle boats.
Strawberry ride.
The Apple and the Worm - this one was remembered as the "fast ride".
And to make the day complete, face painting and sugary goodness!
