We attempted to visit Santa and get some festive photo ops in as well (the fish eye lens was for our holiday card this year which I'll share just as soon as I have a chance to photograph it and add it to my shop), but Elias wanted to write him a letter this year instead.
I was a little bummed we never got a picture of Daphne with Santa but honestly, she probably wouldn't have been game anyway so no real loss there. We got our tree at Bayfair Mall in San Leandro again this year and let Daphne explore the indoor play area for the first time.
Miraculously, nobody got sick immediately after this outing (there was one winter a couple of years ago when I swear every time I took Elias there he'd come down with a stomach bug within a day or two).
Since we got our tree a bit earlier than usual this year, we celebrated what would be my Mom's birthday (and also happens to be Uncle Ryan's birthday) by visiting the Oakland Zoo Lights on December 11th.
Initially just Neal and Elias were going to go since it doesn't begin until 5:30 and I didn't want to rush the experience for the sake of getting Daphne back home to begin her bedtime routine. But in the end we decided to all go and I'm glad we did. Daphne rolled with it and it was a good excuse, cold as it was, to whip out big bro's old snowsuit from our Boston days.
And who had the meltdown in the end? Yep, not the baby. That's all I'm gonna say about that.
The following weekend Elias and I decorated out first gingerbread...thing. We attempted to make a train. Our royal icing flopped but Elias seemed to have a great time decorating, sampling, and contemplating what we might make next year (I think we left it at snowman, maybe incorporating gingerbread cake, or cake pops, if we're feeling really ambitious). If you're interested in reading more, you can check out the full report on my other, more crafty blog.
I got a second shot at making royal icing for the graham cracker houses Elias and his classmates decorated in school the last day before winter break. Much better second time around.
This, unfortunately, is how we started Elias's first real school break - down for the count with a stomach bug. The worst of it was over in about a day and a half and he was just about 100% by Christmas, but some of our holiday traditions were postponed in solidarity with the sick kid. Instead of our usual pizza on Christmas eve, we all enjoyed soup and crackers (and then had Round Table later in the week). Same for our usual Christmas morning cinnamon rolls; we had our basic breakfast that morning and saved the Grands for the day after.
But we did make it out to see the holiday lights at the Mormon Temple on Christmas eve. This was the first time for Daphne, of course, but the fifth time for the rest of us! It is truly one of my favorite holiday traditions since we moved back to Oakland.
An old tradition from my childhood (well, grades 4 through part of 8 and then part of 10 through graduation, anyway) in Germany that is now a new tradition of my little brood here is this wooden Christmas pyramid my Dad handed down to us during our road trip to Bend, Oregon this past summer. It brought back a lot of bittersweet memories, of our first Christmas in Germany when I was 10 and of my Mom's last the next year, just three days before she died. But like so many things once you have kids, this tradition has been given new life. I loved seeing Eli's reaction when it was lit and the heat from the flames made the windmill turn. Even Daphne made this funny vroom sound when it was in action.
Once again this year, we requested Christmas eve and morning be for our family only (with Grandma Joanne coming to visit later in the morning). Santa did not disappoint, with a skateboard, helmet, and pads for Elias (as requested, although he did not get the $300 Lego kit he also asked for), and LeapFrog Violet for Daphne. Little sister has her own "puppy pal" now, as we still call big bro's Scout. Elias got his "puppy pal" when he was about 17 months old and he continues to tote him around on occasion. Santa also brought the Boon stuffed animal pod in purple, like big bro's green one. But man, has that thing shrunk in the last 4 years?! The new version is much smaller than the original. Oh well.
Daphne was predictably a bit clueless/underwhelmed about and by what was going on but Elias was for perhaps the first time fully into tearing open gifts, not all that interested in pausing for breakfast, and eager to get through everything as quickly as possible.
I think this picture says it all, with Daphne putting everything in her mouth and a blur of a big brother zooming by in the background.
I can't remember exactly what we did between opening gifts and dinner - probably a variation on the norm, which is to try to simultaneously get Daphne to take the two naps she needs while somehow using up all of Elias's endless energy.
For dinner we bucked tradition once again this year and had tamales from Cactus Taqueria, supplemented with the usual sides and chocolate cupcakes with caramel filling and a most delicious spicy cinnamon frosting.
Grandma Joanne stayed an extra day while Neal went back to work. Daphne was beginning what continues to be a roller-coaster ride of a sleep regression (more about that in her 11 month update coming soon!), first affecting daytime naps. I thought she might be ready to begin the long, slow, painful process of consolidating her two naps into one so instead of putting her down for her morning nap, we met up with some school buddies at a local playground instead.
She ended up falling asleep nursing before lunch, and amazingly stayed asleep when I transferred her to her crib but only slept about 45 minutes more. So my effort to get one long, mid-day nap resulted in a very short nap that ended way too early. Needless to say, it was a long day.
On Friday, we said goodbye to Grandma and attempted to get ready for our road trip to Escondido to visit Uncle Ryan and his family.
Kids, don't try this at home. She is actually fully strapped in but somehow still manages to turn herself completely around. And you know how these babies are - once they figure out they can do a trick like this they do it every time.
On Saturday, we began week two of winter break with a family road trip down south. Where to begin? This drive typically takes us 8 to 9 hours, even when Elias was not much older than Daphne is now. But between uncoordinated kids' needs, taking too long at too many stops, and an accident that had us completely stopped on I-5 for almost an hour, the drive took 12 hours.
11 months is an odd time to travel. She's still nursing but also eating snacks and meals so that's a lot of stopping (and I don't really trust her to have a snack in her rear-facing car seat). She's also still too young to be entertained for very long by any of the tricks we use with Elias (iPad, Leapster, music, movies, etc.). And she's not a great on-the-go napper. Neither was Elias. Needless to say, while I'm glad we went, we aren't planning any more long road trips until Daphne is forward-facing, can be trusted with a snack on the go, and can be entertained for at least 20 minutes by something other than one of us. I'm not sure when that will be but in the meantime, we're hoping to meet folks in the middle to avoid these long car rides and airplane flights to see our scattered family.
But backing up a bit, while I ended up staying at Uncle Ryan's house with Daphne a couple of the days we were there so the older kids could get out of the house for a longer stretch (not to mention the fact that their youngest was typically ready for a nap right in the middle of Daphne's two naps - talk about uncoordinated!), highlights included their local playground for some much-needed outside time, a small Children's Museum in Escondido, a larger Children's Museum in San Diego (so close to Donut Bar but sadly, I wasn't able to swing a detour), ringing in the New Year with an east coast 9 pm ball drop viewing for the three older kids, and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, which is conveniently located just a few minutes from their house.
The trip ended on a not-so-great note with cousin Maddie breaking her arm during a fall from one of the play structures in the Safari Park - we were able to stay with cousin Zach for the 7+ hours Uncle Ryan and Aunt Kelly were at the emergency room with Maddie. But everyone was patched up by the time we hit the road again on Thursday morning, making the drive back in just 10 hours! Better than 12 but still too long.
Anyway, 10-12 hours is a lot of time in the car, a lot of time to reflect on the year and the holidays and the trip. When asked what his favorite part of the trip was, Elias replied with riding his scooter in the street since they live on a cul-de-sac in a gated community. It's funny the things kids enjoy about traveling and staying in new places. This is also the second time Elias has been really bummed to return home. He loved having a bigger house to run around in, buddies to run around with, and again, the novelty of playing in the street. At some point he'll appreciate the diversity of Oakland and the cultural opportunities of the Bay Area and stuff, right??
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