holiday! celebrate!

Before we get any further into the new year, let me recap our Christmas 2013 celebration, also known as...the entire month of December! Like Halloween, it seems Christmas is celebrated in full force beginning the day after Thanksgiving. And I'm not just talking about the music you hear everywhere and decorations (what was up with people putting up their trees before Thanksgiving this year?) - there are so many things to do in our neck of the woods to celebrate the holidays in the days and weeks leading up to the 25th. This year I felt like we kept a pretty decent pace. Here's what we did:

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??

the year of the...cat?

One thing I failed to mention in Daphne's 10-month update yesterday is that we've got quite the babbler on our hands! We were reluctant to call it just yet (although, looking back, turns out big bro was saying a few words/sounds pretty discriminately by about 11 months) but for a few weeks now, it's pretty undeniable that her first word is cat.

For awhile she would consistently make the "c" and "t" sounds when she'd see the cats (we have two of them...still, and yeah, she's a fan) and then eventually she began to say, very clearly, "cat". It's almost always the first sound she makes when she wakes up from a nap or in the morning. And while she's definitely using the word discriminately for the cats in our house, she also uses the word for other animals we see outside - other cats, dogs, birds - and for more mysterious connections like trees. Because they're kinda fuzzy? As the kids say these days, IDEK. Anyway, here's a quick video from a couple of weeks ago, around when the above pics were taken. If you listen closely you can hear her say "cat" over and over again once she gets over to our black & white kitty, Xander.

10 months!

As usual these days I'm a couple of weeks late on my monthly update for Daphne. I can hardly believe we've entered double-digit months and that I'll be thinking about 1st birthday shenanigans in a couple of weeks when the holiday dust has cleared. Other than more teeth and Thanksgiving celebrations, not a whole lot happened in month ten.

We got outside. A lot.

And it's a good thing we did considering the cold snap we've been experiencing in the Bay Area, nothing like Elias's first winter in Boston but unusually cold for these parts. For a second-born kid in particular, this stage is a bit frustrating since all Daphne wants to do is crawl around on the floor and she'd be content to do so at home. She's not a fan of being strapped into anything - car seat, stroller, shopping cart, etc. - but staying home for too long doesn't work so well for Elias's combination of crazy energy and limited ability to self-entertain/direct. He has a room full of toys but when we're home all he seems interested in doing is running from room to room, bouncing on our bed and the couch, nearly stampeding Daphne in the process.

So we schlep Daphne to big brother's activities (practicing martial arts above in the background while Daphne considers eating leaves), to the playground, and to other more toddler-appropriate venues way more than we ever did with Elias at this age.

I keep telling myself it'll get slightly better in a few months when she can toddle around and - hopefully - put fewer things in her mouth. Or maybe chasing after her will get harder.

But the outings have made for some fun firsts (first time on the carousel at the zoo, for example) and some awfully adorable family photo ops.

And, actually, speaking of not being terribly interested in toys, when we are home, all Daphne is interested in doing is pulling up on everything and opening various cabinets and cupboards to pull out things we'd rather she not have access to.

This is a particularly fun corner of the house:

Sharp corners, an open outlet, a lamp she can pull down, a bookcase she can climb, etc. On a less challenging note, she does seem - finally - a little bit more interested in books lately.

She still wants to gnaw on them but she's actually letting me read her a couple of books before naps and bedtime, all of which makes me realize how amazing it was that Elias was so into books from such a young age.

Here are some images from her 10-month photo shoot:

Based on when she's done other stuff compared to big brother we have a prediction going that she'll walk by Christmas and she is standing unassisted for several seconds at a time now. But as the holiday approaches, I'm not so sure that prediction will be accurate. I guess time will tell. People keep asking me if I'm ready for a walker. Well, that's irrelevant. I'm not really prepared for any of this craziness. But it's going to happen. With Elias I welcomed walking, especially considering how quickly he at least went from uncertain toddling to confident walking. I'm guessing Daphne may not be as coordinated as he has always been. Less coordinated and less cautious which should be a fun combination. Anyway, ultimately I just loved not having to carry Elias everywhere since he also didn't care for the stroller. We always joked that he was a toddler trapped in an infant's body and lately at least I feel the same way about Daphne. So I think on some level I'll appreciate that part of budding toddlerhood but it'll be interesting to see how she differs from big brother as a toddler.

a Dinovember inspired Thanksgiving

I'm just going to say it: I can't stand the Elf on the Shelf. And I truly mean no offense to the parents who do it. If that's your thing, by all means, enjoy. But it's not mine. That said, and I'm not sure why, I loved the concept of Dinovember when I first read about it last month. Initially I'll admit I was like, oh here we go again with another parent who wastes a perfectly good nap or evening setting up these elaborate photo shoots that sometimes make a legitimate mess that I personally would not want to then have to clean up. But the project stayed with me and I got a legitimate kick out of each photo they posted.

And I love that as a parent, regardless of the gender of your child/children, you probably have a bunch of plastic dinosaurs laying around, right? Everyone could participate and share pictures without this one-upping-them vibe that I associate with Elf on the Shelf which is, at the end of the day, pretty similar. With all that said, I present to you our very mellow Thanksgiving 2013, during which we bucked tradition with our turkey meatloaf and let the dinosaurs have a little fun as well.

The dinosaurs help with food prep, with a couple of mischievous dinos trying to sample the green beans.

Dinos set the table.

Dinos are a little stumped by the mashed sweet potatoes.

Dinos wash up.

Dinos wait patiently.

Dinos are all, "turkey meatloaf, are you kidding me?" No dinos, I am not. (I mean, seriously, who wants to cook a turkey with an infant and a 5-year-old who won't eat it, anyway?!)

Turkey meatloaf is redeemed by pie and whipped cream.

We had fun. And there was no lying involved. I don't know, I guess it might be fun to surprise your kids with a dino shenanigan that they find in the morning but I just can't imagine we'd pull that one off with a kid like Elias. He seems to believe in Santa and the Tooth Fairy but I don't think he'd be fooled by an elaborate dinosaur set-up. Also, he's a little cranky in the morning so I don't think we want to go there. Nope, Elias helped out in this case, coming up with ideas about what the dinosaurs would do next and helping set them up for the photo.

Hope y'all had an equally relaxed and enjoyable holiday. Also, this post reminds me that I never did a holiday wrap-up last year! Gasp! I'll see if I can squeeze that in with current holiday shenanigans, Daphne's 10-month update, all about Elias's transition to Kindergarten, etc.!

teeth!

Before I get to Daphne's 10 month update (10 months and 3 days today! whoa, double digit months!), I wanted to write a little something about the interesting intersection of ages we have going on right now with the two kids, with Daphne getting and Elias losing first baby teeth!

Pretty exciting stuff. Elias as a baby got his teeth on the early side but Daphne's took a couple of months longer to break through. That said, within about a month's time she now has four teeth to date with another two on bottom working their way up...I think. She got the bottom left, with the right one closely following and in the last week the top two front teeth broke through. She also had a nasty several-weeks-long cold so she was a pretty cranky mess last week, right when Elias was suffering from a bad ear infection. By the holiday we were in decent shape, but more about that later.

Anyway, then yesterday when I went to pick Elias up from school he announced that he'd lost a tooth at lunch! Just like that. No wiggly tooth build-up or drama, or not really. He'd been talking about loose teeth for a couple of months but it always seemed to be a different tooth that was wiggly and usually followed a buddy losing one of his or her teeth. So I didn't think much of it. He seems to have lost it at lunch and it is literally lost. The story about where exactly it went keeps changing. I thought maybe it got stuck in food but at first he said he threw it away - because "it was bloody" - and then he said he threw it under the table. Needless to say, we won't be keeping that first lost baby tooth (or future ones?). The whole experience is classic Elias right now - not talking about it much leading up to it (similar to how he didn't complain about his ear hurting until it was causing him so much pain he could only sleep for 15-20 minutes at a time, barely responding to ibuprofen), and throwing it away because "it was bloody." He's not a big fan of messy, so this does not at all surprise me. Keeping the tooth probably didn't occur to him at all.

The tooth fairy still paid him a visit though, leaving $2 for the missing tooth. That's pretty generous, especially considering there was no tooth to exchange. Perhaps he or she knew to search for it in the school cafeteria. Anyway, the tooth's neighbor is super wiggly as well so I think we may have another gap in that smile pretty soon. When I dropped Elias off at school this morning I hollered, "If you lose a tooth today, don't throw it away, okay?"