White Christmas

So Annika has had her first white Christmas -- after a balmy and gorgeous 70-degree December 23, in which we went to a nearby park and regretted not wearing shorts, a big bad storm blew in and started dumping rain, which turned to snow and started sticking in a big way as the temperature dropped to the low 20s on the 24th. There were a couple of runs to the grocery store and for last-minute gifts and household items early in the day (all driving after about noon was done by the one person in the household with inclement-weather driving experience -- R.), and Uncle J. arrived midafternoon with a tale of near-disaster on the highway close to town. We had family dinner & presents, but the traditional party afterward was a skinny one: only three (maniac) guests managed to brave the storm and get out to our place, a record low. The roads were UGLY, with cars stranded in ditches all over the place, no form of snow/ice remediation (e.g. plows, salt or sand, etc.), and a howling wind that made it so cold we didn't have to refrigerate the cold beverages.

Christmas morning, once R. and I got the turkey in the oven, we had Annika's presents (mostly from Mamalah and her Aunt & Uncle -- ours will have to wait till we get back to Tommytown). She was thrilled with pretty much everything, including the Aqua Doodle, the metal pots & pans set, the threadable blocks, the Play-Doh roller set, and the books, and loved opening the pink Uggs and the tutu (but refuses so far to wear either). The biggest hit of all is the Plasma Car, the floor model of which she rode around all over the toy store where she found it (pulling up in front of complete strangers to announce excitedly, "I riding this!"). She loved it so much that Mamalah bought one right there, and it has been worth the price already. (It holds up to 220 pounds -- we've all had a go on it -- so it'll be good for her for years.)

The snow -- well. She doesn't like it much so far. We have tried twice. R. took her outside when it first started to stick, and she really didn't like the falling snow getting on her face. She consented to pick at a tiny snowball he made, but soon wanted to get back inside and wash her hands. Then the three of us bundled up and went out in the yard yesterday -- brilliant sun, no wind, but cold. She watched me make a snow angel, then allowed us to help her make one, but that was it -- "Want to go inside, wash hands!" Maybe next time -- this could take some getting used to.

All in all, it has been a fun trip so far, except for the not-napping (or abbreviated-napping) thing she's gotten herself into, ugh. Too much excitement for one tiny girl! She's gone shopping, ridden the plasma car, helped decorate the tree, visited with great-granddad K., swung on swings and gone down slides, eaten lots of new and tasty food, and had a bunch of time to hang out with Mamalah and Aunt L. -- and we're not done yet!

A complicated relationship with the kingdom Fungus.

She's eaten mushrooms before -- uncomplainingly, early on, but more dubiously in recent months. Not long ago, she took a bite of some sauteed ones I gave her from my plate, and as she chewed them, she got a most curious look on her face, pointed to her mouth, and said, "Dis is ... vegebles?" She finished the bite but wouldn't eat more of them.

Today, I gave her a mushroom from my burger at Taylor's in San Francisco (we had a full morning, the two of us, while R. continues to recover from the Attack of Poison Food or whatever it was). She took it between her thumb and forefinger, assessed it, and handed it back very politely, on grounds that "it looks like doggie poo-poo."

I laughed so hard I thought I might have a stroke right there in the restaurant. The people next to us grew concerned ... but Annika just kept people-watching and eating her grilled cheese.

Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Last night was the babyschool Christmas pageant -- or show, or whatever they're calling it: Each class of kids, from the infants to the Kindergarten, got up on stage and sang a song. Or, in the case of the infants, sat there in Christmas-wrapped cardboard boxes staring, bewildered, at a sea of cameras and camcorders ... heh.

Annika's class, Primary 1 (mostly two-year-olds), sang "Feliz Navidad." She's been working on that one for a month, and she does love to sing it -- but last night she mostly stood there, finger in her mouth, biding her time and solemnly regarding the audience as if we, not they, were the ones performing. At the very end, she did the moves they'd learned -- hands on hips, a little bit of a sway back and forth -- and smiled a little at her teacher, Ms. May. Ta da! The end. It was pretty hilarious. Afterward, we adjourned to her classroom for snacks and such, and she kind of made a dinner of cheese & crackers, the poppyseed mini-muffins she and I had made that morning, a sugar cookie, and some apple juice. Since she's never even seen that much sugar at once, much less been allowed to eat it, I'm pretty sure she felt like the whole outing was worth it. Her poor little buddy Rupesh, though -- the way he screamed his face off, more or less the whole time (like R. says he does EVERY DAY at dropoff), I don't think he was having that much fun, cookies or no.

There is, of course, video and a few photos (taken in bad light at odd angles) -- she looked ADORABLE in a new red Gap shirt, black velveteen leggings, and her new "pretty shoes," with her hair down & held back at the front by a barrette (aka "hair things"). I didn't get to put the Stella dress on her, because on Monday they'd sent home a sheet of paper asking us to dress the kids in red & green ... oh well! Another time. I'd hate to get a black mark on our permanent record for dress code violations this early in the game. Heh.

Then it was home to a skipped bath (since it was after 8:00 by then) and on with the footie pajamas (the ones with "pamandas" on them), then lights out -- a big night for all.

Thanksgiving and so forth!

So last week was Thanksgiving, and we had us a good one. It was just us and Tom, but since Tom's one of our very best friends and he is definitely Annika's favorite guy ever, it was a good time. The morning was spent getting the 18-lb. turkey into the oven and prepping all the other stuff we were serving, and the afternoon was all about eating like they weren't going to be making food after tomorrow. Heh. Annika sat up to dinner with us (at about 5:00), and really enjoyed her plate (with a little dab of everything we were eating). She indulged us sitting there for an hour and a half -- dang, she's good! And the next day, it was close to 7:00 a.m. before she got annoyed enough to drag R. out of bed ...

Helpful baby

This kid likes to help. And she will do anything you ask, if it's part of a Mommy or Daddy job. Just lately, she's stepped up her contributions to coffee (seriously, you can stop a tantrum mid-kick/flail with "You want to help Mommy make coffee?"), putting away clean dishes ("put away focks and knives, clean ones, match 'em up"), and cooking -- I set her up with a chair right next to the counter (always with the lesson on how "never never never do this unless Mommy or Daddy is RIGHT HERE" ... yeah, we know, good luck with that ...). And I give her a task, show her how to do it, and watch with amazement as she learns and masters things one by one. Having her help me in the kitchen is one of the things I love most about this whole gig -- I remember spending loads of time in the kitchen with my mom, my Grammy and my Neanaw, and it just feels like passing down a gift to the next generation.

Stella dress

OK, this made me feel INSANE, and broke like ten of my own Parenting Rules, but: I bought her a dress from the Stella McCartney Gap collection. Silk dress. Fifty-eight dollars. No discount (she's a Celebrity Designer, doncha know -- even we employees have to pay full price). For a TWO-YEAR-OLD. But! The dress is so cute -- it grabbed me by the face and would not let go till I bought it. She'll look really really incredibly cute for the five minutes until she smears peanut butter on it, at the babyschool Christmas sing thing next Friday (her class's song is "Feliz Navidad" -- you will DIE of cuteness when you hear her sing it). Put her in that dress and top it with what I am calling the "Tuesday Weld coat" (a chocolate-brown faux-fur coat from Gap, with a hood that makes her look just like the photo of Tuesday Weld on the cover of Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend), well ... die of cuteness, is what.

A new Sheriff in town

R. got us a new carbon monoxide detector. As hilarious as it is hearing her go on and on about a smoke detector, imagine her talking about the "kabah. moxide. deee.tector. Daddy get a ... " etc. etc. etc. Heh.

Four, maybe five alarms

New adorable phrase: "a little bit o' picy." As in, the chili we let her have is "a little bit o' picy." So she has to drink milk after. Heh.

Astounding memory

This has always been the case with her -- something you had no idea she'd remember, she's talking about with utter assurance. Yesterday I was folding the red tablecloth I'd washed and dried. She saw it, said "Oh! Red table clof. Put it on de big table. Sit down, wif Mommy and Daddy, and Tommy, and eat de turkey." Holy CRAP.

Babyschool pictures

It's a school. They had a photographer come. You want some? Let us know ...