We began the month by celebrating Victoria’s first birthday with a few friends at MyGym:
The cake was delicious! It was one of the best cakes I’ve had:
We celebrated Chanukah both at home and at my cousin’s house:
My parents took Fiona out for the evening, to enjoy tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches at the Temple:
This year I got Fiona her own Chanukiah (the special menora used at Chanukah) because in previous years she used one made at Torah School, usually out of wood that…um...burns when the candle flame gets too close:
I like holidays that give us a chance to go to my cousin’s house. We don’t get to see my family very often, even though they live only an hour away. We always have a good time and Fiona LOVES her older cousin. She never wants to leave when we are there.
Fiona made these candles in Torah School and enjoyed adding one every night:
Fiona revised her Mary Poppins costume:
Fiona’s class, together with another class, performed in a holiday show. Fiona was selected to bang the symbols during the March of the Toy Soldiers portion:
Victoria has become quite the little reader. She loves books! She sits with them, turns the pages and babbles as though she is reading.
Winter vacation began with attending a birthday party for a classmate of Fiona (I believe the 10th or 11th birthday party this fall) then purchasing and decorating a tree:
We, actually Fiona, decorated only the top of the tree so that the ornaments would be out of reach for Victoria. She used some small balls, “snowflakes” we made at the afore mentioned birthday party for the classmate, and ornaments from IHOP. We thought they were funny. Who doesn’t think of pancakes when they think of winter holidays?
Fiona’s letters to Santa:
She was so excited about receiving a response. She came running into my room to tell me that Santa wrote back. She was especially happy about the answer to her question “what is your magic?” (the love in your heart). However, later, when discussing how it is possible for Santa to get to everyone all over the world, that answer backfired a little. I told Fiona that because of time zones, Santa didn’t have to be everywhere at once, he had some time. Also, not everyone celebrated Christmas, so there are whole countries that don’t have many, if any, children who get presents. And last, magic. She replied that it can’t be magic because Santa’s magic is the love in your heart, and that is not the kind of magic that allows you to do things. D’oh!
We went hiking four times during the break. We went to Wildwood twice, but hiked trails that were new to us:
We explored a cute little trail in Ojai:
The trail is very easy. One mile uphill to a lovely view of the Ojai valley in one direction, complete with a peek at the ocean and islands, and some canyon in the other direction.
On New Year’s Day we went back to Wildwood and hiked to the waterfall. After, we continued down the trail until we reached a large picnicking area that had lots of tables, places to hitch up your horse, and allegedly bathrooms. There is a creek the runs all the way along the trail and we crossed it many times. Eventually we began climbing up to Lizard Rock. We did not see many people and those we did see were heading in the opposite direction, probably because the trail was a little bit of a slog. Not bad, not long, but very sunny, a little windy, and a little dusty.
We did the little hike behind city hall on the last day of winter vacation:
It seems some improvements were made to the trail since the last time we were on it. Some nice benches were added, new signs were posted, parts of the hillside were in the process of being planted, and the trail itself was smoothed out. It was so smooth, we took the BOB on it.
Some moments from the month – Fiona helping Victoria open a present:
Victoria is far less interested in doing that than Fiona was at the same age. She has other interests.
Victoria drinking milk out of a sippy cup:
She is still nursing and I plan to nurse her until she is two years old, unless she decides to stop on her own before that. However, now that she drinks whole milk, I no longer need to use my pump (not that I used it much in the first place...ah the differences between having a baby full term and having a preemie).
Fiona modeling a Christmas gift from Emily:
Fiona reading:
Fiona can read! She reads everything! Signs, books, labels, everything. She also wants long hair. Sometimes when we play various roll-playing games, if her character is supposed to have long hair, she improvises, as in the pictures above. Yes, those are pants on her head. But we do not make fun of her. I want her to have confidence in her choices, so I let her do things like this. I think it is a clever way to achieve the effect she was after.
Both girls reading:
Chanukah all over the house:
Victoria with Emily:
Victoria is a bookworm, just like her mother and her sister:
Fiona was such a neat and dainty little eater when she was smaller, Victoria is not:
I now understand why people buy bibs for toddlers and why they use plastic mats underneath the high chairs. I sweep and vacuum the floors around the dining table daily.
Fiona using the Moby Wrap to simulate Rapunzel hair:
The headphones were to help keep the “hair” on her head.
Victoria eating on the kitchen floor:
Fiona dressed up as Santa:
My loves, all in a chair:
Christmas morning:
Fiona and John each got 4 gifts, Victoria received two or three, and I received a box of chocolates. My gift did not last very long.
We decided to take a last minute, pre-New Year’s Eve trip to San Diego. We stayed in a cute little rental and visited the zoo. The San Diego Zoo was in fact a ZOO on the day we went. So busy! Still a great day. Victoria took two naps in the stroller, Fiona lasted all day. We brought all of our own food, which was a good thing because the lines at the food places were longer than the lines to see the animals. We saw an actor from a television show we used to watch, but we did not approach him.
We saw lots of animals, including the pandas and the polar bears, and the baby hippo Devi, who was swimming around and playing with the audience:
Here is Fiona two years ago and this year:
At the end of the day, Fiona got her face painted:
There was no line for that.
After, we went to dinner at a restaurant called Waypoint Public. Waypoint had good food and very fast and kid-friendly service, but best of all, it had a play area with lots of toys, MegaBlocks, and many many books! The waitress let us order Fiona’s and Victoria’s dinners first and brought it out early. The girls enjoyed the play area while we ate our food and shared a nice beer.
On New Year’s Eve, we went roller-skating:
At a rest stop on the way to San Diego:
Sleeping in the car:
Shortly after her first birthday, Victoria started taking steps:
She went from this:
To this:
and this:
She walks everywhere now! She also thinks she is really funny. For example, today at breakfast she farted. John asked her if she did, she said “yeah!” then started laughing. Later, she burped, and when we asked if she burped, she again said “yeah” and then laughed.
So, that was our December. January has been pretty uneventful so far. Hopefully I will write about it before the middle of February.
Last, because today is January 13, Happy Birthday Matan! I miss you soooo much! Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you. I really wish you were here to see my two girls grow up. Fiona reminds me so much of you. I love you.
No comments:
Post a Comment