Shoe Fetish

The girl is obsessed with shoes. Her shoes, Steve's shoes, Samuel's shoes, my shoes, rubber galoshes, boots, tennies, patent leather shiny shoes, you name 'em, she'll try and get them on her feet and walk around in them.

EC update

Shira is 17 months old now, and using the toilet quite regularly. For the past several months, we have found that as long as Shira is naked from the waist down, she tells us when she needs to go to the bathroom by touching her crotch and grunting. Not the most elegant sign in the world, but excellent communication none the less.

In the past couple of days I have been experimenting again with putting her in pants without a diaper, reminding her that she has no diaper on, and telling her she needs to tell me if she needs to go potty. And so far, it's been working!

On a side note, I might be biased, but she might just be the cutest little girl on the planet, no?

Marble Runs are Fun

Chanukah Partay!

Lottie convinced us to host the family Chanukah Party this year, and because I was in an agreeable mood at the time, I said yes.

At least I was smart enough to insist that we do it during daylight hours. And I was lucky enough that it didn't rain. And so all those under 5 feet tall spent their time outdoors:

Yes, I did say under 5 feet, and that includes Lottie and Estie, though as far as I know they did not take a turn on the trampoline, preferring to stand near the hot oil and shredded potatoes.

Just the appetizer section of the spread of food

Definitely the most Menorahs ever being lit in this house. I wonder if we should try to make into the Guinness Book for most Menorahs lit on a given night of Chanukah. Does an entry already exist? Anyone? How many do you think you'd have to have to make it happen?

Gift opening mayhem

Night 3

My 35th Birthday Celebration

I may have finally figured out how to do my birthday. This is the first year I can really recall where I had zero expectations. We have been so tired recently, and have had so many social commitments lately, that all I wanted to do was get through the month of November and first week of December in one piece. And in the end, this is the most pleasant, relaxing, birthday I can recall at the moment.

The Monday before my birthday, my Mom came up to celebrate with us. As per her request, I told her what birthday dessert I wanted, and my Mom jumped through every hoop imaginable to get it for me.

Ice cream cake, of course! But not just any ice cream cake. This cake came from Penny Ice Creamery in Santa Cruz, a new local, sustainable, artisanal, organic, (probably hipster) ice cream joint owned and operated by the former pastry chef from Manresa restaurant in Los Gatos. It was stupidly expensive, and absolutely worth it.

How good was said ice cream cake? Well, half was gone the night of the birthday celebration. Steve and I ate at least one piece a night for the next three nights until we finished it off, just the two of us. And my slices were probably bigger than Steve's. Anyone who knows me and knows my relationship to sweet things and dessert knows that is a testament to how frickin good I thought that cake was.

Just a few members of my awesome family.

Smiling for my Hero. Speaking of which, it didn't even occur to me that Steve would get me a birthday present, and he got me the most perfect thing ever - an Italian espresso pot so that I could fulfill my goal of becoming addicted to espresso the very morning of my birthday. What a thoughtful husband.

On the actual day of my birthday, Steve's parents flew in to spend Chanukah with us. My Dad and Joan came over for dinner, and I was able to relax because I had made the main dish the night before - day of birthday wish accomplished - I didn't cook on my birthday.

And to cap off my birthday week - after the big family Chanukah party that we hosted at our house, Lottie and Estie and Tom and Susan cleaned up, while Steve and I escaped to a hotel in the city. What did we do there for 24 hours? Why, nothing but eat and sleep.

Perfect.

Thank you family!

Grandma and Grandpa Arrive on the First Night of Chanukah

One of the first things Grandma does when she arrives, of course, is get out a story to read

And Samuel managed to wrangle Grandpa into setting up his marble run immediately

Shira discovered a love of dreidles and Samuel rediscovered his love for fire

We had the pleasure of celebrating our first night of Chanukah with two sets of Grandparents. And of course that required two rounds of gift giving...

This is the first year that Samuel really seems to be aware of the holiday, and particularly the link to gifts. Last year, Samuel was confused and disappointed when Chanukah was over because he wanted to continue to light candles every night. Each night it seemed that lighting the menorah was exciting, but that it was more exciting to know that once we lit the candles there would be gifts to open. Unfortunately, he was so amped by the gifts, he didn't care what they were, only that he wanted to open more and more. Next year we will need to handle things differently.