hanukkah!
mia's first realy hanukkah. sure, she was around last year but she didn't really know what the hell was going on and we were all sleep deprived what with having a 3 month old and all. so! this year josh's family made the trip to our house and we ate and ate and ate. at least i did. mia had (and loved) her first latkes. thank god. what would we do if she didn't eat them? oh yes, we would have had more for us. but the kid who doesn't really like potatos is starting to come around.
when we started lighting the candles she was all sorts of confused. she knew there were presents involved at some point (and had been very patient about it), mom had made a cake, and now there were candles. so far so good. and people were starting to sing! but wait. that's not happy birthday - what the hell is going on?! seriously, the look on her face as she looked at everyone singing the prayers was hysterical. like this was some great big joke and she had better get to open those presents, damnit!
and she did. and how. can you say spoiled? she didn't even get any presents from josh and i that night because, well, she didn't need them. her babi and zadi and aunt tracey and uncle adam took care of her, i tell you what.
but more than the presents she was so excited to have her cousins in the house. we don't see them nearly enough and they're really really great boys. at 12 and 10 you'd think they would get bored pretty quickly with a bossy 2 year old, right? nope, they played with her for 4 hours. she bossed them all around and showed off her room. they giggled and chased and she was in love. she still asks me nearly every day where they are and tells me she misses them.
the rest of the rest of the week was really low key and we didn't go anywhere. every night we lit candles after dinner and every night mia would light them and then bask in their glow for about 10 seconds. as though she was really soaking in the moment. and then she would turn and ask "presents now?" she caught on quick, that one.
what really struck me was that she was able to keep hanukkah and christmas straight in her head somehow. we've had the christmas and hanukkah decorations up since thanksgiving and there were even 1 or 2 presents under the tree. we told her once that she had to wait until christmas to open those presents and that seemed to be enough. she never really asked about them. sure, she would poke at them every now and again, but then we would hear her tell herself "wait 'til christmas." and put it back. hopefully this will continue.
christmas!!
for the first time in 5 years we didn't go back to albuquerque for christmas this year. i was too pregnant and mia isn't free anymore :( but you know what? it was really nice having our very first christmas alone. and our last christmas with just mia.
growing up, i hated how my dad woke us all up at 5:30 in the morning by banging pots together and making all sorts of other ridiculous noises. we still try and keep him under control when we visit. but now i sort of understand. josh and i were up at 5:30 laying in bed waiting for mia to wake up. she wakes up consistently between 6 and 6:30 every. single. day. so at 6 we got up and started the day. made coffee, started some food, checked the internet, did dishes (complete with pot banging), turned on some music, etc. then it was 7. then 7:30. the hell?!
finally, she came into the hallway and found us waiting for her like paparrazi with the cameras and the loud voices. we got some crazy dirty looks! until she saw the presents under the tree behind us. then it was game on.
i wish josh had gotten a picture of her opening her stocking because that was the one thing i don't really think she was prepared for. presents in the already cool oversized sock grandma had made for her. score!
and in the end she got all she really wanted. panties and a baby stroller. and then she was done with us.
new years! and uncle ben!
mia has been carrying around this 1st grade photo of her uncle ben for weeks now. she sleeps with it. it's her uncle ben. not mine. and certainly not yours. so there. so when he told us he was coming for a visit mia was beside herself. telling me that uncle ben was going to chase her and tickle her and sleep in her room. end of discussion.
i kind of worried that she would be let down when uncle ben showed up and wasn't a first grader any more but was, instead, a tall 17 year old man. a man! (hell, sometimes i'm disappointed that he's not a 1st grader anymore). but no. she was SO excited. she talked his ear off and made him play with her non-stop. and lucky ben - his flight got bumped for an extra 2 days because of the snow in denver!!
they had the most fun and she is so bummed that he's not still here. she wants to call him every day but alas, whenever we call he is either sleeping or not there. damned teenagers! and seriously, how cute are these two?
No comments:
Post a Comment