Gingerbread house fun.

Last night I coaxed P to go to bed early, dude was beyond exhausted. I think the only reason he went along is that JJ was home. When it was just the three of us SS climbed on my lap, straddled me and laid her head against my chest. As I thought she was going to fall asleep, he eyes became wide open and she said "I want to be your baby." SS then changed position, laid on my lap and snuggled up to me. Sure, your sleep, you choose how to go into that sleep. But SS repeated that she wanted to be my baby three times. Then I had a silly thought and went with it. I told SS that she would always be my baby, just like her brother is my baby. I told her that when she starts using the potty she will still be my baby, when she moves to the 4 year old class she will still be my baby, no matter how old she is she will be my baby, even when she is as tall as Baba (SS has a sudden fascination with growing tall). SS smiled, kissed me and five seconds later she was out. When I told P later that night he said that it was just what SS wanted to hear. I hope he is right.

This morning we finally got around to introduce SS to the magical world of gingerbread house decorating. I grew up in a different culture and this was a foreign concept for me. Never did one and neither did JJ. P then informed me that he never did one either. Great, who is going to be chief decorator? P simply told me that he did not care so the onus was on artistically handicapped me. But P did have plenty of "technical advise", I am not the only control freak here.

Icing the house was a pain in the rear end. After watching me fail miserably JJ took over. Like P, he could not have cared less about the darn thing, but he wanted to do it for SS. I am just not an artsy mom. SS then got down to decorating her house. I opened the candy, laid them out in front of her and told her to decorate away. SS used the picture on the box as a guideline and did a decent job for a first timer. But she ran out of creative steam before she finished the front of the house. SS was not invested in finishing the house and decided why put all the candy up just to eat it, total waste of her valuable time. SS just started eating the candy, then moved on to licking the icing out of the candy already on the house. As long as she was having fun we did not care. SS also surprised us by eating breakfast, scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and a biscuit. She would have had more bacon but P cooked the second batch and he likes his bacon almost uncooked. SS needs her crispy fix.

Later in the afternoon we watched Salt. Not the best movie out there, but I am a sucker for chicks kicking ass. Like Jodi Foster in Panic Room (loved the mother-daughter dynamic) and The Brave One. SS was almost falling asleep and had her head on my chest, totally oblivious to the movie. Just our luck than SS turned around just in time to see the beginning of a blood bath. I asked P to pause the movie and there was a funny scramble to get the remote. While we are scrambling to make sure SS did not witness more, JJ turns to her and says "and that is what happens when you do not eat your vegetables." I could have decked him, but must admit the guy is witty. One of those moments when being smart a$$ parents bites you in the rear end. SS went on to watch Nick Jr. upstairs while we finished our movie.

A few hours ago P noted that it was already Christmas in China. That led to one of those moments when SS's birth parents came to mind. I hope they are at peace and wish they knew that she is happy, healthy, loved beyond measure and warm. Have no idea why the warm part invaded my thoughts, but there it is. Merry Christmas China.