Thanksgiving

Oh yeah, we celebrated Thanksgiving and JJ made it home for a before the actual date celebration. Poor guy couldn't stay long, but we appreciate his willingness to be here with us.

On the last day of school before Thanksgiving SS arrived home really excited about the school celebration. I must admit that we were appalled that they still use the term Indians to refer to Native Americans.

In their defense, there are no curriculum vitae on file for the staff. Repeat after me, "it's preschool, it's play dough and crayons..." Oh shoot, it isn't.

Guess it is funny, or sad.

Girlie girl Christmas.

We left Nana's and Grand Min's presents for Christmas morning, and we jokingly dubbed it girlie girl Xmas.

Gee, that dress again? There's a post coming about that dress.

SS has always smelled D-O-G for soothing, but lately she is smelling everything. It's a sensory thing.

A panda hat for our little panda.

Clothes, including the perfect pair of jeans. We have shared how difficult it is to find pants for SS. Blouses are a breeze, she usually gets into two sizes larger than her age just fine.But pants are a PITA. When I saw they were size 5 I thought too big, but with the skinny cut and adjustable waistband this is a winner. Now we have to look online for more.

Dora suede boots! SS's current ones are a size 8 and these ones are size 9. With SS's slow shoe size growth, she should be ready to wear them next winter. This is SS's first pair of character shoes, other than Snoopy flip flops that she won't fit into for years.

A pet pillow, and SS was happy.

We need to get out more because we had no knowledge of Wuggle Pets. It must be very easy to use, because I blinked and SS had two pets made.

The baby, we held our breath waiting for her reaction. So far so good, and is NOT mute.

Magnetic thank goodness sporty dressed up doll.

SS got a kick out of dressing this doll. The part she enjoyed the most was mismatching outfits.

Super Hero Christmas Videos

Super hero Christmas.

We had our now traditional early Christmas. JJ made it home for a mere 25.5 hour stay, and we are incredibly grateful. He arrived Friday at around 2 p.m. and had to leave Saturday at 3:30 due to work. Maybe that is why we cherish these moments so much. When JJ came in I was glad he did not wrap SS's gifts. The part that peeked out of his gift bag made me realize that P was about to make a late night run to buy the gift JJ had for SS.

We told SS that Santa arrived early because JJ was home. That was good enough for her. We have not really drilled the Santa myth on SS, we do not put out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. She is aware of the fact that her relatives give her gifts, but accepts our lame explanation that Santa left those gifts at their homes. It has worked so far. Abuela's and Abuelo's gift(s) will be reserved for Dia de Reyes. It is our way of reinforcing SS's connection to what is now a part of her diverse cultural heritage.


Of course JJ's eye catching (show off) gift bag had to be first. Love the fact that SS's Metropolis table can be turned into a flat surface for other things.

C@rs 2 Tokyo Spinout race track, the same item P was about to get when JJ arrived.

SS had been asking demanding, whining, blackmailing for a Francesco. We decided that it was time for SS to learn that she can't walk into a store and always come home with what she wants. When JJ was here for Thanksgiving, SS gave him an earful about how she felt about our stinginess (and many others per JJ). P bought her one, so did I, and so did JJ. Yep, now she has 3 Francescos, but we only gave her JJ's. The others are backups,

No way, another C@rs race track!

Grandpa's gift, the coveted Bat Cave.

SS has been testing our patience with her new reluctance to brush her teeth, It is the most dreaded part of our morning routine. So much that P and I have to take turns because neither one of us can stand the crying, drama, and plain pain in the neck that is those two short minutes. That says a lot from a couple who endured such a long, gut wrenching wait. Her tooth brushing drama makes us want to gouge our eyes out. SS claims that the toothpaste is sour, her strawberry flavor bubble gum toothpaste. UGH. We are hoping a L*ghti*ng McQu**n electronic toothbrush will restore some morning peace.

JJ's turn, he and P have a thing about zombies.

Big surprise, another C@rs 2 race track. She has three of four individual tracks that connect for a C@rs 2, your parents are so called college educated suckers extravaganza.

We even things out,why there was not much action regarding JJ.

JJ has our old TV, and it is in the living room of the apartment he shares with two roommates. We wanted him to have a nice TV in his room. We think he liked it.

SS is really into puzzles, she is good for her age.

Prior to the Santa pic, we took SS to the Mall just to have her talk to the fake dude and hear what she specifically wanted. Much to our surprise the women there remember SS from her first pic three years ago (creepy). SS, with her nice shiner sat on Santa's lap and did not hesitate when asked what she wanted. She said " a rocketship." The so called nice ladies laughed in a good luck with that way. I wanted Santa to ask, to probe, to freaking ask. Turns out they are hired based on their jolly old man looks, not their forensic interviewing training. P and I had no idea what that meant and SS was not helping.

Then while looking for another toy, something caught my eye at T@arget, had not seen it before, and there was only one left.

Mother of pearl, a TS3 space(rocket)ship. I sent P a picture and was texting price, etc. P could not care less, his text was simple: GET IT.

Poor Baby, disappointed?

NAH

As usual, SS bullied sweetly talked her big brother into prying her toys out of those annoying security traps, and assembling them.

Santa Pic 2011

We waited procrastinated until today to get the yearly Santa picture and paid the price, an uncharacteristically antsy and uncooperative SS. In our lame defense, SS managed to trip and hit a door, and the result was a nice shiner in the middle of her forehead. I think it is the first time I wished she had bangs. Nah, those things never work. SS's behavior was due to the long wait. It was not too bad, about 30 minutes, but it is the longest SS has had to wait. Then we could not find the tights that actually fit, and she ended up wearing a much larger pair that bunched up something ugly. I pulled them up just before I sat her on Santa's lap. Note to self, get it done early next year. There is something off with Santa, not sure what, just off. Almost forgot, SS was mad at us because she wanted to wear her fedora. Hell to the no, even I have some standards. She then wanted to wear it on the way to the mall. Nope, we wanted the pony tails to be neatly in place. But boy, did she make us pay.

2011

2010
Although it was early December, SS was still beautifully tanned, thanks to our water activities and the trip to Maui. Love the dress and the demure pose with neatly placed hands.

2009

2008

We have always commented that SS cannot take a bad picture. Well, hell froze over and it was not pretty. Since the line was so slow we decided to amuse ourselves by snapping some pictures. SS was not about to let us off the hook, and here are the results.

She looks like she is about to be placed on a 5150 hold and enjoying her last moments of freedom as a demented person, before the straight jacket is on.

Not any better, and what is with grabbing the rail?

Not there yet.

Forget about it.

But wait, there's another reindeer and we are darn close to Santa, so maybe she will smile this time. Suckers! And we know this kid is amazing at spotting a camera and looking/smiling its way.

Freaking finally! The moral of the story is DO NOT tee off SS before a photo session.

This is one articulate young lady that reminds us of someone. P said that she would make a wonderful playmate for SS. You go Riley!