exploring the trails and playgrounds

Despite the winter weather, we have been out walking and hiking nearly every day. Sebastian has been a real trouper, going out and walking for pretty long distances without a fuss.  We especially like playing hide and seek - one person runs ahead and hides behind a tree trunk or in a clump of bushes, and the others have to find them.  Both Seb and Liesl love the game, although I admit it gives me a bit of anxiety when they disappear from my sight around a curve in an unfamiliar forest.  We also count all of the steps up and down whenever the trails have stairs, and compete to see who counts the most.  One of our loops is the 101-stair loop, which is short and steep. I love seeing Seb and Liesl run and play in these forests - Seb crows over the moss-covered trees and loves all of the creeks and streams and bridges, and has stopped (unprompted) to admire some enormous redwood trees.

These pictures are all on the trails in our neighborhood, Forest Heights.  We christened this particular one the Bompy loop, since we first explored it with Grandpa Avery.

These next pictures are in Forest Park, on the Lower Macleay Park trail.

And finally, at our local duck pond and playground:

the Nuk fairy

As if leaving our home and moving into a new one, and leaving her daycare and friends, and leaving Grandma and Grandpa Raab, wasn't enough, we decided to take away Liesl's precious pacifier, the Nuk. She was getting into bad habits - like waking me up in the middle of the night to find it for her. And it was starting to push out her upper two teeth. So we took a deep breath, prepared for some sleeplessness, and hatched a plan.

We told Liesl she was a really big girl, and the Nuk fairy was going to come and take away all of her Nuks, but that the fairy would leave her a really good, really big present.  She seemed excited about the prospect of the present, and about the idea of a fairy.  (It was probably a good thing to schedule this right after Christmas, as she had the idea of unseen beings bringing presents fresh in her mind.)  We put all of her Nuks in a bowl by the window, and she went to sleep for a nap. When she woke up, the Nuks were gone and a giant stuffed dog was in their place.  She was amazed and happy.

So far, so good. It's been about a week and she hasn't even really asked for the Nuks - she seems to get that the fairy took them all away. She's even sleeping through the night without waking up and asking for it. The only problem is that whereas she used to happily run into her room for naptime and fall asleep immediately, she now insists that she isn't tired and doesn't want to nap or sleep at nighttime. She delays, she stalls, she makes up excuses, and it takes her an hour. We have had to hold her hand or pet her head to help her. And she's waking up really early in the mornings and finding it tough to fall back asleep - which in combination with the difficulties falling asleep means that she's been really overtired and a bit cranky (i.e. willful).  But all in all, a success.

Next up: potty training!

out of the mouths of babes....

Seb, on our 3rd day in Oregon: "Why would we move to place where it rains all the time?"

Of course, it hasn't actually rained all the time. We had a really sunny week last week - crisp and cold. This week it's cloudy again, but on the upside, it's 50 degrees. We can go out in that. :)

Christmas, parts 2 and 3 and 4

New umbrellas from cousin Danica!  We love them!!

Cool Christmas ornaments from cousin Roxy! Thank you!

And new pajamas, with Madeline! And a crazy cool car tshirt! Thanks Carl and Kim!

OOOOH. A baby doll stroller from Grandma!  She LOVES it. Loves. Loves. Thank you!

Two remote control cars! thanks Mary and Joe! We have been crashing into everything with them!

And what's this???

A Giants tshirt!!! Haha! Steve is horrified. Thanks uncle Joe!

The remote control car and the new baby - two favorites. They both came grocery shopping with us. Nice job, aunt Mary.

Happy New Year!

We had a wonderful last day of 2012. This morning we went for a little hike on the trails around our neighborhood, on what we have christened the Bompy loop. Both Seb and Liesl ran and ran, and hid behind trees to scare us, and counted steps, and played the Three Billy Goats Gruff and the Troll on the bridges, and in general were just delightful. After naps, we went to 23rd Ave to browse the shops, eat ice cream at Salt and Straw, and get dinner from Olympic Provisions. Yum. They're tucked in now and we are left free to contemplate the big changes for 2013 that we've put into play.

We hope 2013 brings you joy, new adventures, and the love of your family and friends.

Merry Christmas!

We celebrated Christmas in our new home, and it was wonderful. On Christmas Eve, Grampa read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to all four grandchildren - Dani and Roxy joining in via Skype. Seb and Liesl put out a plate of gingerbread cookies and a glass of milk for Santa, and reluctantly went up to bed. Seb asked for the curtains to be left open, just in case he was awake and could see Santa arrive.

Santa Claus arrived in the night and left lots of presents for our (mostly) good children. We had a frenzy of opening stocking presents and then took a break for fig bread, fruit, eggs, and coffee/tea/juice. And then we opened more. Both kids got new pajamas and slippers, books, animal friends, and toys. Liesl's big gift was a doll house, and Sebastian's was a red Radio Flyer wagon that he can pull around the neighborhood. They had very different styles when it came to presents: Sebastian tore through his pile, barely glancing at each gift before racing on to the next one. Liesl was much more curious and deliberative about each thing, often stopping to play with something at length.

After we finished with presents, mom and I started prepping food while the children played, and then we achieved the impossible: all six of us took naps! It was splendid. Mom and I cooked the dinner together: roast leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary; farro with mushrooms and walnuts; roasted cauliflower; butternut squash and chickpeas; kale salad with fennel, apples, radishes, cherries, and pepitas; cranberry pecan bread; and for dessert a chocolate cheesecake. Everything was delicious and it was really fun to make our own holiday dinner.

On to 2013!