Party Time

Presents...Pasta...Family...Tinkerbell...Cake...Candles (and a sparkler)...Singing...Smiles.

Sofia had a wonderful 3rd birthday celebration with all of her favourite things.

THREE

Three years ago today, sweet Sofia, you made your grand entrance into this world in Villa Nueva, Guatemala and changed our lives forever.

You are one sweet, smart and totally sassy little individual. I absolutely respect and admire your streak of stubborn independence, even if it does drive me crazy. "I can do it" is probably the phrase we have heard out of you most this last year and by crikey, you pretty much can. You love to swim and are completely fearless in the water. You have mastered riding your trike and will ride for block after block given the chance. You are nutty for a good slide in the playground but still insist on giving the swings a miss. You love going to school and sing your ABC's over and over. You can count to 20 (okay so 16 sometimes gets skipped, but who's counting) and are starting to recognize a few of your letters. You can be so, so sweet. You will thank us for making dinner or watching a movie with you. You come into the kitchen and offer to help cook.  Most of the time, I think you are just looking for some cheese worms, but you are very talented at washing tomatoes and will stay focused for quite some time if given work to do. You love, love, LOVE to sing and dance more than anything else. Music classes with Geema are a highlight of most every week and any time music starts you can't help yourself but move. Your body just has music in it......of that there can be no doubt. You love your friends. Jake and Peter are still your best mates.  You have a real wicked sense of humour and sometimes you find the oddest things completely and utterly hilarious. When you laugh, you really laugh and there is almost no room for breath. You love your Geema and Papa like no two other people. No one plays "Follow the Leader" quite like Papa does. You love to have long, long chats on the phone with Aunty Claire, even if she is not on the other end. You are pretty adventurous but at the same time you like to be home, in your own space. This is where you are most comfortable. You still enjoy your food. I think you could survive on a diet of pasta, nuts, melon and chocolate if you were allowed to, but you are also willing to try something new if presented to you.  You have given your Daddy and I a run for our money this year.  You have challenged us as parents and you have spent more than your fair share of time in "time out", but at the same time we have watched as you have become so much more grown up and able to tackle things on your own.  You are sleeping in a very big, big girl bed and are almost entirely potty trained.  You never forget anything and you hear and see everything.   There have been a few times this year when things have come out of your mouth that I know I should reprimand you for, but it sounds just like me, and you are very good at using them in context so it is hard to punish you for the bad example set by your mother.  You have a better sense of direction at two than your Geema ever has the hope of having even if we get her GPS.  You never let us leave without a hug.  If we do forget, you come running after us with your arms out wide saying "You forgot your hug".  Sometimes, out of the blue you say "I got something to tell you......I love you Mummy". 

So, here we are Sofia.  Another year under our belts and your Daddy and I are so head over heels for you.  We count ourselves unbelieveably blessed that out of this whole big wide world, we found each other to be a family, together.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Sofia!

ONE

TWO

THREE

Cheeeeky

A Weekend by the Bay

This weekend we decided that we would get away and celebrate mine and Sofia's birthdays. Our destination of choice this year.......Monterey.

We escaped the doom and gloom that has been Sacramento weather lately and headed into the sunshine for a beautiful few days together.

We stayed at a stunning hotel, walked on the beach, visited the cute and crazy creatures at the aquarium, ate wonderful meals oceanside and also got a surprise visit Grandpa Robin.

We hope that this will become an annual tradition for the girls to take Daddy away and have him spoil us for our birthdays.

A Perfect New Years......a decade late!

So, if I am being perfectly honest about it, I find the whole New Year's celebration to be a bit of a let down. There are so many expectations that go along with it. So many hopes for what the New Year will hold. Like New Year's Day somehow will be different than any other day. We make resolutions to try and better those things about us that we don't care for so much. We vow to be better people, be more patient, be kinder, lose those few (or maybe more than a few) pounds that we have somehow aquired along the way.

When we moved into the New Millennium I had it all planned out. I don't know how long I had been thinking about that moment. About what my life would be like, but I assume I had been doing it for quite some time. I figured I would be in my early thirties, I would surely have several children by then and be celebrating the move into the new century with all of our friends and their children.

Instead, I found myself celebrating in Los Angeles, at a party of aquaintences with my sister, who was newly widowed and her young son. Clyde was working. The world didn't go black. Not quite the way the year 2000 was supposed to be ushered in. At least not according to my plans.

So, needless to say, I don't expect a whole lot from New Years. I don't make resolutions. Clyde and I have a little routine where we make a resolution for each other. Nothing major! For instance, I can't be expected to pick up my shoes and put them away. That's TOO much. But something that might be a bit irritating to the other person is fine. This year Clyde must dispose of used tea bags to my satisfaction. It bugs me when he leaves them in the sink. It's doable.

So this year, when on a whim, we planned a small gathering at our house for New Year's Eve, my expectations were, well, I didn't really have expectations. And then, out of the blue (maybe that moon had something to do with it) I had my perfect New Years celebration.

Yes, my family might look a little different than what I had planned. My house is a little smaller than anticipated. And, I'm ten years older than I expected to be parenting a toddler.

But on December 31st, 2009, surrounded by the most wonderful friends and their children, anyone could ask for, we ushered in (oh wait, that's a lie, we were in bed by 10:00p.m.) the New Year with a backyard gathering that was perfectly wonderful.

We cooked fish and chips on the BBQ (a BIG thank you to Jo and Kip for the wonderful supply of Alaskan Halibut). We had dessert like you wouldn't believe. A plentiful supply of Meyer Lemontinis and bubbles. A roaring fire and a blue moon to enjoy it by.  The rain held off until we were all well and truely tucked up in bed and there were sparklers for the kids to enjoy.

If our New Years celebration is anything to go by, I have very high hopes for 2010. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

On Ice

On New Years Eve Geema and Papa treated us to a spin around the ice rink. Sofia is getting tickets to see "Disney on Ice" for her birthday and Geema and Papa wanted her to have a first hand experience on the ice before she sees the show.

After a little hesitation, Sofia donned her tiny little ice skates and hit the ice.  She started out a little slow but it wasn't too long before she was begging to go faster.  Good thing that Geema and Papa can skate because Mum was clinging to the rails.

Gotta have a hot chocolate break.

Then we traded in her skates for a sled and cruised the ice some more.

All done and ready for a well earned snack.