Gifts from Vietnam

The first week or so of December Luc as in Vietnam. He brought back some little gifts for Amelia. He found these super cute little pink shoes that squeak when you walk, stomp, or run. All of which Amelia used to make a concert with her feet. She loved these shoes so much that she could not stop moving when she first put them on. Here are some action shots of her. There is a great video clip to follow, but I took it in the wrong orientation and we have to flip it.


Luc also found this cute little plush jacket. It is a little big and should work well for the next couple of years.



You may have noticed that Amelia seems to have hats and shoes on quite often in these pictures. She really loves both. She loves hats so much that she tries just about anything- including kitchen gadgets! But I think she really makes it work.

Twigs make great towers!

Amelia has been working on her tower building skills. She is quite good at it now. She is so busy and can be tough to catch on film. But here is a couple of stills and a video.

Swing baby!

Nothing like a little dancing- a good break from all the Christmas decorating!

The hunt for the Christmas tree and a close encounter with Santa

We went to the Ballard Boyscout Christmas tree lot. It was a pretty rainy day, but there was a little window that was pretty clear. So we dashed out to shop for a tree. Apparently we were not the only ones that thought it was a good idea. Amelia was slightly overwhelmed when we got there. There were SO MANY trees and lots of people too. We ran up and down the aisles before she heard the horn. One of the adults at the lot was playing some xmas songs on the trumpet. It was really nice and calmed her down enough that we could try to decide on a tree. Given a choice between trees, Amelia seemed to only want to leave the lot! We did manage to get some boy scouts to come help us and that helped to entertain her. And we picked a lovely tree or should I say Amelia picked a lovely tree.


Amelia was very helpful getting the tree on its stand and decorating the tree with lights. She wanted to be part of the action. When we first brought the tree in- she was having a ball brushing her back against the tree. It was tickling her and she was laughing and dancing. So cute!




We also went to the APL Holiday Party. Last year Santa was a big hit. Amelia seemed to like him and that was before he gave her a nice little gift. She was the only baby not to cry when she saw Santa. This year was a little different. She was pretty skeptical of the guy in the red suit. She was NOT going to sit on his lap- even when he offered her a gift.

Zoe came over to encourage Amelia. But Amelia just became enthralled with Zoe instead. They played ball together with her new toy. But no Santa!

Later we were in the Fisheries Library and found a great book on Marine Fishes. Amelia and Zoe really liked it. But then the sugar kicekd in and the girls ran around the room for some time. Amelia also got to see baby Tim again (Jessica and Andrey came too!). It was great to see them- not too tired as far as new parents go!

Did I mention it SNOWed in Seattle?

The week just before Thanksgiving it snowed. It started on Monday and shut down the city for a well a week! It is crazy here with the big hills and icy roads, what a bad combo. But it was the first time Amelia really got to try playing in the snow. AND in her front yard!


Salmon Bay Park was the hub of activity. Lots of sledding (a bit smaller hill than the Loyal Heights CC) and Amelia wanted to play in the playground too! Wasn't keen on the mittens but we managed to keep them on her. You will notice that we are not so prepared for snow- her attire is about 50%- a great jacket, mittens (i just bought those!), and well that is about it.





She even tried sledding with daddy and building a snowman. One that was just her size. We had a blast! She seemed to really love the snow, even if it confused her a little bit.



This is a picture that Grandmaman Lucille sent us this week. She has had a LOT of snow and built Amelia a proper snowman! I bet hers won't melt the next day!

Can I take them all with me?

Luc is off to Vietnam. I was just writing a note to Luc about Amelia and I thought I might as well share it. A little insight into Amelia's daily life. Her stuffed animals have become very important as evidenced here:



Tonight when I picked her up at daycare- another girl got to me first and she ran up to her, started pulling on her shirt. She had to get that other girl away from her mommy. She was so intent she couldn't give me a hug. So funny! I guess she might already be a touch more needy. Then we got home- she was ok for most the night. While I was cooking dinner, she would stand on the bottom step and yell at me until I came over. And we were looking through the regular photo albums and she was kissing pictures of Luc! Pretty adorable. She practically refused to get in the bath. She was hugging her bear and decided that was more important.

Mommy's shoes are LOUD

The quality of this video is not great, but it is pretty funny. She has been very ambitious. The worst part is that you can't quite see the expression on her face at the very end of the video since it is so dark.

November Escape to the Mountains

Time is just cranking on. Here we are in December already. This time my derelict posting is due to some bug that prevented me from uploading pics and then I sorta got off track. Hopefully it will be smooth today and we will be back on track. Although Luc will be gone for 10 days to Vietnam and I am not sure that I will have the energy.

We went to Mt. Rainier on the Crystal Mountain side for Veteran's Weekend. We are trying to embrace the four-day closures that happen at our daycare by taking a little time off. Especially since Luc is traveling soon. We stayed at the Alta Crystal Mountain Resort, which seems to be a great place to stay with kids- the rooms have kitchenettes, living rooms, fireplaces, and there is a little rec lodge and heated pool year-round. Plus hiking trails out the back door. So we could minimize the driving. Mostly it rained while we were there, but there was some early morning snow!

Amelia also loves her super cute little Swedish hat! Thanks Zora! It fits perfectly.





Amelia loved hiking. It was cold and we had to use mommy mittens or sock mittens since we didn't have any proper ones. But she didn't mind too much. When we were hiking, Luc was holding one hand and I was holding the other, she found a rock to climb and when she was at the top, we had her "jump" off while holding our hands. She loved it. We kept walking and Amelia stopped. We looked down and she was standing on a little rock. She wanted to jump!! SO cute. Needless to say our Hiking time has been drastically reduced! But at least we are all having fun.
She even wanted to wear our hiking boots! Silly girl. Oh that reminds me of a video we need to post.

Amelia is really good at putting the little tower together. SHe is so concentrated while she is working on it. The fire was another big hit. I guess we'll have to do some at home this winter.