We Have Silly Children

In less than 48 hours, we will be on a plane bound for the East Coast, to spend Christmas with Nana & Boom. While we are immensely excited about the holiday, we are less enthusiastic about the plane trip itself. Herewith, a few recent photos of our very silly girls, to remind you to say a prayer (or make a burnt offering, or think happy thoughts, or whatever) for our sanity on this flight!

Fiona debuts the new "brownie-batter-lips, formal-wear, oversized-sneakers" look...

...and her spiffy new dance moves.
Here's how we tire Daddy out before his day is even started:
But we also help Daddy stuff mushrooms....
(Warning: naked children to follow). Campbell attempts to sit on the big potty; Fiona keeps her entertained.
But Campbell returns the favor by giving Fiona a ride in the doll stroller.
Princess Campbell sees no evil, hears no evil, picks no evil.

These are likely the last photos we'll be posting in 2010, so we wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!

The Holidays Begin...

...as they usually do, with Thanksgiving. We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend in Foster City at Grandmommy & Granddaddy's house. The festivities included a delicious feast attended by 17 family members, followed the day after by a lovely brunch in Palo Alto at Erick's Uncle Andy & Auntie Mamie's house.

Unfortunately, we were so busy enjoying everything that we took very few pictures. But I can tell you that a major highlight for the girls (and all of us) was getting to hang out with their 4-month-old cousin, Aiden. He's a GREAT kid already, and thankfully has just the kind of good-natured, laid-back temperament required for dealing with the Gong Girls. Here are proud Grandmommy & Granddaddy with their grandkids:
Fiona especially took to Aiden. Or it could be that she just went where she knew the attention was focused!

The girls also enjoyed lots of good playtime with their 2nd cousin, Maria.

Sorry for the beloved family members excluded from these photos -- these are honestly all we have!

When we returned to Berkeley, it was time to switch over to Christmas. First step: the tree. Like last year, we went to the Delancy Street lot, which is a walkable distance from our house. The girls quickly identified a tree; getting them to pose in front of it was another issue.
Erick bravely strolled both girls and the tree home....
...where it was decorated, largely by Fiona, in such a frenzy that we couldn't possibly capture it! But here is a (failed) attempt to get the girls to pose in front of the finished product.
Happy Advent, all! Hope this Christmas season will be joyful for you.

The Reality...

For those who sat through the video of Fiona's solo performance of "Joy to the World," (below), I thought you might enjoy this video of the reality. Fiona is front center, in the pink dress. You'll notice that, at certain points, her lips do actually seem to be moving, so it's not quite the deer-in-headlights performance I'd expected. In any event, she was pleased; her post-performance report: "Mommy, I wasn't even overwhelmed!"

Joy!

Here's Fiona's version of "Joy to the World." Because I'm sure when her preschool class is supposed to sing it in church this Sunday, she'll just be standing there looking stunned. Happy Advent!

Fiona Turns 3!

On November 18, Fiona turned 3 years old. This sounds like a cliche until you've lived it, but we don't know where the time went. We know she's 3, though, because this age already promises to usher in some lovely changes: fewer tantrums, more responsibility, a greater sense of herself as an independent "big girl." (If this sounds like code for "we're giving her more chores to do around the house, and so far she's liking it," that's not far off!)

Here is Fiona on her first day of life:
Here she is eating breakfast (chocolate chip bagels!) on her birthday morning with Campbell:

There were some lovely gifts from family and friends. Her "big ticket" gift from us was a pink guitar, which she's been requesting the past 6 months.

Later that same morning, Fiona shared a cake with her preschool class.
And even later, she shared ANOTHER cake (following a delicious dinner in a Chinese restaurant) with Grandmommy & Granddaddy, recently returned from China.

Campbell was quick to pick up on the benefits of a sibling's birthday: everyone gets cake!

But that wasn't all! Fiona's birthday party with her friends was 2 days later. This year, Fiona had a very specific vision for her birthday. It was to be a "Sleeping Beauty party at our home with the girls dressed like princesses and the boys dressed in suits." We indulged some of that vision. During his recent visit, Boom had worked during naptime to create this amazing castle out of discarded boxes. Here's how it looked after we set it up on the eve of Fiona's party:
And here's how it looked when our girls discovered it the next morning:

Six of Fiona's friends (and assorted younger siblings) arrived for the party (the boys were NOT required to wear suits, although they all did look dapper). Everyone enjoyed playing in the castle, and Fiona was delighted to find a Prince Charming behind one door!

Everyone decorated their own crown.
And then we played "Pin the Crown on the Princess."
As per Fiona's request, the Evil Fairy Maleficent (i.e. Mommy) put in an appearance to place a "No Cake!" curse on the party, unless the guests all solved some challenging riddles by the Wise Wizard (i.e. Daddy).
That mission accomplished, we could all enjoy some cake!
Happy Birthday, Fiona! We love you very much and can't wait to see what the coming year holds.

A Week with Nana & Boom

Fiona & Campbell's Grandmommy & Granddaddy just returned from a month of traveling in China -- which made us realize just how much we are spoiled by Grandmommy & Granddaddy! Fortunately, we had relief in the form of Nana & Boom, who flew in to spend a week with us.

The girls were just thrilled for the entire week.

There was a lot of dancing...

and reading...
and baking of brownies...
and hugging.

We also celebrated Fiona's 3rd birthday (early) by holding a family dinner at a restaurant of Fiona's choice (Crepevine, where her favorite entree is the Mickey Mouse Pancake).

For the occasion, Fiona wore the birthday dress she'd picked out with Nana.
It was just an all-around lovely visit, and we are so grateful to Nana & Boom!