Sunday, December 27, 2009

The Big Day... Christmas!

On Christmas morning, Vita actually slept a little bit late... all the way to 6am. When she finally woke up, she saw that Santa had come and left presents under the tree. Vita went right for the presents and started unwrapping. Ernie and I sat in our pajamas eating gingerbread and drinking coffee and watching the joy unfold. Although this was technically Vita's third Christmas, she didn't really understand much about it before so somehow this felt new and exciting, like our very first Christmas, and it was so so so much fun! We didn't get good pictures because we had to use the flash, and because Vita was too busy looking at the new toys to be bothered with looking at the camera. So you'll have to take our word on it... that she was beyond thrilled. However, we didn't always get the reaction we were hoping for. Like in the picture below, she's not really looking at her new bike, she's much more interested in the piece of take in her hand. The bike is still a little big for her, so we're going to re-introduce it in a couple of months. Here's a picture of Vita with her new dollhouse, which she loves.

And finally, Vita in her new home-made play kitchen.

Posted by Vita and Anabelle at 8:11 PM

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Twas The Night Before Christmas, 2009

It's the night before Christmas, and while Vita sleeps in her Christmas pajamas on her Christmas pillow, Ernie and I are sipping limoncello and getting everything ready. Presents are under the tree (and tucked behind the chair). Underneath that unassuming white sheet is a very sweet dollhouse that we think Vita will LOVE. Vita is also getting her very first bike! Also, tomorrow morning we are unveiling Vita's new play kitchen for the first time. Vita did see it briefly, but then Ernie swapped out the legs, painted it, added the burners, and lots of the other details. It's beautiful!! The finishing touch for the new play kitchen are the pots and pans that Mema Joan played with as a little girl, which she sent to us recently. Ernie did such a wonderful job building the play kitchen that it inspired me to dust off the sewing machine and try my hand at making Vita an apron, dishtowel, potholder and oven mitt. Considering that these are the first things I have EVER sewn, I'm really happy with how they turned out... flaws and all. I'm so excited for Vita to wake up! In the mean time, while have been eagerly awaiting Christmas morning, we've had a few other fun activities as well. Vita's preschool put on a little Christmas sing along for the parents. It was great! Well, you can just imagine... it was like herding cats! Vita, who is the youngest member of the preschool (having recently transitioned from the infant room) got to stand right in the very front of the three rows of kids. However, she tended to turn her back to the parents and face the other kids, and she wandered off and started playing with toys about a dozen times during the 20 minute show. In this picture, I like how Vita is the only one smiling and everyone else looks like they are giving hard looks. She loved playing with the maracas! Then, we bundled up and went to Gilroy Gardens holiday lights event, where they open the park up in the evening for rides, a fireworks show and other fun events. The merry-go-round was still Vita's favorite thing.

And the race cars were a close second. Look ma, no hands! What a daredevil.
That's it for now. We'll be sure to take lots of pictures on Christmas morning as Vita discovers all the presents under the tree. Hope you are are having a happy and magical holiday season! XO, Jenny

Posted by Vita and Anabelle at 9:23 PM

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Getting Into Christmas

We are really getting into Christmas over here. As soon as Vita's birthday was over, we got the tree, hung the stockings, put up the lights, and started decorating the house. Today we put on a pretty Christmas dress and attempted to take some cute holiday pictures by the tree. Unfortunately we're both very stubborn, and Vita refused to keep still and I refused to use a flash (being that I love natural light). So the results are a bit blurry, but they are still sweet. Christmas is so much fun with a kid! We're having a hard time waiting to give Vita her presents. Since it was a cold and rainy day today, we brought out the construction paper, paint, glitter, glue, pipe cleaners, egg cartons, and all kinds of fun art supplies to make some ornaments for the tree. Vita painted some pretty bell ornaments all by herself, but her favorite part was sprinkling on the glitter. Vita was so proud to present her dad with an ornament she made just for him. Afterwards it was time to clean up. Vita is a really good helper. While we were making ornaments, Ernie was working on Vita's play kitchen. It's almost done! In fact, we brought it in the house and Vita LOVES it. We'll get some pictures of it soon, but I didn't manage to capture that before Vita read her bedtime books (twas the night before Christmas) and fell asleep on her Christmas pillow. Good night.

Posted by Vita and Anabelle at 6:53 PM

Monday, December 7, 2009

TWO!!

On Friday, Vita turned two years old! Although I took the day off work, I brought Vita in to daycare for a short day because I knew all the kids would sing and make a big deal out of her birthday and I didn't want her to miss out on that. When I came to pick Vita up at 10 am, she was having so much fun she didn't want to come home!

Little did she know that when she returned home, she would find that the house was decorated with streamers and balloons, and that a party hat and presents were waiting for her. As soon as she walked in she yelled "HAT" "BALLOONS" "BIRTHDAY"!
And the balloons were so much fun it took her a little while to notice the brand new unwrapped Tonka dump truck just waiting to be played with.
Soon, Grandpa Bob and Mema Joan arrived for dinner... followed immediately by cake! I love Vita's face in the soft lighting of this picture.
Vita did her best to blow out the candles but needed just a little help with that part.
After dinner Vita opened up more presents. The next day, we headed to the San Jose Children's Museum, which was lots of fun. I thought most of it would be for older kids, but really it's perfect for toddlers.
Look at Vita's smile in the mirror.
In the bubble room, I think Ernie had more fun than Vita.
I'm glad that Vita does not seem to share my fear of heights.
Back at home, we changed into clean clothes and got ready to go out for sushi. While we were at the restaurant, Vita was getting antsy so I took her over to where a jazz band was playing. Vita was moving along to the music and having a great time. I asked Vita if she was dancing and she said "I'm rocking out, mom." I don't think Vita appreciated an interruption in her story time with Mema. Later on, there were even more presents... as Santa came a little early. Vita loves this ladybug towel, and insisted on sleeping in it last night.
All in all, it was a great birthday and a wonderful visit with Grandpa Bob and Mema Joan.
And Vita didn't want to say goodbye, so we had lots of last minute hugs and kisses.

Posted by Vita and Anabelle at 8:05 PM

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Almost Two...

The gifts are wrapped, the streamers and banner have been hung, the cupcakes have been baked (but not yet frosted) and Ms. Vita is fast asleep in her bed. I can't believe when she wakes up she will be two years old! This year, Vita knows it is her birthday and she has been looking forward to it. She knows she is about to be two years old, and it will be her birthday, and there will be singing and cake and Grandpa and Mema, and presents, and fun. At the end of the weekend, or early next week, I'll do a post with lots of pictures, but for the mean time I wanted to share a little bit about what's going on with Vita right now on the brink of two years. Vita has been reciting her alphabet for months now, she knows her colors, and she is getting better at counting. She can count all the way to 20 but she usually skips 4 and 5. Vita is speaking really well and her vocabulary increases much faster than we can keep up with it. She speaks in 5 - 6 word sentences and sings entire songs such as C is for Cookie and Ring Around the Rosie. It's so much fun to be able to really have a two way dialogue, and it's very helpful that she can tell us what she wants and needs. Vita is becoming very independent and wants to do everything herself, or she wants to help us. It's fun to come up with ways to get her involved in day to day tasks like cooking and cleaning. Vita is pretty good about putting her toys away, putting dirty clothes in the hamper, putting on and taking off various articles of clothing and shoes when asked, etc. She has also been helping out with pulling weeds in the backyard, and helping with preparing her breakfast. The biggest change going on in Vita's life right now is her transition from the infant program to the preschool at her daycare center. For the past 18 months or so, Vita has been with the zero to two crowd, and with a wonderful wonderful staff of teachers that we LOVE. However, it's now time for her to expand her horizons and start attending preschool with the older kids. Although she has spent some time with the preschool teachers we were a little concerned the transition might be tough for her. Over the past couple of weeks, every day Vita has spent a little less time with the infants and more time with the preschoolers. She seems to be having a great time and the transition has been smooth. She's even napping well in the new group. In fact, it's only been a week since she has spent the majority of her day with the older kids, and she surprised me today by asking to use the potty (and then using it successfully)! I think she's watching what the older kids at school are doing, and learning from them.

Posted by Vita and Anabelle at 8:27 PM

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Thankful

This Thanksgiving, we had a very short but very fun trip to Southern California to visit family. First, we went to Venice to visit the Panetta family. We had a delicious meal, and lots of fun with everyone. Unfortunately... I didn't get many pictures, but here's one group shot. Vita doesn't look very happy in this particular picture, but she had so much fun and really loved being the center of attention. She also received some great presents (which she also loved). One of Vita's presents was a holiday dress that we tried on over her pajamas. So cute! Look for some pictures by the Christmas tree with this dress on in a few weeks when we get our tree. Next we went to Orange County to see the Kerr family. Vita is cautiously checking out the BIGGEST dog she has ever seen. Vita toured the house and loved seeing Grandma Victoria's art, especially this penguin.

We went to a beautiful park and had a nice walk.
The park also had the biggest playground Vita had ever seen.
Here's Vita with her great grandfather Kerr.
And with her aunt Jennifer (actually Vita has two aunt Jennifers..., and her mother is a Jennifer also, so this gets confusing).
Grandma Victoria made Vita a diorama for a birthday gift. She loves it!
Back at home, we've been relaxing and enjoying the rest of our weekend. Today, Vita tried out one of her other presents... a kite! All in all, this has been a wonderful weekend and a good reminder of how much we have to be thankful for.
Next weekend, of course, is Vita's second birthday... including a visit from Grandpa Bob and Mema Joan! Then Christmas is right around the corner. So much to look forward to!

Posted by Vita and Anabelle at 6:42 PM

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Horsing Around

Ever since Vita fell in love with the merry go round at Gilroy Gardens last weekend, she's been spending a lot more time on her rocking horse. She has so much fun riding her horsey, and she gives him hugs and kisses, too.

Here's Vita shoveling sand in the backyard with her own little shovel. She's actually a great helper! She helps me pull weeds and everything.
This is what you get when you ask for a silly face.
Pretty eyes in this shot.
In other news, Vita got her first haircut on Saturday. I had planned on taking pictures, but Vita insisted on sitting on my lap so I didn't have my hands free. She did great, though. And with her hair a bit shorter, it's much more curly (and gets less tangled) in the back. Finally, Vita is starting to get excited about her birthday, which I can't believe is less than two weeks away. She knows she will be two years old, and that there will be birthday cake and balloons, and a visit from Grandpa Bob and Mema Joan!

Posted by Vita and Anabelle at 7:50 PM

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Gilroy Gardens

Today we took Vita to the Gilroy Gardens theme park. The park was designed to be educational and to promote an appreciation of horticulture. In fact, one of their slogans is that they are an amusement park where the trees are taller than the rides. The park is actually quite beautiful, with fun rides geared towards VERY young children, nestled amongst trees and a lake. We had a lot of fun. The first ride we went on was the carousel. Vita LOVED riding on the horses, and talked about it all day. It was definitely her favorite ride.

But there were LOTS of rides that Vita went on. Here is Vita and I riding inside a worm in an apple.
There were barely any lines. We never had to wait more than 5 minutes to get on a ride, but I did take this picture while we were waiting for the boat ride.
Here's Vita on the boat. On some of the rides, Vita looked a little concerned, and I wasn't sure if Vita was having fun or not... but then when each ride was over, she said AGAIN!!!!
Vita was able to ride some of the rides all by herself, like this race car.
And this fire truck.
As much fun as we had on all of the other rides, and the boat, and in the various gardens and playgrounds, Vita just kept talking about the horses so we had to make sure we took one more ride on the carousel before we went home.
We had a blast, and something tells me we'll be going here often during the next year... (season passes - yippee)!

Posted by Vita and Anabelle at 6:59 PM
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