Silly face on demand

2nd Annual Cousin's Day 2012

We had a fantastic and full day in San Francisco today with all of Rosie's cousins. It was so much fun having all the kids together, especially seeing Rosie head over heels for them.

We started the day snuggled into our new car, which we bought yesterday just in time for this trip. It's technically a 7-seater Volvo but we managed to squeeze Mommy into a relatively comfortable spot making it an 8-seater!

First stop: Baker Beach! This is one of our favorite SF spots. We took a long walk, chased some waves, dog- and bird-watched, and of course took lots of photos.

 Golden Gate Bridge:

 After working up a good appetite, we hit up Hong Kong Dim Sum in the Inner Richmond for what turned out to be quite the feast. We got everything from baked pork buns to sticky rice to coffee short ribs to chicken feet.

A long walk was in order so we strolled over to the deYoung museum to catch another great view of the city. We picked up a friend along the way:

 Awesome art by the elevator:

 Post-nap vista:

 Yes more crazy hair!:

Sun was setting quickly so we beelined for the car and headed back east with a quick stop on Treasure Island to watch the sun set.

Last stop was our house for pizza, games, and a movie. Oh and homemade ice cream sandwiches (homemade cookies, not ice cream). It was a perfect way to end a great day!

iPhone

Rosie received a special gift in the mail today from the Maryland gang (thanks!), and it was a big hit. The wooden iPhone is a perfect combination of two of her favorite things: pretend play and mobile device.

Here's a video...again, kinda long but I'm not great at creative editing so this is the uncut version:

Big girl bed

Today marks the first day Rosie sleeps in her big girl bed. She was pretty excited to help us out the bed together. She could t wait for the sheets to come out of the dryer.








She looks so little in her new bed! And now the challenge begins to get her to fall asleep on her own again.

Impromptu Fremont gathering

We went over to Ong B and Ba Q's house to visit and Ba H, Uncle M, and cousin D happened to be over as well! Rosie had such a blast playing with her little aunties and jokin with her great uncles and aunts. The night morphed into a trip to get pho. Hit the spot on a cold night!

Ho ho ho!

Merry Christmas to all!



Gift opening. Rosie was great at passing out presents and seemed as excited for us as she was for herself (okay...maybe more excited for her own presents but just by a little):





Her new friends: Dolly Llama (get it?!):


East coast:


To west coast:





Customized mugs for the cousins:


And now...nap time!

Christmas Eve

Spent the evening at Auntie G and Uncle G's house for Christmas Eve. We were bad and didn't take any good pictures! Boo. It was a great evening with family that ended with a lot of chasing and screaming until late in the evening. Rosie's such a lucky girl to be surrounded by such loving and inspiring role models. Rosie got an early start to the gift-opening and was given her first digital camera by Auntie, Uncle, and the girls, and got a cabbage patch kid doll (apparently they're back!) from little A, R, and G (Uncle George's side of the family).

Tonight we also started a new Christmas Eve tradition!





Waiting for Santa, though we haven't actually explained the Santa tradition to her yet. We'll figure that one out another year.

Naptime secret

Rosie was struggling with naptime today. What finally did the trick was me singing "part of your world" from the Little Mermaid. She is her mother's daughter.

family day

Today was another family-filled day in Livermore. We dropped Rosie off at Tio and Tia's house on the way to the gym. When we came back, Rosie was in her cousin M's arms making marshmallows and about to bake tasty cookies. She was having so much fun she didn't want to leave! So we left her for the rest of the afternoon so we could take care of some last minute holiday shopping.

Later this evening we met up for dinner with Auntie and cousin A. Often when we reach our destination in the car, Rosie will eagerly remind us she can't get out by saying, "stuck!" but tonight she surprised us with some impressive pronoun usage: "I'm stuck!" And since it was immediately followed by us laughing, she milked the situation and repeated herself.

For all the laughs and sweetness going on today, there was a serious shortage of photos (boo) so here's a random mixture:

Auntie and Uncle G's Christmas tree: "WOW!"

Rosie's first Zachary's pizza. Two cheesy and saucy thumbs up:

Dolls at the library. This one is Uncle M:

I was going through photos and found these from the other day when we were playing Farmer's Market. Rosie was picking up the red pepper-corn-looking plant and singing "O Christmas Tree":

....with a little hip action:

25 months

We were just watching a few old Rosie videos and man! It seems like 6 months ago Rosie looked just about the same but has matured so much.

• Most notable is her language. We say this every month, but it's grown exponentially. She has a great imagination, and loves stories and songs. 
• Memory. The other day we were visiting family in SF and Rosie came up to me and asked for a plum out of the blue. Her aunt then pointed out that the last time we were there, 2 months earlier, she ate a plum at their place. Crazy!
• Cuddles. Rosie still loves to cuddle, often on our faces, at most hours of the day but especially in the mornings.
• Active. Rosie loves to run! Ring around the Rosie now consists of her running around us at full speed. She also loves to chase around the house (naked attack!).

p.s. here is Rosie's interpretation of "smile":

Rosie Farms

Playing Farmer's Market. $1 for an organic orange. What a deal!



putting away the dollar for safe keeping:

Another goodbye

Had to say bye to Aunt N and Aunt M last night as they made their way back home to Delaware.






Among the memorable moments from this trip: baubles (Rosie notices them everywhere!), Hey Ho by the Lumineers, Jingle Bells, papusa:



See you soon Aunties!