Monaloca

It’s becoming a tradition. We had another extendo-Christmas this year.

We started Christmas early, with two nights in San Jose the weekend before real Christmas to celebrate with my extended family (aka Weiss Christmas). Melina loved playing with her two cousins, and created all sorts of mischief with Lucas. Kai was kind enough to wait until 6:30 to wake up Grandma Nancy on Weiss Christmas morn, and apparently after he went through his own stocking the two of them checked out the other three kids’ loot as well.

We visited the Tilden Winter Wonderland Carousel with Meli’s friend Lily a few nights before Christmas. (Unlike last year, Melina actually rode a wooden goat and liked it.) Then we spent real Christmas feasting on homemade cardamom rolls for breakfast (Aunt Sharon, it’s our own take on a longstanding tradition!), walking through the woods near the Tilden Little Farm, then hanging out with the Lily’s family followed by Max’s family down the street. Phew, a busy day!

What were our kids looking forward to most this Christmas?

Melina was excited about singing “Snowman in the Frosting!” at her preschool holiday singalong. And a few weeks ago I asked her, “What do you want from Santa this year?” Her answer: “Christmas lights in my room. And I want pink hair.” But she was most consistent in asking for “big Swiper and tiny Swiper,” or a stuffed Swiper fox or two from the Dora cartoon she loves. (She got one stuffed Swiper and two printouts to color, one big and one tiny.)

Kai was working on a Santa list from him and Melina since before Thanksgiving. By Christmas day it was six pages long, all of them taped together and hanging from our magnet board. Some highlights: “Tights. Markers (washable/lavable). Glue sticks. Stickers. Kix cereal. Gumball machine. Big Swiper, Little Swiper. Big love, little love. Candy. A house.”

I’d love to have gotten that last one from Santa. We kept things simple this year and new toys to a minimum, but at the very least I wish I’d asked for a half day with a professional organizer to help me figure out how to fit all of us, our stuff, and the baby on the way into our small two-bedroom house. Maybe next year. For now I’m just happy we all got to celebrate together and ecstatic that we’ll soon have a new little one to join the fun!

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Today we celebrate my birthday, Melina’s half-birthday, and a belated YAY for our baby girl on the way. Somehow it seems fitting to post the ultrasound photo of our growing baby on this of all days. We’re all very excited about our new addition come April. Melina and Kai are comfortable in their bunk bed, there’s plenty of room for the crib on the other side of the room, and as a bonus Melina decided to potty train at 27 months. She no longer wears diapers even for nap, and would be pullup-free at night if we let her.

Both Melina and Kai love to kiss the baby and say “hi” to her in my belly. Melina has already told me she will not share her stroller with her little sister, but it’s ok if I put the baby in the Ergo and “push Mina in stroller.”

A few weeks ago Kai told me, “You guys are gonna be really busy when the baby comes.” I laughed, shook my head, and said, “That’s right. And you’ll be able to do a ton to help us out!”

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