The picture on the left was taken in June 2007 and the one on the right a few weeks ago!
neighborhood watch
Santa
We kicked off the weekend with a holiday party at Madison’s day care. Parents were invited for dinner at 5p – the owner cooked for all of us, yummy Peruvian fare, including a delicious rice pudding concoction. We enjoyed our food, child-free, while watching videos the caretakers had put together of all the kids – it was nice to finally see what Mads is or isn’t up to during the day!
At about 6.30 we met the kids in the main room, shortly before Santa made his appearance. Now, Mads hadn’t been too thrilled about strange old men in red suits and big beards and this night was no exception. Even though she saw that everyone was getting presents when they went up to Santa, she refused. REFUSED. to go collect her gift. Once the gifts were handed out and Santa left, the kids just about ripped into their gifts. Being one of 3 girls at day care, Mads received a nice lavender tulle tutu and matching headband. The mom that bought it for her was so excited to shop for a little girl. “It’s so much fun!” she exclaimed. Unfotch, Mads wanted nothing to do with it once she saw that another girl had received a princess dress and was already wearing hers. Mads went to drawer where the dress-up clothes are kept and proceeded to pull out the blue princess dress and asked to put it on. (Oy! I was so not looking forward to a princess phase so early.)
don't touch me
Macy’s
We got a late start to our Saturday, we ventured downtown at about noon, grabbed some lunch, did some shopping and went to see the holiday windows at Macy’s. Together, with the SFSPCA, Macy’s produces some great storefronts with some awfully cute animals in the windows. Mads was excited to see a black kitten responding to her window taps, a cute little puppy just sitting nicely, and even a sleeping black cat!
She wasn’t too thrilled about the SFSPCA mascot, as you can see.
(Yes, we managed to take advantage of some of the sales most of the stores were holding.)
Slumdog
Later that night, S & I made our way to the Embarcadero to see Slumdog Millionaire. Please go see this movie if you haven’t already! It tells the story of a young boy growing up in the slums of Mumbai (Bombay). Though the conditions are absolutely heartbreaking, it’s still my feel good movie of the year.
And here’s a clip f/M.I.A.
Happy Holidays!
Mads’ latest craze, other than driving us all (Lucie included) ragged and tired, is Miyazaki’s anime classic, My Neighbor Totoro.
This movie has been mentioned on so many parenting blogs I read, I figured we give it a try. At first, I thought Mads would be scared, but she wasn’t. (It helps that the girls in the movie don’t seem scared at all.) Also to note: This is the first movie that she sat still for a majority of the time (more so than Nemo AND Shrek)!
I’m also happy to read that Totoro is the Winnie-the-Pooh equivalent in Japan. I can see why!
(this is not to be confused with the dude that delivers the presents on Christmas Eve)
To begin, though I went to catholic school for oh-so many years, I can’t recall ever celebrating a saint day (S always gives me a difficult time if I forget to wish him a happy saint day).
At this age, I’m finding Mads a bit more understanding of Christmas – at least the material part of it. She’s starting to notice the holiday lights around the neighborhood (“pretty”) and fully understands the concept of presents (“presents”, specifically, “my presents”)! I figure we can instill the moral teaching of Christmas when she’s a bit more receptive.
So, this year Aunt “Keety” and Uncle “Mac” introduced Mads to St. Nicholas. They started telling her a story of St. Nick traveling around with his horses and leaving presents for good little boys and girls. Though Mads seemed more interested in the horses, she ran to her room, grabbed her fancy shoes and two baby carrots. She placed the shoes and carrots outside and listened carefully for the horses.
When it got dark enough outside, we asked her if we should check if the horses and St. Nick came by. Mads seemed happy to see a present, but a bit cautious as to where the carrots went.
And so begins our St. Nick holiday tradition…