Christmas 2014

We stayed in London for Christmas again this year.  We weren't quite ready to make the trip to California again just 4 months after our last one (the jet lag and sleepless nights (due to a baby who was not in his familiar environment) were still a little too fresh in my mind).  So, we opted to enjoy another quiet Christmas at home with our little family and, of course, our London family (we celebrated Christmas Eve with our closest friends in London).  Although we greatly miss our extended families during the holidays, it has been really nice to have these past two Christmases to ourselves to establish our own traditions and to make some memories of our own.

We celebrated Christmas Eve with our London family.  This was the best shot of the kids that we managed to get :)

The Three Amigos opening their Christmas crackers.

The boys enjoying their toys from their Christmas crackers. 

Dueling dinosaurs.

Matching Christmas jammies.  Thank you Grandma Choi!

Santa brought Nathan baseball gear--a batting helmet and baseball pants and belt.  Yes, this is what he asked Santa for, and no, there is not baseball in London, but he has been a bit obsessed ever since our trip to America this summer :)

Also, on his Christmas list - catcher's gear :)

Trent's First Christmas!

Showing off his Christmas booty :) 

This was a couple of days after Christmas.  It was time to take the tree down, so my boys went to work.

December 2014

Trent turned 11 months old in December.  We're having a hard time believing that it has been almost a year since he was born!  He has turned into quite a climber and climbs up onto anything and everything that he possibly can--chairs, the couch, stools, his toy box, and he's even climbing up the sides of his crib already!  He also took his first steps shortly after his 11-month birthday.  But, he still finds it most convenient to get around by crawling (I don't blame him, because he is such a fast crawler that I have a hard time keeping up with him!).  So far, his max is 3 steps, but I am sure that he will be walking in no time (which is much sooner than I would like :) 

Looking very proud of himself for getting himself into a seat that is just his size.

And, yes, he climbed into this box on his own too.  And, then Nathan decided to join in on the fun too.

Trent and Dylan.

My cousin, Erica, came to visit us for Christmas this year.   We showed her the lights and Christmas decorations in our neighborhood.

Enjoying a chilly day at the playground.

Watch out - Trent has control of the T-Rex!

'Tis The Season

I love the Christmas season and it's even better with kids around!  Nathan was so excited about Christmas this year and thanks to our advent calendar, we packed December with lots of festive activities.  We went ice skating with friends, went to a giant Christmas tree maze, went to a pantomime (a British holiday tradition), decorated gingerbread men, made and decorated Christmas ornaments, and, of course, decorated our Christmas tree.

And all the while, we were serenaded with Christmas music by Nathan.  He learned quite a few Christmas songs at school this year and he constantly walked around singing them.  In fact, he is still singing them and is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon :)  He sometimes even talks to us by putting his words to the tune of whatever Christmas song is currently in his head.

Nathan was a camel in his nursery school nativity play.

Ice skating at the Natural History Museum.  What a difference a year makes.  This year, the boys got real ice skates (not the kind that fit over their wellies) and made several attempts at skating on their own (well, with the penguins), rather than just being pushed around by the daddies.

Warming up with some hot chocolate after ice skating.  And, some biscuits - they all have their hands raised, because Chris just asked "Who wants a gingerbread man?" :)

No ice skating for these two, but they had fun watching their older brothers.

Decorating gingerbread men.

The finished product. 

Nathan had so much fun decorating the tree this year and he did a really good job.  He put up most of the ornaments and I didn't even have to move very many of them around :)

This was at the pantomime we saw--Cinderella.  These binoculars may have been his favorite part of the pantomime.  Although, he really liked the show too.  He even made it through all 2 1/2 hours of it!  And, afterward, he told me he wanted to go see all the other pantomimes!  I'm not sure what he liked best - being encouraged to yell and interact with the actors, the live ponies on stage, the fake snow pumped into the theatre, or the 3-D portion of the show.  Or, it might have been the popcorn and Christmas biscuits he munched on during the show :)

Ready for the 3-D portion of the show.

We also went to see Room on the Broom at the theatre.  He loved seeing one of his favorite books come to life.  And, we found this cute little reindeer in China Town on our way to lunch after the play.  He really loved all of the Christmas decorations all over the city this year.

We went to a giant Christmas tree maze this year. 

And, this is what we found when we made our way to the very middle of the maze.

Somehow we forgot to pick up the ornament that he made at school this year and he was very upset about it, so we made our own ornaments at home with cookie cutters and salt dough and then painted them and put them up on our tree.  That seemed to make up for the lost school ornament :)