Off to the Zoo

We went to the Wild Animal Park/zoo today! There is my English friend Naomi on the left with Noah in the stroller, and the three other children besides December are Ann's children. She's Canadian, too!

The zookeepers were doing a Keeper Talk on the Caracal, a small wild cat with long tufts on its ears. It's a very neat animal, although it did hiss and get angry a couple of times during the talk.

A gorilla -- or "min-keeee" (= monkey), according to December. Almost every animal she saw after the gorillas was promptly named "Min-keeee." She just learned how to say monkey yesterday, so I think that was part of her exuberance.

A meerkat, or "Meowww, meoww" according to December. I tried to explain that this wasn't a kitty, it was a meerkat, but since I was saying "meer-CAT" in my explanation of what it was, I think the distinction got lost, and December didn't really get the difference.

December loves her monkeys! She wanted to sit in this monkey's lap on the car.

The zoo made me laugh today. I find it a bit funny that even though this is the last place to find Christmas-like weather, everyone still decorates for Christmas with snowmen, snowflakes, and anything Christmasy and snowy. So, at the zoo, there were Christmas lights all around, with lit-up plastic snowmen and various zoo animals. Also, there was a hill that you could go sledding on! Hehee...they bring in snow (or create snow), and lay it on this tiny little hill, put haybales around it (as guard rails for the kids), and let the kids go at it! It made me laugh. All these kids sliding down this teeny little patch of white ice (man-made snow never turns out as good as God-made snow) surrounded by bales of hay. I should have taken a picture of how crazy-looking it was :). It made me laugh.

We leave tomorrow! I should really be packing right now, or moving every last item out of the kitchen (the cockroach-sprayer people are going to come and vanquish all of the nasty cockroaches tomorrow, and we're not allowed to come back in the apartment for at least four hours). So we won't really be able to come back into the apartment much before we leave for our trip. That means that everything has to be done by the end of tonight! If you think of us, please pray for us...there is forcasted snowy weather for the roads we'll be encountering. I'm especially worried about the roads during the middle of the night. Mixing bad roads with a sleep-deprived driver creates a deadly combination!

A Great Studying Helper

Here's December helping Daddy study Hebrew flashcards.

Here's December distracting Daddy from studying Hebrew flashcards

December ringing the Christmas bell we have hanging on our doorknob...only she likes to rip it off the door and ring it by herself

Spying on our neighbor, who has just arrived home

December is getting more insistent when she wants something. Lately if she wants you to do something, like put in a Baby Einstein movie, she'll get the movie, bring it to you, then grab your hand and pull you toward the dvd player. For the past couple of months, we have been trying to get December to sit with us during church. We begin the service with her seated between us, and we make her last for as long as we can, and then we take her to nursery when she starts yelling out loud for the fun of it and scrambling under the pews. Yesterday, though, even before the service started, she took my hand and started pulling me toward the direction of the nursery, saying "Djo! Djo!" (which means, "Toys! Toys!"). She really wanted to go play in the nursery! What happened to my little girl who would scream and fake-cry when Brad and I picked her up from her nursery time, as though punishing us for abandoning her there?!?

Brad has three exams this week -- the first one starting tomorrow. He says his ones on Wednesday and Thursday will be his hardest ones, one of which is Hebrew. As soon as he gets home from his one on Thursday (around supper time), we leave for our looong trek toward the colder places. :)

Playing a Christmas Song

For the past few days, December has really loved to sit and play at the piano.

Here she is trying to play, "What Child Is This?"

We watched Samuel again today while his parents went for a dentist appointment...the babies wanted to dance (again, December wanted this more than Samuel), so it was pretty cute. There wasn't even any music playing this time! December has really been into Ring Around the Rosie since Mom taught it to her, so I think that's what she's trying to do with Samuel here.

Tonight one of the seminary couples in our apartment complex is having a Christmas party, so we're going to go to that, which will be fun!

Big Shoes to Fill

December has liked putting on our shoes lately and trying to walk around in them.

Doesn't it look like she's got skis on her feet? Here Brad is helping her walk.

This picture was taken a couple of days ago, when she went and found two of my shoes (two different ones) and strolled around the apartment, playing happily. They'd often fall off, and she'd respond, "Uh-oh!" then go back and slip the shoe back on -- and continue on her way.

December napping yesterday. I don't get many of these shots because I don't dare sneak into December's room while she's sleeping, in case I wake her up. But yesterday, we had a shopping date with Naomi and Noah, so I needed to wake her to go pick them up...so I decided to get a quick picture of the sleeping December.

I got out December's hat that she got from her Uncle Jeff and Auntie Erin in preparation for packing, and she wanted to put it on herself (this says alot about how much she likes the hat -- usually she wants nothing on her head).

Brad finished his second exam this morning -- YAY! Only three more left to go. I've been having fun working on Christmas presents, and December's been having fun doing whatever it is she finds to do...currently that is pushing her bear around in a stroller on the front deck.

The Doll Needs a Snack

December is a born Mommy. Whenever her friends come over to play, she is constantly making sure they take drinks out of their sippy cups, or she is hand-feeding them snacks, or getting them their blankets, etc. The following is something I hear every day, coming from December as she plays: "Baby? Bayyy-beee?? Ohhh, dere baby! Baby, dee? Dee. Boh, baby. Bohhh. Dere baby. Cuh?? Baby cuh? Cuh. Nana. Baby -- nana." (translation: "Baby? Where's the baby? Ohh, there's baby! Baby, eat? Eat. *brings doll to high chair and gives a great lift, setting her in...pushes the chair in closely to the table* Bowl, baby. [she calls plates "bowls"]. Bowl. *sets the plate in front of the doll* There, baby. Cup? Where's baby's cup? There's cup! *sets the cup by the plate* Baby -- banana.") It's pretty fun to watch her flutter around her doll, getting everything the doll needs to have a proper snack.

Here is December having a real conversation on the phone with Justyne -- she just sat and talked on and on to Justyne! I was so shocked that she was doing that! Usually, she runs away from the phone and giggles while I try to chase her down and hold the phone to her ear.

Getting out all of the toys and deciding to play with Barbie.

Noah and December playing together at Noah's house. Matthew and Naomi had invited us over for dinner on Friday, and the kids like playing together...

Well, they usually like playing together, anyway. This was taken just before December hit Noah in the face with her feet, and his lip started to bleed :(

December posing for the picture. It was the weirdest thing -- I bent down to take the picture, and December looked at me, and then struck up this pose. Silly girl!

Brad's into his Reading Days now, and he's reading behind me right now as I type! His first exam is on Thursday, and it's his Greek one. The weather here has been chillier than usual, and this morning we turned on our heater for the first time. When we woke up, it was 60 degrees inside our apartment (15 degrees C), and December's hands were little blocks of ice, so we turned it on for a little bit. BUT the nice thing is that it has warmed up with the sun shining, so right now, outside it is 70 degrees -- much preferable!

"Hey -- DON'T Touch My Hair!"

We watched Samuel a couple of nights ago while his parents were out and about. Here are December and Samuel dancing together (holding hands and twirling around)




Samuel wasn't quite as keen on the dancing as December was, so she decided to dance by herself.

Here is December, throwing a temper tantrum...

Samuel and December are being all cuddly (this is right before bedtime), and they're watching a calming Baby Einstien video

Samuel LOVES hair, so in this picture, he was reaching out to touch December's hair. She did NOT think that was an okay thing for him to do!

Brad's Mom was very kind and sent us a chocolate count-down to Christmas calendar...Brad and I ate the chocolates for first few days, and then we thought we should share with December. Here she is, unwrapping the chocolate.

Being the chocoholic that she is (at such a young age, too!), she shoved the entire piece in her mouth at once. Now I don't think Brad or I will get any of the rest of the chocolates! I had to hide the box so that she's stop begging us for more of them :)

YAY! All Brad's papers are finished! He pulled an all-nighter last night to finish the last one, but they all got turned in on time, and he is officially finished with his classes now. Next week he has a few days for his Reading Break, and then on Thursday he begins his final exams, which continue into the week following...and once those are finished, we go on a road trip! Christmas time is great fun. I can't wait to start wrapping presents because I want to see how December will respond to gifts under the tree, now that she's a bit older. I wonder if she'll know what's going on with all of the shiny, sparkly boxes hanging out on the floor...? It'll be fun to see!

Somersaulting

December's newest trick is to do a somersault -- here she is, getting into the crouching position

Then she puts her head to the floor and straightens her legs

Here she is in the middle of the flip

All finished her flip!

On Sunday, December was wearing her Christmas dress, and there was another little girl at church with an almost identical dress to hers!

The other little girl was doing really well for the camera, smiling and frilling her dress out, but December was trying to run away from her...Brad had to hold her down in order to get a picture of them together :)

After a full morning at church, December fell asleep in her carseat.

It rained quite a bit last week, and then at the end of it, out came a rainbow! It was so pretty! This picture was taken out of our bedroom window.

It has been pretty busy here lately, as you might guess from the lack of posting! Brad has just finished his last days of classes, and his end-of-semester papers are due tomorrow. He has put in some REALLY late nights (or, I should say, early mornings) already, and it looks like he'll be pulling another one tonight. The end of the semester is really rough! Also, Medi-Cal has been giving us grief (but that's nothing new), cochroaches have decided to invade our kitchen (GROSS!), my wisdom teeth have been coming in more and more (which causes GREAT amounts of pain and prohibits me from eating almost entirely), friends' cars are breaking down and desparately needing our help, going to Christmas get-togethers, etc. So there hasn't really been a dull moment!

But MOST exciting of all is what happened last Thursday! We bought a minivan! YAY! I've been wanting one for a really long time (like since before we were married...I have an affinity for minivans), and we're selling our car. Our car doesn't have A/C, so that has been pretty desirable at times here! We have a buyer for our car in Alberta. So w'll be driving our car up in a couple of weeks when we go up north for Christmas, to have Christmas with Brad's family. Soo, we had been looking for a van since before we moved out here, but the right one hadn't come along...until a couple of weeks ago! It was a great deal, and I wouldn't chose any other van! It's a 2007 Kia Sedona, and we bought it used -- it had been a rental car beforehand. I'll put up some pictures of it. We LOVE our van! It's so much fun to drive, although it's still a bit nerve-wracking because it's unfamiliar and new! It's been wonderful to have already.

Yay for Minivans!

Here's our van! We are really exited about it.

It has 30,000 miles on it...and it has air conditioning! YAY! (it has other features too, but I'm thrilled about the air conditioning! It's already been put to good use)

Here are all of the buttons and things...they're fun to figure out!

December likes to play with the buttons, too!

The back bench folds down into the floor in a 2/3rd split. The right two seats are folded into the floor here.

Mosesina Strikes Again

December likes to take the rug from the kitchen over to the carpet and lay on it like it's a bed...she's even grabbed her two special sleep blankets out of her crib to make the sleeping effect more realistic.

She thinks this game is really exciting!

Here is December's doll in a Christmas basket, just for comparison to what you'll see below...

December crawled into the basket...or rather, she shoved and finagled herself into it!

I think she has a future career in being a contortionist

She thought this game was a blast, too

She is shining the flashlight on the ceiling and watching it shine around.

I love Christmas time! Right now I am making my father proud. (Dad loves Christmas time, too.) I am listening to the radio station I created at pandora.com (note: if you don't know about pandora, you should check it out! You create your own radio station by typing in the name of a song or artist that you like, and they find lots of songs that are similar to the song you put down...making the odds very likely that you will like all of the songs they play). It's great fun! So anyway, I put in the name of a Christmas song by Bing Crosby, and now I'm listening to ALL Christmas songs by Bing, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, etc. Right now I'm listening to Frank Sinatra telling me that he's dreaming of a white Christmas and that he hopes all of my Christmases will be white (well, they'll be green and sunny here, Frank..."Mele Kelikimaka" would be much more appropriate). Dad and I LOVE this old tape we had with good ole' Bing crooning Christmas carols. This sounds just like that tape! And listening to these songs makes me really happy.

Tonight we are going to go to a professor's house for dinner. He invited the prayer group that he is in charge of at the seminary to come to his house for dinner, and Brad is in his prayer group. I'm amazed because his wife just had a baby only a few weeks ago, and I'm in awe that she's ready to host a group of seminarians over so quickly! But I'm excited to go. December will like to play with the other children.