Kissing and dancing

Lisa here, back in SClarita...
Realized there are some fun photos and stories I haven't posted, with life being so full of photogenic Christmas events lately...

First up, we have Stace's Christmas present from Sue and Gord - they bought him a guitar, something he's been thinking of getting for a while.

He's had a great time the last few weeks teaching himself to play, and it's been fun to watch he and Cora together. Stace plays and sings, and Cora will dance to the music and sometimes sing along.
She's learned to dance fast and crazy when he plays loudly, and to slow it down when he plays quietly.

The next photos show Cora's new trick - kissing, WITH the appropriate kissy noise. For the last year or 18 months, Cora's version of kissing was to say, "Muhh" while putting her pursed lips to ours.

About two weeks ago, Cora asked me to come back into her room after I put her to bed. Since she's been going to bed very easily lately (at home, not so much currently, in England!), I went back in to see what she wanted.

She stood up and wanted to give me a kiss, and I got one, noise and all! I was so excited, she gave me lots more. It became her new hobby, for the next few days at least.

Christmas in Martock

Cora and I made our way home to England on our own this year. Saying goodbye to Mummy was harder for Lis and me than Cora, who took it in her normal 'yeh, what ever' stride.

The only thing I was worried about this trip was the flight. Would Cora behave with just her Dad? Would she keep asking and crying for Mum?
Cora was brilliant on the plane. She kept herself busy by reading her books, playing on her new 'puter' and watching the selection of children's programs on the seat back tele. I must say that the choices for the under fives programs was not as good on BA as it is on Virgin Atlantic.

Nan and Pop were waiting at the airport and took us home to Martock. (After two wee stops on the way, good girl Cora.)
Once back in Martock we stopped in to see Big Nan (my Nan (Gran), Cora's Great Nan) where Cora entertained us all with some singing and dancing. Where does the child get her energy from after only three hours of sleep on the plane?
The first night started off really well with Cora going to sleep in her bed after a few stories, but at 2 am it all went horrible wrong. She woke up crying and asking for Mummy, wanting to go home and wanting breakfast, eggs and soldiers. We chatted for hours until she finally went to sleep. We had a repeat performance last night as well.
Yesterday (Sunday), we were altogether again as a family, minus Lis of course. Dean, Jen, Euan and Nan came over for our late Christmas Day. What a beautiful baby boy Euan is. Cora was all over him like a rash and constantly wanted to hold and kiss him. She was really gentle and loving. It was magical seeing both together. Dean's a very handy fella but I have to say, Euan is the greatest thing he has ever made.
Mum and Dad created a wonderful Christmas feast after the normal kitchen bickering that makes the cooking process a lot of fun for us spectators and makes Christmas complete.
We had a full on turkey dinner will ALL the trimmings. At the end the only thing that wasn't stuffed was the turkey.
Just as dinner started Cora flaked out.
In the afternoon we all exchanged presents and played with Cora. Nan and Pop bought her a Tea Set that she won't stop playing with. We've all drank enough imaginary cups of tea to float a battle ship.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning!

Cora enjoyed seeing that Santa had enjoyed his juice and cookie, and the reindeer liked their carrot.

We then hopped back into bed for Cora to open a last present from Mummy and Daddy - a toy laptop computer! Climbing into the big bed altogether is what Stace and Dean as kids, so he was eager to start the tradition with Cora.

Cora loved her toy, and played with it all morning, referring to it has her computer. She was saying that I have my computer, and she has hers.

It's designed for ages 3 to 7, and helps teach letters and numbers, so we're hoping it will last her quite a while.

We then spoke to Nan, Pop and Nanny on the Webcam, and Cora opened her big gift from Nanny and Pop - an art table! She was very excited about it, and started coloring on the attached roll of paper right away.

Then it was time to finish packing for the trip to LAX. I was surprised at how hard a time I had saying goodbye to Stace and Cora, like biting my lip to hold back the sobs till I got back to the car. I've spent exactly three nights away from Cora, and all were one-night deals. I know it will go fine, and I'm really hopeful that Cora and Stace will be even more bonded when they return.

I'll let Stace post an entry when he has time to say how they are doing in England. I'll just say that they're safely there and had a very good flight over.

After I left LAX, I went a few minutes further south to celebrate Christmas with our dear friends John, Linda, and their two girls. John and Linda are Cora's godparents, and their daughters were our flower girls. We had a great time together.

Christmas Eve-ning

Our Christmas Eve celebration with Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Mel started with the 5 p.m. service at Real Life Church.

For the special occasion, all children over 24 months were in with the adults for the main service. The children were all invited to the front while one of the pastors read the Christmas story from Luke.

Cora did pretty well for the rest of the service, considering she is used to her kid-friendly 2-year-old Sunday School class. The music and message were great, as always.

Then, it was time for food and fun at home. Trader Joe's catered our evening, and all was yummy.

We started with the English tradition of opening Christmas crackers - see top photo - and then wearing the paper crowns they contained while we read the silly jokes.

Then it was time for presents, with Cora playing Santa. Cora finished her Advent calendar, and found some very pretty bracelets along with her chocolate coin in the "24" pocket.

Before bed, Cora and Stace prepared a snack and note for Santa/Father Christmas.

A special Christmas Eve

Our family was blessed to have Stace off on Christmas Eve day, so we made it a special one, especially since our little family was soon to be apart for a bit.

We started our day with a yummy Christmas breakfast - Eggnog French Toast! I think we've started a new tradition, it was so good.

We then went to Magic Mountain with Grandma, with free tickets she got from a friend.

We last went about a year ago, and it was great how many more rides Cora could enjoy this year in Bugs Bunny World and Thomas Town.

Cora could even ride the little kiddie roller coasters, and she loved them! We adults were too big to get on the Percy roller coaster with Cora, but she was game to try it by herself. We were amazed to watch her going so fast, not a bit scared. See the attached video of that ride.

It was an ideal day for the park - cool and practically empty! You know it's a good day at an amusement park when the ride operators all ask if you want another ride rather than expecting you to get off. Very different than Cora's last few trips to crowded Disneyland!

We didn't get out of the park until 2, so we just had time for a drive-through lunch and got Cora down for a very late nap. She needed the rest for our Christmas Eve-ning festivities!

I'm putting these photos in very small, since there are so many, but always remember to click them to blow them up if you want to see them better.

Princess, Frogs and Parties

Quick recap on our weekend before we rush headlong into Christmas...

On Saturday afternoon we went to see a children's play, the Princess and the Frog, down near Universal Studios. The Prince/Frog was played by Iain, Melanie's boyfriend of a couple of months. They met while acting in the same college play, and funny enough, Iain is also from England.

Cora enjoyed the show, and it was ideal for her because there was no "bad guy" or "naughty lady" to scare her.

At the beginning, she kept asking to go up on stage, since she's now used to singing and dancing on stage at the beginning of Pioneer Club. About halfway through the show, the children were all invited up to sing along and dance to one of the numbers. Cora at first refused to go, and then walked up very s-l-o-w-l-y, and then stood in the front and picked her nose with an unhappy look on her face. Classic! (And, classy!) Finally, about halfway through, she started dancing around with a big grin on her face.

After the show, she bravely went up to the cast members to ask for autographs, though she mostly refused to pose for photos with them.

On Sunday afternoon, we went to our friends' house for a Christmas/engagement party.

For years, Steve and Linda have hosted a nearly annual Christmas gathering for their closest friends. This year, we had the added pleasure of celebrating the engagement of their daughter Casey to Bradley, her long-time boyfriend.

Casey and Bradley have asked Cora to be their flower girl next July, so it will be very neat to have a part of the big day.

The party was really fun, with great food and an entertaining White Elephant gift exchange.

Cora had a few real gifts to open - in the fourth photo, I'm holding a Santa set with a little plate, mug and notepad and pen for leaving a Christmas Eve message and snack for St. Nick. We tried to have Cora pose with us, but you can just see her escaping up the stairs.

Cora was very well-behaved, and every time I lost track of her, I'd find Casey walking around with Cora on her hip. They should get along very well at the wedding!

My Buddy Christmas party

So, if I may, I'm going to take a moment and brag about my daughter. These are the Christmas art projects she's made at her My Buddy and Me class the past few weeks, and check out this snowman!

Both the teacher, Ms. Diane, and a student teacher observing that day, remarked on how good she had done the face. I didn't help her at all.

Cora enjoyed making all her Christmas crafts, and they're helping decorate our house this week.

On Friday, we had our final My Buddy class for the fall session. All the kids got a certificate, and Cora was happy to pose with Ms. Diane.

We love her teacher! She is so friendly and welcoming, and since she has worked with Cora since March, she has done very good with drawing her out.

You who know Cora know that she isn't always friendly with other people. But, now, she always says hello to Ms. Diane, and is happy to chat with her.

At the moment, our plan is to enroll Cora in the city-run 3-year-old preschool program, especially since Ms. Diane teaches the class that meets nearest our house. That would be two days a week, two hours a day, starting in March or April.

On Friday, besides free play and art projects, the class enjoyed a little Christmas party. Here you see Cora enjoying a cupcake, by licking all the frosting off the top.

I started to encourage her to take off the paper and eat the cake, before wising up. She was happily eating her orange and string cheese, and I was going to complain that she wasn't eating the cake? Huh?

A fun week

Cora and I have had a great week together, with lots of fun Christmas activities.

First off, on Monday a playgroup we attend had a Christmas party.

Cora had a lot of fun, as the family who hosted have a fabulous train table, dollhouse and play kitchen.

The kids also decorated cookies and had a Secret Santa gift exchange - Cora was thrilled with her Thomas book. We had a nice lunch together, too.

On Tuesday, Harvey and Elissa came over to play, which was a lot of fun.

And on Wednesday, we played with Genia, Ave, Johnny and Owen with a picnic lunch at our little park.

Wednesday evening was Skipper Club, and you can see Cora here getting her badges from Miss Heather as the group completed another unit.

After the badge ceremony, the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and ate a cupcake in His honor.

On Thursday, Cora and I met Heather at Starbucks. Besides being Cora's teacher, Heather is the communications leader for MOPS, and I work on the monthly newsletter under her guidance.

After our coffee, Cora and I went to Old Navy and we got Cora a few new pieces of clothing.

We returned home to the fabulous news that Dean and Jen had their baby, a little boy name Euan James! Such exciting times, and we are so happy for them!

On Friday, we had our final My Buddy and Me class of the session, and another Christmas party. More on that later!

Christmas lights

On Sunday we took part in one of our favorite SClarita Christmas traditions - driving around admiring the brilliant light displays.

We started our evening out at Starbucks, where we met Grandma and Grandpa and everyone got drinks.

We drove through a few neighborhoods, and then parked and walked through our favorite, Wakefield Court in Saugus.

This community has been putting on a great show for about 15 years. When we walked through, lots of neighbors were gathered together, sitting on lawn chairs on their driveways, with (portable) fire pits blazing. In one open garage, a small group of musicians (including one of Stacey's co-workers) sang Christmas carols.

Cora was very happy to find several Winnie the Poohs and Tiggers, though she kept her eyes out for Woody and Buzz. She didn't spot them.

She's recently watched the original Toy Story, with us fast-forwarding through the "scariest" toy scenes, and she's been playing with my old Buzz Lightyear toy.

Many of the homes on Wakefield have a verse from the long version of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" on a board in front of their home, as part of their decoration.

Stace has been reading the poem to Cora each night before bed, and she can recite most of it. You can hear her here sharing the finale.