I like to think Ella's trying to wish all of you a Happy New Year!!
(Permanent link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2871513164023877736&hl=en)
 

Everyone was happy to have additional baby-holding hands on deck... especially Ella:

And additional people for book-reading sessions for all those new books:

New toys (this one from Kaan, Hande, and Eva) will keep Sophia occupied for months:

Cookies were rolled and successfully cut out (those playdoh sessions really payed off) and Sophia stayed clean thanks to an awesome Aussie apron from Ilke and Lulu:


Here's some of the live action (permanent link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6684821036389074503&hl=en):
    

When it came to decorating, Sophia was in charge of the sprinkles... we weren't insane enough to give her the icing to work with:

The finished product included Christmas and Hannukah items:

Sophia really got into tearing presents open:

And even occasionally stopped to look at what she was opening:


I got some nice things, too, including a gem from Esen with the following label on the packaging:

Seriously.  He swears that he didn't see the label.  Right.  It's a lap desk, by the way.  Apparently, a lap desk for the elderly and disabled.  He also got me a cordless stick vacuum.  Before you jump on him for that, I actually asked for it.  It may not be romantic, but my floors are constantly dirty and I'm over the Swiffer.

Both girls are also enjoying a new quilt made by my sweet (and talented) Aunt Sheila:

Ella's face seems to say, "Yo!  Get off *MY* kitty quilt!!"
Sophia understood right away that the quilt was supposed to be a kitty and so she was demonstrating her cat-stretching pose (which I believe she learned during yoga at school):


I don't have any updated pictures of Sophia in her play kitchen, but we've spent a lot of time there in the past week.  She got some more play food for Christmas from the Stewart/Sautner clan and has added some cooking sound effects that I hope to capture on video soon!

Ella is understandably not so excited during this picture because the photo session started out like this and, at some point, also included a choke-hold:

Here's one more of Sophia posing with her new red shoes:


And one more of Ella, who was happy once her sister finally let go:

Yeayy!  We all survived!!  Seems like a good excuse to drink champagne... well, that and to warm up for New Year's.  :)  Here are the pictures with the pink pig:

1.  The matter-of-fact:


2.  The smiley cyrus:


3.  The bored-with-you-paparazzi-already:


I also like this one with Grandpa Griffith because you can see just how blue her eyes still are:

More packages in the mail in recent days... these latest treats from Babaanne ve Dede include an indoor playhouse for Sophia and an activity mat for Ella:

Thank you for the nice gifts!  We sure have some happy kids, although we're clearly losing the battle to keep living in a house that doesn't appear to be overrun with children.  Soon we'll have to upgrade to something with more square footage just to accommodate their stuff.  All this and Christmas isn't yet over... we're so screwed.  :)

Because we're having Christmas here this year, I felt some pressure to have a tree.  That said, I had no desire to mess with a live one (although it is clearly the way to go in general) and also didn't really want to own a big fake tree (the last time I had one of those I wound up selling it at a June yard sale for about 10% of it's value because, hey, who buys a Christmas tree in June?).  Sophia and I went out in search of a decent option and settled on a little 4-foot fake job that is designed to go on your front porch.  I don't hate it, but it is on the skinny side.  For the record, Sophia is the one who insisted on the cheesy star that's on the top.  The whole look is sort of tacky white trash, but we're working with it. 

It's certainly better than the miniature metallic pink tree that Sophia picked out at the bookstore today.  The ugly thing was already 50% off (presumably because nobody in their right mind would want such a thing in their house) and I couldn't say no after denying her a chance to see Santa.  There was a Santa at Home Depot, but he went home sick... yet another person taken down by those incredible toddler germs.  Welcome to my world, Santa!

Whichever teacher helped Sophia create this masterpiece is apparently as Jewish as I am... given her (mis)spelling of Hanukkah and all.  :)  I mean, I've probably spelled it a few different ways over the years, but this *CLEARLY* isn't right, right?

Other news...
Sophia is just too smart.  Now she nurses Becky whenever I nurse Ella... complete with shirt-lifting (or pajama unzipping if that's necessary):
Ironically, she's very discrete... never shows too much boob in the process.  :) 

We had another Turkish playdate this afternoon with Kutay and his parents:



Sophia really warmed up this time around even though we were at their house.  She just about lost it when Kutay tried to get his hands on Becky.  Fortunately everyone in the room was careful to protect Becky from boy cooties.  :)

Winter has finally arrived in Northern California recently.  We even broke out Sophia's winter coat since she plays outside several times a day at school.  She's pretty fond of it:

We bought this last year before going to North Dakota at Christmas.  I was hoping we'd get a couple of seasons out of it and, since Sophia has thankfully slowed down her speedy growth rate, it still fits great.  Of course, it was -30 in ND recently, so this little coat wouldn't have helped much against that bitter cold!  Thank goodness for chilly California 40 degrees!

Time for some Christmas shopping to get done.
Time for me to drop the rest of the baby weight (maybe after the holidays).
Time for Ella to start at daycare.
Time for me to admit that I'm finally in love with my baby.

Another early Christmas gift arrived today... this one from Grandma and Grandpa Griffith.  It's a platform designed to bring Sophia up to kitchen counter level so that she can "help".  I know, I know... why would I want her help up there?!  I don't really, but this solves a very real and annoying problem:  Sophia saying "Up! Up! Up!!" a million times a day to see what's going on.  If one of us doesn't pick her up, her requests quickly escalate into life threatening pleas (Mama UP!  Baba UP!!!) that drive me insane. 

She helped me to put it together and then our first session went quite well.  She and I made chicken parm and a nice tomato and cucumber salad.  I did most of the work, but Sophia provided good moral support.  :)


Thanks!!  I look forward to watching you guys make Christmas Cookies with Sophia in a few weeks!