Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

It's me, Maya.  I think we need to clear the air.

This year, when Mom & Dad brought me to visit you, I was excited.  They told me that you were coming, and I was happy.  I've been practicing saying your name all month!  ("Sssss!")

This is us---do you remember?

And then I heard your jingly bells and I looked up and suddenly, you were there!  I couldn't believe it!

Santa!  It's really you!

But then . . .well, Santa, I don't really know what happened.  I mean, I had been waiting for to see you for a long time.  But when my big moment came, I got a little scared.

And then  . . . then I got a lot scared.

And you were so nice to me, and talked to me about my Christmas wishes, and whispered nice things . . .

 . . . but I still liked you a little better from a distance.

But there's something you should know.  I'm still a big fan.  As a matter of fact, I couldn't believe that you had given me a present for visiting you!  I was amazed.

 It made me want to shout, "Santa's #1!"

So, I hope there are no hard feelings, Santa.  Parker and I are really, really excited for you to come visit.  All day long, Mom and Dad were asking me, "Maya, do you remember who's coming tonight?" and I would say, "Sss!" (As if I could forget you were coming.  Ha!)

I got things all ready for you.  First, I put some cookies on a special plate that I made with my friends at preschool.

Then, Daddy said that maybe this year we should leave sugar for the reindeer (we used to leave hay, but we thought they maybe could use a little extra energy).  I thought that sugar was a great idea!

Like, a really, really great idea!!!

I helped to scatter it around the plate so that all of the reindeer can get a lick.



Santa, I hope that you have safe travels tonight, flying all around the world.  I want you to know that even though I was scared of you (a little), I still want you to visit my house.  Also, even though sometimes I'm a little naughty, I'm still mostly a good girl.  And when Mommy asks me, "Maya, are you a good girl or a bad girl?" and I say "Ba!" with a naughty smile, I'm just joking.  I'm not really a bad girl! 

Also, don't forget Parker!  He's, like, the best doggie ever.

Lots of love always,

The cutest little girl ever

(that's me, Maya!)

A note from Dana:  If you want to see Maya on Christmas Eves past, go check out this post :)

And if you want to see the past 3 years of Maya's visits to Santa, go check out this post :)

The 2nd in the series---Holiday Card, 2009

So continues the annual parade of holiday-cards-past, leading to the reveal of the 2011 masterpiece :) 

When we put together the 2009 card, Maya was 1.5 (and as adorable as ever).   Here's the card we mailed out that year, and it's story (the story is copied from a blog post last year, so if it sounds familiar, that's why). 

Last year we thought that we had come up with a great card. It was a pictoral representation of 2009, it made us laugh, and we thought it was clever. We didn't anticipate that it would prove to be possibly too clever. Have a look:

Front:

Sorry that's a little blurry.  I'm not technologically savvy enough to know how to clean it up.

Inside:

Get it?

To us, it made total sense. Spring = Maya is sad, Summer = Maya is sad, Fall = Maya is sad . . . but in the Winter, Maya is happy! Tie it all together with "It's the most wonderful time of the year" Christmas song quote, and we loved it. But then we had a few conversations that went like this:

Them: "Hey, we got your card! It was really cute. It was . . . interesting . . . you know, how you picked so many crying pictures."

Us: "Did you get it? Like with the whole 'it's the most wonderful time of the year' thing? You know, because the holiday season is fun, so she was only laughing in the winter?"

Them: (pause)  "Ohhhhhhhh . . . "

Us: (Sigh)

Oh well. We still think it was an excellent card :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Or a strip club.*

My girl is in love with the Christmas tree . . . like mother, like daughter, I suppose :)

In years past, we've set up a gate system to keep her (and last year, her & Parker) away from the tree.  That let us have the nice tree with nice ornaments and present underneath and everything.  This year we decided to just make the tree Maya-friendly so that she could get involved with it.  Our glass and ceramic ornaments have remained packed away.  Instead, we're using a box of cheap plastic ones from the drugstore and a bunch of homemade crafty ones. 

There's a huge tree in the living room!

She was a great decorating helper.  She would walk over to where I sat on the floor, adding (plastic) hooks to ornaments. I would give her an ornament and she would carry it over to Dave, who would then put it on the tree.  It was a great system, and Maya was delighted.  Until we were done.

After all of the ornaments were up Maya went into rearranging mode.  She takes an ornmanet off of the tree, looks at it, brings it to me or Dave, grabs our hand and leads us to the tree, and points at where she thinks the ornament should go.  We hang it up and walk away. 

Repeat.

Forever.

Either she loves decorating the tree or she's got some OCD decorating tendencies.

Hmmm . . . I'm not sure about the placement of this one.

Parker, you can't help with this!  Silly doggie.

What?  This one needs adjusting, too.

Now that she's big enough to do some fun stuff, I've been trying to get crafty.  I printed out some coloring sheets (mostly alligators and snowmen---just google "alligator coloring printable" or whatver and stuff will pop up)---we're coloring and painting them, and we'll laminate to hang them on the tree.  Also, we made some cinnamon dough ornaments ("recipe" at the end of this post, if you're interested).

Trying to get a shot of the ingredients, but someone's anxious little fingers kept stealing supplies.

Cinnamon dough smells fantastic!

We used holiday cookie cutters and our play dough cutters---that's how we got the alligator and giraffe.

After baking.

After painting.

I thought adding sequins would be good OT practice.  Maya thought it was terribly boring and threw the packet of sequins.  Dave kept saying "Sequins?  Is that a word?  Do people really say the word 'sequins'?  That can't be a real word."  I rolled my eyes at both of them and just did it myself.

But she LOVED the glitter shakers!

This is about where the glitter started to go everywhere.  We noticed that we were all covered in it--hair, face, table, floor, feet, clothes, everything.  And I thought "man, this is a rookie parenting mistake."  So if you see us 2 months from now and we're still shimmering, this is why.  Today I still had slitter in my eyebrows and keep finding it on my hands.  I feel like I need to wear a sign that says "My glitter is unintentional."

Then she spilled 2 tubes all over herself.  But in this picture she's trying to pick it off of her jeans and put it back in the tube.  I'll give you one guess at how effective that was.

Dave decided that vacuuming her was the most efficient way to clean up.  She liked it :)

Finished products.  (We actually left some plain, some painted, and some all glittered up.)

Details:

Cinnamon dough recipe:  If you google "cinnamon dough ornaments" you'll find a bunch of recipes, and they're all different.  We used about 1 and 3/4 cups of cinnamon, 1 cup of applesauce, and a good squeeze of glue (maybe 1.5 tbl).  The dough was too sticky, so I just kept adding flour until it got less sticky and more doughy.  You'll need extra cinnamon for coating the countertops and rolling pin.

Ornament prep:  After you cut out whatever ornaments you like, stick them in the oven (we did a foil lined cookie sheet) on 200.  I flipped them every 45 mins or so, and probably left them in there for 3 hours.  Alternately, you can just leave them on a drying rack on the counter overnight.  Either way, your kitchen will smell like baked goods and make you hungry.

Decorating:  We used plain old tempera paints and a paintbrush, because we had it.  I liked the sequins but Maya didn't.  If you have a 3 year old, I would say to avoid glitter, but really, I'm kidding myself, because it was really fun and I think we'll be using it again this week.  But if you are really type A, avoiding the glitter is a good idea.  You will be glittery for a while. 

*Just to be clear, in case you've reached the end and are still confused, the strip club comment is because of the glitter all over the floor, counters, and people in my apartment.  There's nothing else strip clubby going on here.

It's a December tradition here on the blog . . .

December (aka the best month ever) kind of slid right past me this year.  We had  the trip to Yale, the start of my new job, the assistive tech re-evaluation, training on my new job, and the most amazing fundraiser ever . . . and suddenly it's already Dec. 8th.  I've got to get on the ball. 
 
Here's why December is the best:
1.  It can possibly snow in December.  I am over-the-moon-crazy-excited when it snows.
2.  December smells good.  The air is crisp--outside it smells like snow and fireplaces and inside it smells like pine and cinnamon. 
3.  There is no prettier way to light a room than with a lit up Christmas tree.
4.  It's basically the only month of the year when I bake.  And then I have an excuse to eat baked things.
5.  Giving people presents is super fun.
6.  People are happier.  I mean, they're a little crazy too (especially in retail arenas) but generally, people are just more merry.
7.  City streets look like enchanted places when trees and balconies are strung up with lights.
8.  Christmas carols sound like home.
9.  My birthday is the week before Christmas, and I love the fact that everyone is really excited that week.
10.  Christmas morning will always feel like the most magical morning of the year.

This year brings the added bonus that Maya is kind of old enough to "get it."  Last year she was in love with Santa, but she still had no idea what his deal is.  This year I think that if we talk about it enough she might actually understand.    She's loving the tree, and the holiday crafts we've been doing (more to come on those tomorrow).  It's really fun!

If you're new to the blog, you might not know that holiday cards are kind of our thing.  We try to come up with something cute and different every year, and I love sending them out.  Last year I shared the cards from holidays past---and I'm going to make that a December tradition.  We'll do 2008- 2009- 2010 -and then this year's card  (I can't wait to share it).

Without further ado, Maya's first ever holiday card (2008):

Yes, I really put her in a pot. Yes, it was really on the stove. She couldn't move, the burners weren't on, and she was (clearly) having fun. So don't hate mail me.

Happy December, everyone :)

The making of the Best Holiday Card Ever

Here's your behind the scenes look at the holiday card shoot (these were taken the last week in November).

Dave and I traded off with the camera and staging duties---it's surprisingly complicated to get a toddler and a puppy to simultaneously cooperate.  Add in some wet paint, and it's (literally) a messy situation.  (The paint was black fingerpaint--totally nontoxic, washed right out, and I'm not sure if he even knew it was there, so no animal rights hate mail.)

Did you know that you can click on any picture to make it bigger?  So don't squint and hurt your eyes :)

Setting the scene-in the living room (the backdrop is our comforter draped over our couch):

Parker is clearly enthused and ready to begin.

Me: Parker!  Get in there!

Maya: Parker!  Let's go!

Parker: I don't think I like this.

Ok, guys, come on-perk up!   Pay attention!

Um, not like that.  That's too children-of-the-corn.

Maya's starting to get into it.  Add the paintbrush!

Hold it like this, Daddy?

Parker: I don't like the look of that paintbrush.

 

Maya: I think I could do some serious damage here.  (Is it me or does the way she's holding the brush totally scream "Psycho"?)

 

Ok, Maya, paint your Parker.

THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!  I CAN'T EVEN STAND IT!

I love this day!

And then things took an  . . . um, unexpected turn.

Hope your holidays don't stink!  :)

The best holiday card EVER!

Without further ado, our 2010 card . . .

(You can click on this to make it appear full-screen)

Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time*

Last night we headed to Maya's favorite place (Stew Leonard's) to get our tree  :)

Have I mentioned that I love Christmas time?

And Maya's learning to love it, too :)

Dave and I are excited to get the tree, Maya's perplexed that some strange lady just took our camera.

We quickly grabbed our tree  . . .

 . . . because it was pretty cold.  (Those are my gloves on Maya . . . if you follow our Facebook page you would know that getting her to keep gloves on is tricky business.)

"Santa, your beard is mighty suspicious"

And today has been as magical as last night . . . the holidays are definitely here, complete with a deliciously pine-scented apartment (courtesy of the above tree). 

Maya helped me make cookies (for the first time ever)!  It makes me kind of giddy to think about the ways that she'll soon be able to "help" in the kitchen (she's a big fan of "helping".  Note the quotes.).  Today she loaded cookies into the food processor to get crushed:

KIPP teachers, you will be eating the fruits of her labor tomorrow if you're cookie-exchanging.    Don't worry, her hands were spotlessly clean :)

Then she helped me bring out the lights and beads for the tree . . . which quickly evolved into a mini photo shoot, because she's just so darn cute.

Parker!  Get out of here, I'm tryin' to untangle these lights and you're just makin' me giggle!

And then she showed me that she's totally ready to unwrap presents by destroying her walker.  Yeah, you read that right.  I'll post about that tomorrow(ish)---it was a handy DIY project, but now I'm back to square one on it.

(cue big, announcer-type voice)

And now, folks, it's the moment you've all been waiting for . . . the winners of the first ever Holiday Card Giveaway are . . .

 #6- Jerri

#11- Lucie

#1- Candice

Hooray!  Congratulations, ladies!  Please email me your name & address (uncommonfeedback@gmail.com) and I'll get those right out to you!