Tea For Two

As a post-Christmas treat, Kate and Mom went for afternoon tea at The Huntington Gardens. After all the tea-party playing and pretend tea sipping, I thought Kate was old enough to experience the real deal. Kate had orange blossom tea for the first time and really liked it. But she especially liked the delicious tea sandwiches ("they took off the crust!") and side salads. They had Kate's favorite -- hummos and black olive tapenade -- and she even sampled caviar for the first time. As she chewed, she smiled, "Mom, I like it!" and then, "Mom I really don't like it!" and washed it down with water.

We sampled fruit tartlets and little brownies for dessert, and got to take home the wonderful scones for Appa to try. Kate wanted to take home a ton of sandwiches for Appa, but I could only sneak out a couple while maintaining my dignity.

It was a lovely afternoon with my girl, Kate. We can't wait for Lily to be old enough to join us and make it tea for three.

Merry Christmas!

While the Kang-Weyant family slept, Santa and his cute little helper paid us a visit. Woot! Woot! It's Christmas time! Time to par-tay! Kate crawled into bed with us at six o' clock and mercifully slept for another hour. Later on, I hurried downstairs to turn on the tree lights and get the video camera ready as Kate shouted down, "Mom, did Santa come last night? Did he eat the cookies??" "Whoo hooo!" But even after seeing the piles and piles of presents under the tree, the first thing Kate wanted to do was give Chris and me our present: A handmade "Christmas ornament, not a potholder." Seeing it hanging on the tree, Kate realized that it might, in fact, be a potholder, but we all agreed it was too beautiful to be sullied and left it on the tree. Kate was very curious about what was inside this gigantic package from Uncle Tom in Canada. A ginormous giraffe for Kate and Lily! Kate was over the moon. And Lily...well, Lily cooed and drooled. Chris and I knew that somewhere, Tom was impishly giggling to himself, wondering if we were furious at him for sending such a ridiculously huge present. Truthfully, Chris and I both dreamed about having a giant toy animal when we were kids, like Richie Rich or Ricky Schroeder in Silver Spoons. An impractical, inconvenient, and expensive toy no parent would buy. Thanks, Tom! Of course, giant giraffe upstaged Santa's big gift to the girls -- a play refrigerator. Still, our darling daughter was grateful, and told us so. Pop-Pop and Grammy Marianne sent matching dresses with a beautiful Korean print. As well as a couple of pretty princess nightgowns for Miss Kate. And some cute owl p.j.'s for our owl baby.

Kate was the proud new Mommy of Bitty Baby "Carol" (for "Christmas Carol"), thanks to Samcheon, Sookmo, and Emma!

Who came with her own diaper backpack/carrier.

Aunt Soo sent a bunch of "Little Miss" books, and beautiful matching outfits for the girls.

Kate received a wooden microwave from Nana, and Lily got an owl buddy to keep her company.

Santa left clothes for Mom...

...and a T-shirt for Appa, among other things. Since Chris does all the vermin-trapping, bug-killing, and toilet-unclogging chores in our family, he has become our de facto janitor. Chris said all he needs now is a basement office with a girly calendar and a soiled cot.

Giraffey and Kate bonded over a bowl of Cheerios.

Santa's little helper needed a diaper change or two.

And enjoyed some sing-songy conversation with Mom.

This snowman ornament reminded us of Kate and Lily.

Later on, Lily paid a visit to Kate's hair salon.

And received a very fine hair fluffing.

Santa also brought Kate a few "Magic Tree House" chapter books, and Mom read the first one to a captivated Kate and Giraffey.

Ever since she was a baby, Kate has always loved books.

After all the gift-opening mania, we delivered Kate's Xmas cookies to our neighbors and got some exercise.

Even after getting an enormous amount of presents, Kate said that the best ones in the whole world were "Mom, Appa, and Lily." Here's hoping she feels this way for at least another year or two.

Merry Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho!

For Lily's first Christmas Eve, we dressed her up in leggings for the occasion, in case she felt the urge to breakdance. Meanwhile, Kate, Chris, and I decorated a batch of cookies to distribute to our neighbors. I was so impressed by how much Kate has matured. She stayed focused on this project for well over an hour and had a great time. Sticky fingers are a pet peeve of Kate's. She had to take a break every couple of cookies to wash them. A few of Kate and Chris' creations. Kate believes you can't have too many m&m's or too much frosting.

Time for a silliness break.

Kate busted out some dance moves in honor of the cookies.

Afterwards, we got dressed up for Christmas Eve mass. While the rest of us got ready, Kate pretended Pop-Pop's calendar was a music hymnal and sang Christmas carols.

All dressed up and ready to go. Lily will punish me for that hat one day.

Kate had been asking Chris and me for weeks to go to church, we were finally granting her wish. She was excited to see her friends from school, sing some Christmas songs, and have a chocolate donut afterwards.

I'd love to say that Xmas Eve mass was an uplifing, inspiring, and joyful experience for us all, but it was pretty miserable. The place was jam-packed with screaming kids and tense parents, the air was choked with too much incense, and the priest basically phoned in his homily. An exhausted Kate (and Lily) sat through the entire mass, and in the end, there were no donuts to be had.

Still, Kate was thrilled it was the night before Christmas, and for the first time ever, hurried into her pajamas and dashed into bed. She thought she heard Santa's sleigh bells ringing downstairs and nearly exploded. "Oh my goodness, Mom! I think I heard Santa's bells! Goodnight! Check on me in ten minutes! Oh my goodness! Goodnight!"

Huntington Gardens with Nana

Nana and Bob had never been to the gorgeous Huntington Gardens in San Marino, so we gave them a tour. It was a delightfully overcast and brisk day, and we all got a healthy dose of fresh air and exercise. Mellow Lily snoozed soundly as Appa and Kate checked out the seed exhibits in the background. Kate couldn't wait to show Nana the Children's Garden. In the Chinese garden, Appa and Kate stopped at every entrance and pretended they were scary Fu Dogs warding off evil. Two cuties. Kate striking a pose. And another.

And one more. "Oh, let me sit like this on the tree now, Momma. It's better!"

Kate feeling zen-tastic.

Namaste with Nana.

Buddha fingers.

Of course, after all that meditative reflection, Kate couldn't resist reaching under the bar and messing up the rocks in the garden (gasp!). If we were actually in Japan, we probably would've been peacefully booted out the door.

As Kate and Appa checked out the bonsai trees, Lily woke up and said, "Whatchu talkin' about, Willis?"

My sweetie pie.

Lily's face always lights up when you talk to her. Just like Kate, she's got the gift to gab.

Kate thought Lily was lonely and offered Gabriella Weyant Dolly for company.

More fu dog fun.

Next it was Mom's turn. Unfortunately, I look like I'm going to the bathroom.

We bought Kate a toy dreidel the other day, and Kate couldn't wait to play. She learned the game at school and reminded us that it was "shin, put one in." The first night, we couldn't find the chocolate Chanukkah gelt Nana had sent, so we improvised with Cheerios. Or as Chris called them, "Cheeri-oys."

Nana, with her left-handed, counter-clockwise spin cleaned up, but Kate was still over the moon. "The whole family is playing!" Forget fun outings, dumplings, or even presents. Kate is most happy when family gathers around and plays together.

Before Nana flew back to Tucson, Kate finally sat down and dictated her letter to Santa, something we had been asking her to do for weeks. When I read that she asked for nothing we had bought for her, I told her that sometimes Santa gives you things that aren't exactly what you want, but things he has in the workshop. Kate said, "That's OK! I'll like anything he gives me!" That's my girl.

Kate addressed the envelope to "Santa Claus, North Pole," put a stamp on it, and mailed it herself.

Rockstar Kate at her dental check-up (they put sunglasses on her so the bright light wouldn't bother her). Throughout the cleaning, Kate was happy as a clam watching "Beauty and the Beast" playing on the ceiling.

Kate was even brave enough to get her X-rays taken. The technican was very impressed with how Kate was able to withstand those nasty cardboard pieces in her mouth, and for her courage, gave her two prizes. Yea, Kate!

I was happy to see that Kate had no cavities, and thrilled to see pictures of her adult teeth waiting to come in!

Meanwhile, 10-week old Lily smiled away at Appa....