Welcome to the Jungle

While we were hanging out at Owen's birthday party this weekend, Mather and her friend Charlotte decided to run off and have a little fun. They climbed under a chain into an area with heavy foliage which quickly got dubbed "The Jungle". The sight of their two little heads bobbing in and around ferns and bushes as tall or taller than they were is about the cutest thing I've ever seen. They hunted for flowers and sticks and good rocks to jump from. Fortunately I was there with a camera.

Partytime Preschool Style

On Saturday Mather was invited to a birthday for Owen, one of her chums at Preschool who was turning four. The party was in San Mateo's Central Park, a heretofore undiscovered (by us) gem just a few minutes from the City.

The cake, of course, was a big hit, with Mather digging in all by herself.

One of the premier attractions was the miniature train that ran around a little loop in one corner of the park -- Mather has always loved trains and this one fit her perfectly. Plus she got to ride it will all her friends.

That's Mather sitting behind her friend Zach on the first time around, and below, Mather sitting with Charlotte on her second circuit. Mather didn't want to leave. She's still talking about going back to keep riding "the train in the park", even though she doesn't know which park in what city.

It's a real throw-back to a bygone era -- no seatbelts, no harnesses, just a lurching little train where the kids better learn to hold on. On the first ride Zach, a four year old, was quite the gentleman, asking both Charlotte and Mather if they were ready before the train got going.

One of the real treats of going to this party, aside from getting to really meet some of the other preschool parents, was the chance to see Mather interact with other kids she knows. We have playdates with our friends sometimes, but she'll only see those kids once every few months at most -- these kids she sees three times a week. We've always wanted to be a fly-on-the-wall at daycare and now preschool, and this was the closest chance we've gotten -- we got to really see her interact and talk with kids she's comfortable around. And seeing how much she liked Zach, Charlotte, Adam and Owen was really heartwarming.

Call Me

A Lot Can Happen in 832 Days

Not to mention Lil' Chimpy has a brother. We met back up with Isabel while celebrating Liana's first birthday -- more on that here!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

This time, it's Momily's turn to sing along.

Run time- 0:31.

Frère Jacques

Forgive me my poor singing. Not to mention my French.

Run time- 0:41.

Snow Day

Ah, we've once again fallen so far behind in our blogging. We've got videos of Mather singing, we've got trips here and there to report on, pre-school updates, new activities and games, not to mention some updates on what Momily and Papasan are up to (tax season and thesis, primarily). First we'll travel back in time about a month to our annual President's Day Weekend "No-Ski Trip*", and hopefully we'll add a couple more posts in the next day or two.

This was Mather's third President's Day (wow), and here are the past chronicles (2007 and 2008). Remarkebly, she has remembered sledding and snow all year (aided, no doubt, by her fondness for looking at pictures of herself). So we were able to whip her up into an enthusiastic frenzy about this year's trip. The car ride was amazingly stress-free, in part because Mather obliged us by sleeping for a substantial portion of the drive. She woke up, however, when we were on the side of Highway 108, trying to figure out how to affix our instruction-less chains to our wheels. Fortunately, even in the remote California foothills with a snow flurry all around us, my iPhone came through and provided us with step-by-step chain instructions. In the meantime, Mather didn't fuss because she was entranced by all the falling flakes.

There was a nice, thick snowfall this year and we were able to carve out numerous sledding runs within a few steps of the cabin we rented. Mather had a hoot sledding in my lap and learning to throw snowballs.

Head-to-head racing against Mountain Mike

Smiles at the bottom.

*People skiied the first year, maybe two of this annual tradition, but now we don't bother...we're too busy drinking beer, sledding, drinking wine, etc. to get up early and get to a ski resort. Not to mention our once rowdy group of college friends is now a pile of married people, with a couple kids and another one on the way...

Her Han Solo Moment

A verbatim conversation from earlier tonight:

Papasan: I love you, Mather.
Magoo: I know. I love me too.

At least she doesn't suffer from low self esteem!