Less than Twelve Parsecs

Christmas time is filled with a bunch things in our family: seeing your loved ones, decorating a tree, making fun crafts and baking goodies, and hunting pretty holiday lights. This year we were lucky to do all of the above, having Mara's grandparents visiting us for several days. Read on to see how our holiday went, learn a great cookie recipe and a simple home-made holiday wreath, catch a glimpse at some seriously merry lighted houses and how to find them. Christmas tree! Mara had a great time decorating, and she quickly understood which ornaments were frail and should be left alone, and which ones are safe for her to take on and off - which she definitely took on as a task for the following week. Mara and Willow played fun hide-and-seek around the tree. Willow got lucky that Mara didn't fit underneath, so she would often go in that safe spot and look like a fluffy present. Christmas baking: Recipe for Sands, Romanian braided breads On the baking side, we had t

Yesterday while gardening we noticed that Mara was making a strange noise. We looked over, and she was laughing while putting sand on her boot. Now we know what sound we will hear when she's scheming to take over the world.

Friends of ours invited us along on a very fun hike this Saturday, and we had a great time! Mara was in the Ergo Baby carrier at first after having fallen asleep on the 11min drive from our place. She was, of course, wearing two bibs at the time - this is our new fashion statement: overlapping bibs, the more the merrier. We found a crazy tall tree that has even crazier seed stalks, sharp as knives: After about 10 minutes of comfortably riding on daddy, Mara wanted to join in the hike herself so we let her down. A lot of the paths here have a slope to one side, so it took some chaperoning skill to not be invasive yet ensure she is safe at all times. But we found a lot of cool things along the way! Like these tree mushrooms: And this pretty clover A small creek you have to walk through to continue the hike: And a very fun bridge that took about 15 minutes of exploration in all directions: In the end, Mara got exhausted and went for another short cat n

One thing we absolutely love about this child is how she sees the world through new eyes. Mara tries things in ways that we never imagined, so often we end up learning from her instead! At Grandma's house Mara found one of those cool pinpoint impression needle frames: We've all tried to put one on top of our hand or nose to form the metallic shape on the other side. Yet Mara's idea was quite different. She first practiced turning it on both sides, enjoying the weight of the shifting needles in her hands. Then she picked up a small shape from another game and investigated what happens if you put it on top. Magnets!!! It's so much fun lifting them off the surface and watching the needles follow! It so happens this was a circular magnet, so it even draws needles through its center. 

We went to see grandparents this Thanksgiving for a short trip. A great opportunity for Mommy and Daddy to go on a sweet date to watch Guardians of The Galaxy ("the modern day Star Wars" according to friends). Mara got to have a bunch of novel experiences, and we got some more fun data about her growth and development. Here's some snapshots below. Hugs to all! Mara packs her bags "the right way". Fall asleep on a swing with Daddy in luxurious Florida greens. Practice her vocabulary with everyone around. Grandma had the great idea of making a list of all the things Mara says at her 15th month and the whole family joined in. We gathered 91 concepts that Mara names: 87 words and 24 signs (with some overlap). She understands more but these are the ones she consistently produces when she wants something or notices something. Play croquet. Or better said, try to steal the croquet balls from the field.  Look cute by the side of