Christmas, New Years, and everything else

I would like to say that I have been too busy to blog lately, but I'm sitting here re-watching season 1 of Lost so I guess busy isn't really the right word.

Harper has changed so much in the last couple of weeks. Right after Christmas her vocabulary exploded and now she walks around saying new things all of the time. Most of it isn't very clear but we can usually figure out what she is saying, but she frequently says "bahti" or "wahti" and we have no idea what that is supposed to mean. She also loves to sing. Her favorite songs are Jingle Bells, itsy bitsy spider, and head, shoulders, knees and toes.

This year we went to Tucson for Christmas. Other than the fact that we all came home with a cold that we still haven't shaken, we all had a fantastic time. Harper didn't really understand Christmas, but she had a great time playing with her cousins and she loves all of her new presents. Maybe next year.


Tom's brother was kind enough to take a quick family photo while we were staying at his house. He also photographed us last October and it is crazy to see how much Harper has grown up. (also, I think I am the palest person on the planet).
For New Years we took it easy at home. Tom has been really wanting to make some massaman Thai curry at home, so earlier in the week I drove to Hollywood to a Thai grocery store and got some curry paste and we made curry and chocolate chip cookies for dinner and then watched some movies. It was SO GOOD.

On Saturday we went to Orange County to check out the new Cafe Rio that opened with some of our wonderful law school friends. Afterward we put the kids down for naps and played Rock Band. We loved being at UCLA, but it's sad when people graduate and we don't get to see them very often any more so it was great to catch up with everyone.And to finish off this post, here are a few videos from the last couple months.

This is Harper at Tom's grandpa's house right before Thanksgiving. As you can tell, she is a big fan of sugar.


This is Harper dancing with some of my family at my Mom's family Christmas party.


This is Harper at the Container Store by our house. She loves to accessorize lately (jewelry, purses, etc.).


And here are our nieces, nephews, and Harper dancing to Christmas music. I think Harper was a little confused.

Funny things that Harper does

When Tom comes home from work every day, I usually share a story with him about something funny that Harper did that day. I thought I'd post a few of them.
A few days ago I was getting Harper some water and when I went to put the lid on her cup, I spilled some water on the floor. Harper tends to get upset when something is out of its place, so she pointed at the water and started saying "uh-oh." I hastily wiped up the water with a towel and walked into the next room for a minute. When I came back, Harper had taken some rags out from under the sink and was on her hands and knees cleaning up the remaining water.

Harper seems to prefer doing sign language to talking and will almost never say what we are trying to get her to say. But a few days ago I turned off a light switch and said "dark," and she repeated the word. Now every time I turn off a light she says "dark." It's probably the least useful word she could learn at this point, but I guess it's progress.

On Tuesday we went to Costco and, among other things, I got a carton of eggs. When we got home I was carrying Harper and the eggs up the stairs from our garage and she kept trying to grab them so I told her that they were "Mommy's." When we got upstairs she walked straight over to the recycling bin, pulled out an empty egg carton, brought it to me, and said "Mommy's."

The rest of our Utah pictures

We didn't do a very good job of taking pictures while we were in Utah, but here are a few more from my Mom's family party.

Kelly and Eric
Harper playing basketball.Kara and GrandmaAunt JulieHarper playing the piano with my cousin Olivia. Harper got so much attention while we were in Utah that I think she went through withdrawals when we got home. My mom with Harper.Harper with my Grandpa.And after Tom's grandmother's funeral, Tom's brother took a photo of his entire extended family together. There were only two cousins missing (one is on a mission and one had school obligations). One of Tom's cousins even flew in from Abu Dhabi.

Ruh Roh

(This was almost Harper)

Harper really loves dogs. She asked for a dog the other day, at least I assumed that's what hugging and kissing one at the pet store means, but Erica and I both agree that a dog at this point would be way too much work. However, we don't want Harper to be totally lonely so we have arranged for another sibling to come along. Expect to hear more about this additional member of the family as we approach the June due date. Erica thinks it is a boy. I hope it is a boy or a girl. Current name for the baby until we come up with a better one, Spot.