Christmas Paella

With a new baby come new traditions. Andrew and I have celebrated our own Christmas Eve on the 23rd for the past 8 years. This year we decided to start making paella for our little celebration. I hope Lukas likes shellfish! The recipe came from our Williams Sonoma Barcelona cookbook. I wish I could track down some squid ink to make a black rice paella or replicate the rabbit paella I once ate on the beach in Valencia. Or perhaps I just wish I were in Spain. Ten years ago this Christmas my parents and Janet came to visit me while I was living abroad in Spain. I am feeling a bit nostalgic about that Christmas this year - how can a whole decade have passed so quickly? And when did I get so old?

My new caterpillar makes me smile

Lukas' new caterpillar jingles and rattles. It was also a great opportunity to introduce Lukas to the primary colors - in both English and Spanish! He prefers the way Spanish colors sound though...just like his mommy.

This is what happens....

...when you take a two month old on a two week long party circuit all over Northern California. The minute Lukas' head hit the pillow of his carseat today his eyes shut and he fell asleep. He had a lot of catching up to do on naps after all that partying!

San Francisco

Andrew and I had a rare visit to San Francisco the day after Christmas. It was Lukas' first time in the big city! First we stopped at Aunt Ann's new (and very chic) apartment. She has such a knack for decorating and we enjoyed the tea and conversation with her in her cozy living room on the cold and rainy afternoon. We then headed over to see Ryan, Karen, Josselyn, Matt and Dave for dinner. All of them had so much exciting news to share. Ryan's documentary will be playing at a number of film festivals in 2010, Ryan and Karen are moving to Africa, Dave just finished his first semester of law school (or should I say survived), and Josselyn and Matt just returned from a 3 week honeymoon in Australia. Of course our exciting news was the baby this time (: Everyone loved meeting Lukas and I think our friends are still in disbelief that we have a BABY.

Christmas Day at Grande and Papa Choo Choo's

We had a really nice relaxing Christmas morning at Papa Choo Choo and Grande's house. Aunt Janet was there as well which Lukas loved. We opened presents, had a wonderful breakfast and then had dinner with the Murphys. What a wonderful day we had!

Chistmas Eve Fun

Here are photos from our Christmas Eve at Aunt Kathy's and Aunt Elaine's. Not only was it Lukas' first Christmas but also Sienna's and Shay's. They were all such troopers -- Lukas stayed up until 12:45am (I think he was hoping for a glimpse of Santa Claus).

Papa Choo Choo's Xmas Photos

My Dad took some really fun photos of Lukas and family during the four days we were in Lafayette. We always forget to take photos of Lukas with his Papa Choo Choo so I'm glad they figured out a way to take one together. How did you manage that Dad?

My First Christmas

We had such a memorable and special Christmas with our families this year. On Christmas Eve we went to Nana's House (Aunt Kathy) and had a wonderful time opening packages, laughing and watching Lukas' cousins Ethan and Sienna play. Then we had dessert at Aunt Elaine's house and Lukas' cousins Pete, Lauren and Ava snuggled with him. Aunt Elaine got a little snuggle time too between entertaining her guests. On Christmas Day Grandma Grande made us a breakfast feast and then we had a nice relaxing day. That evening the Murphys over for dinner and we all had a wonderful time playing and laughing some more. A special bonus was two days after Christmas, my aunts Peg and Jean came over for a visit. We're so happy to have had so much time for family to bond with Lukas this Christmas season. It is a reminder that we all need to make time to get together more often.

Big Crib

Lukas began sleeping in his big crib this week instead of the bassinet. He is such an independent little guy. Now we just give him his cho cho, blanky and turn on the soother and he goes right to sleep. We know we are lucky to have such a good sleeper (keep up the good work Lukas)! This picture was taken the day he had his first shot and he was very sleepy.

Let the ball obsession begin!

Lukas' cousin Ethan really likes any type of ball. It looks like this may run in the family. This is the first time Lukas has shown any interest at all in a rattle and he sure grabbed onto it tightly!

Visit with Julie

Our friend Julie came to visit Lukas today. Lukas loved Julie's "teacher voice" and having her take lots of pictures of him.

Hoodies!

Andrew and Lukas had to bundle up for an evening run this week. It was Andrew's first time taking Lukas out for a jog by himself.

Play Group

I have been fortunate to meet some really lovely women in Sacramento who also happen to be mothers. They are smart, fun and have great advice to share with me as a new mom. I'm sad that Amy and Ann will be moving at the end of this year of residency. So happy Tracy will stay though and she lives just around the corner!

Aunt Peg's Annual Mexican Fiesta

Aunt Peg had her annual Mexican Fiesta yesterday. Lukas met his Great Aunt Jean and Great Uncle Bob for the first time. He had a great time sitting in Great Aunt Jean's lap and then in Grandma Grande's lap. We also saw Lukas' cousins Elie, Peter, Lauren, Ava and Nate. Peter is so good with Lukas. I love seeing them together -- when Peter was born I really bonded closely to him and he is the reason I really wanted a boy. He was such an easy baby to love (and is a wonderful big boy too) just like Lukas. We missed seeing Janet who is in Hawaii this year!