Sledding at the Cabin

More sledding and cabin pictures. We really did have a great Christmas this year. All of the family parties were just as fun as always (though we missed Matthew! and some of our cousins who are on missions right now), we went skiing (COLD...but TERRIFIC snow), sledding, to the cabin, watched some movies, ate some great food, relaxed, saw the lights at temple square, did a little shopping and a lot of present opening, and just had a ton of fun hanging out with family! Naomi was not afraid of anyone, and LOVED all of the attention she got in Utah. Aside from two horrible plane rides, everything about our trip was relaxing, rejuvenating, and wonderful. Hopefully we will see everyone again very soon!

The Cabin

Christmas afternoon, we drove up to stay at the new cabin for a couple of days. We had a TON of fun sledding, snowshoeing (sans Naomi), snowmobiling, warming up by the fire, reading, and just spending time together in a cozy place surrounded by gorgeous snowy woods. Naomi in a Sunny-Beata sandwich before heading up to the cabin:
Naomi with my mom and dad. As always, Naomi is the least tired of the crowd.Driving to the cabin.

Watching BYU football highlights (of course!)
Playing games with my parents and Camille.

Bryan, Ethan, and Boon as The Three Wisemen, Hank as the Nativity Dog, and Sunny as the Cat. Also Sarah and Rin as wisemen?
Matt and I, sheperds:
Naomi not so angelically shoving Ethan. For some reason, Naomi was completely content to sit on *anyone*'s lap while they played the piano all vacation....that is, except for mine. Anytime I try to play the piano, Naomi completely flips out until I let her sit on the piano bench by herself and bang away (and sing). Kind of annoying she won't let me get a note in edgewise, but on the other hand extremely cute.




Naomi ready to sled!
Naomi and Jayne:

Family Christmas Parties

Naomi and Hank:
Naomi and Beata:
Rockin' the ukeleles at the Price cousin party!
Jayne, my mom, Naomi, and Sarah. As you can see, it did not take Naomi long to warm up to and remember everyone this Christmas!
My Grandma Pat, Naomi, me, and my Grandpa LaVell.

Merry Christmas!!

Sledding with Finnegan! It was snowing like mad this particular sledding day, so no pictures were taken actually out on the hill.
Naomi was an angel for the nativity play this year.
Christmas morning! Naomi loved opening presents, mostly from her grandparents. Blocks:
"Baby Becky"
Baseball bat:

Day 6 of Compensation Week...

Thus ends the attempt to cram as many fun semi-free things for toddlers in manhattan as possible into six days. It's been fun! There is a ton to do, and several things have been pushed back to January for lack of time. In fact, we have barely scratched the surface of all the free fun for toddlers that is to be had in the city (especially this time of year). Every escapade is a hassle, but on the flip side you will never run out of exciting places to go, which is the beauty of NYC. Hopefully I will be able to keep my weekends relatively free next semester. We will see. Today we went to Macy's in the morning for Christmas window viewing, a puppet show, and viewing Santaland from afar. We did not stand in line to see Santa. The puppet show was pretty cool, butI would say this event was maybe the least fun overall of the things we have done lately. But it was still fun.



Sleeping on the subway. At long last, I believe I have figured out how to get people to ask me if I would like help carrying the stroller up and down the stairs from the subway (I would!!). Today I walked slowly from the subway to the stairs, and for the first time someone asked me (both times I came out of the subway) if I could use a hand. Usually I walk quickly and nobody offers help. But Rossana says somebody always offers her help. So there is my theory: speed.
Parachute time at "Playgroove", our makeshift music class/playgroup. Today was a blast. We've had sort of a rocky start with the playgroup, but I feel like I am starting to get the hang of how to run something like this. It has definitely improved over time (except during finals and other stressful weeks). Today Naomi spent about 90% of the playgroup really involved or laughing, so it was a definite success.
Matt and Naomi reading a book

Natural History Museum + Cupcake Party...

Today we went to the Natural History Museum with my friend Ashaki from the Columbia postbacc program and her daughter Eva, who turned 2 today. Naomi and Eva were actually incredibly sweet to each other the entire afternoon (so much adorable hugging and hand-holding!!). NO pushing and only one hair-pulling event occurred. :) We really do love this museum...maybe it is odd for a city toddler to spend so many hours looking at rocks from space and random extinct animals from Alaska, but it really is a fun place to run around, and it is pay-as-you-wish.

After the museum, we went back to our apartment for cupcakes in celebration of Eva's Twoness. Eva, Naomi, and Callie (who also dropped by) had a lovely time eating at Naomi's new red table and chair set from her Grandma Becky and Grandpa John. They also enjoyed standing on the chairs. Naomi also managed to grab the lit end of the candle without flinching, so nonchalantly that it took a few seconds to notice.





"Digging for fossils" (aka, eating paintbrushes filled with sand just long enough for a picture to be taken)
The three little girls with their cupcakes:
Eva and Ashaki:

Midtown!

Today we went to FAO Schwartz and some other stores for Christmas shopping (kind of) in the morning, and to Grand Central Station in the late afternoon/evening. Both were major hits with Naomi. Grand Central Station has a miniature train exhibit that Naomi loved (I was unable to get a good picture of her there, however, due to the necessity of closely monitoring her propensity to push other kids....sigh). There was also a light and music kaleidoscope show in Grand Central Station, which we watched twice (before and after the train exhibit). And we had dinner at Pax Whole Foods with Matt, since we were roughly in the neighborhood of his work. Perhaps we should spend more time trying to cultivate kindness and cooperativity in Naomi and less time galavanting. We really did have fun, though. And in a way, it is nice to try to teach Naomi not to push when she is around *bigger* kids, because she is less likely to hurt them in the process (whereas she can really hurt kids her age when she is simply trying to be *nice* and hug, let alone if she even thinks about pushing). Anyway, we had another fun (and very exhausting) day.




Looking (and feeling) tired: